 Drastic consequences, in German law, are defined as a danger to life or body, and are not defined as loss of rank, incarceration or removal to a penal unit, such as a "Strafbataillon".The term is commonly, but not exclusively, associated with German war crimes and the Holocaust during World War II, following which "Befehlsnotstand" was used as line of defence by the accused in post-war trials.In the 1950s and 1960s the use of "Befehlsnotstand" as a defence in war crimes trials in Germany was quite successful as it generally protected the accused from punishment.