In Nazi Germany, the term was revived to justify the punishment of kin (relatives, spouse) for the offence of a family member. In this form of "Sippenhaft" the relatives of persons accused of crimes against the state were held to share the responsibility for those crimes and subject to arrest and sometimes execution. Many people who had committed no crimes were arrested and punished under "Sippenhaft" decrees introduced after the failed 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in July 1944.