These indictments and criminal procedures were carried out by the occupying Allies following the events of the Second World War. Benjamin Ferencz: They were 3,000 SS officers trained for the purpose, and directed to kill without pity or remorse, every single Jewish man, woman, and child they could lay their hands on. [139] Some defendants denied their involvement in, or knowledge of, certain crimes,[140] even resorting to implausible lies. President Harry Truman asked Robert Jackson, an associate justice of the Supreme Court, to serve as the chief American prosecutor . The International Military Tribunal, more commonly known at the Nuremberg trials, began this week 75 years ago in Nuremberg, Germany.The trials were a series of military tribunals held to convict major Nazi German leaders on charges of crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit each of these crimes. 27 Aug 2021. Without calling a single witness, he entered into evidence the defendants' own reports of what they'd done. | Minds. [21] At the conference, it was debated whether wars of aggression were prohibited in existing international customary law; regardless, before the charter was adopted there was no law providing for criminal responsibility for aggression. [77] Gring, the most famous surviving Nazi, headlined the trial. $211.69. His equivocations, standing in sharp contrast to his genocidal editorial line reflected in slogans like Germany will live as long as it sees the Jews as the mortal enemy of mankind, are now available online for the first time along with hundreds of additional hours of audio and video recordings from the trials of 24 Nazis that ended 1946, nearly 75 years ago. [200] The case law of the trials fleshed out the skeleton provided by the Nuremberg charter and the IMT verdict. [65], Some of the most prominent NazisAdolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbelshad committed suicide and therefore could not be tried. 1/6. [126] Lev Smirnov presented evidence on the Lidice massacre in Czechoslovakia, adding that such destruction of villages had occurred throughout eastern Europe. For the scholars, what makes the Nuremberg archives particularly captivating is the variety of human narratives that emerges from the variety of documents and transcripts stories that are now easier to find thanks to Stanfords preservation efforts. [38], In early 1946, there were a thousand employees from the four countries' delegations in Nuremberg, of which about two-thirds were from the United States. To tell somebody a man can become a woman, a woman can become a man, and a man can marry a man, they would have said, "You're crazy." A team of over 1,000 lawyers and over 10,000 medical experts lead by Dr. Reiner Fullmich have begun legal proceedings over the CDC, WHO, the Davos Group for crimes against humanity. In 1946, verdicts were handed down in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. They should remember, from me, it takes courage not to be discouraged. At a later date, more multimedia such as film, audio recordings, photographs will be added to the collection. Twelve further trials were conducted by the United States against lower-level perpetrators, which focused more on the Holocaust. (Image credit: U.S. Two of the 24 defendants died during the trials, including Hermann Goring, commander of Nazi Germanys air force, who committed suicide. Then a series of subsequent trials were mounted against other Nazi leaders, including 22 SS officers responsible for killing more than a million people -- not in concentration camps -- but in towns and villages across Eastern Europe. The Doctors Trial: The Medical Case of the Subsequent Nuremberg Pro Episode 10 - Too Much Paper . The Marines, they just looked at me and said, "Forget it, kid.". The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out between 1945 and 1949, the Trial of Major War Criminals being held from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946. [188] The Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes identified 2,500 major war criminals, of whom 177 were tried. [163] Contrary to the prosecution, the verdict dated the planning of aggression to the 1937 Hossbach Memorandum and not to the founding of the Nazi Party. It was the first time that international tribunals . Benjamin Ferencz: Of course, is my answer. Ben Ferencz entered into evidence the defendants' own reports of what they'd done. [179], The exact sentences to be given each defendant were debated at length by the judges. [54] The Soviet judges and prosecutors were not permitted to make any major decisions without consulting a commission in Moscow led by Soviet politician Andrei Vyshinsky; the resulting delays hampered the Soviet effort to set the agenda. [103], Much of the American case focused on the development of the Nazi conspiracy before the outbreak of war. [230] The selectivity in trying Germans but not the Allies has garnered the most persistent criticism. Gabrielle Karampelas, Stanford Libraries: (650) 497-4414, gkaram@stanford.edu. By UPI Staff. [182] Nikichenko released a dissent approved by Moscow that rejected all the acquittals, called for a death sentence for Hess, and convicted all the organizations. [151], In order to appease concerns about fair process, the defendants were allowed a free hand with their witnesses and a great deal of irrelevant testimony was heard. And you're full of energy and passion. [50][51] Because the Soviet Union expected a show trial, its appointees were familiar with this form. And the father had routinely saved a piece of his bread for his son, and he kept it under his arm at He kept it under his arm at night so the other inmates wouldn't steal it, you know. By Cnaan Liphshiz January 15, 2021 11:48 am. At this stage of the project, users will be able to explore digital surrogates of trial records, including transcripts of the court hearings in English, French, German and Russian; case files; trial briefs; evidentiary exhibits filed by the prosecution and the defense; opening and closing statements; final pleas; procedural rules, orders, judgments, dissenting opinions and sentences. Exhibit 179, from Kiev in 1941: "The city's Jews were ordered to present themselves about 34,000 reported, including women and children. [106] Although these aspects had already been covered by the American prosecution, Soviet prosecutors introduced new evidence from Extraordinary State Commission reports and interrogations of senior enemy officers. [67] Also prosecuted were leaders of the German economy, such as Gustav Krupp (of the conglomerate Krupp AG), former Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht, and economic planners Albert Speer and Walther Funk, along with Speer's subordinate and head of the forced labor program, Fritz Sauckel. These men would never have been murderers had it not been for the war. [204] In the United Kingdom, although a variety of responses were reported, it was difficult to sustain interest in a long trial. Until the end of the negotiations, it was not clear that any trial would be held at all, due to acrimonious disputes over fundamental matters; the American delegation threatened to walk out. Only one piece of film is known to exist of the Einsatzgruppen at work. September 30, 2021 Stanford scholars expand digital database with historic records from the Nuremberg Trial. [55], The work of drafting the indictment was divided up by the national delegations. [181] All three acquittals (Papen, Schacht, and Fritzsche) were based on a deadlock between the judges; these acquittals surprised observers. And I see the progress. Nuremburg Trial Courthouse (Nuremberg) - All You Need to - Tripadvisor On December 9, 1946, an American military tribunal opened criminal proceedings against 23 leading German physicians and administrators for their willing participation in war crimes and crimes against humanity. [228][24] The charge of crimes against humanity, the charge of conspiracy, and imposing criminal penalties on individuals for breaches of international law were also novel but attracted little criticism. [228] The most controversial charge was crimes against peace. And you shouldn't-- you know-- be despairing because it's never happened before. Ferencz told us he is still haunted by the things he saw. [132] The inclusion of Katyn in the charges undermined the credibility of Soviet evidence in general. [62] Vyshinsky demanded extensive corrections to the crimes-against-peace charges, especially regarding the role of the GermanSoviet pact in starting World War II. [63] Jackson also rewrote the indictment with the intent of keeping the proceedings under American control by separating out an overall conspiracy charge from the other three charges. The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949 to try those accused of Nazi war crimes. per adult (price varies by group size) Nuremberg World War 2 Tour. Benjamin Ferencz: Of course. And these were daily reports from the Eastern Front-- which unit entered which town, how many people they killed. The first of the Nuremberg trials was to be the biggest murder trial in human history, with 21 Nazi leaders appearing before the court charged with the deaths of millions of innocent people during . [120] Ultimately, the French prosecution was unable to convince the court that Germanization was a crime against humanity, and incidents such as the German annexation of AlsaceLorraine went unmentioned in the final verdict. [47] Although the chief British judge, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence (Lord Justice of Appeal), was the nominal president of the tribunal, in practice Biddle exercised more authority. Stanford Libraries is working with the Registry of the International Court of Justice to build a complete digital corpus of this historic archive. For the past seven years, Stanford Libraries has been working with the Registry of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to obtain a complete digital corpus of the Nuremberg Trial in support of the Virtual Tribunal of the Stanford Center for Human Rights and International Justice. A team of over 1,000 lawyers and over 10,000 medical experts led by Dr. Reiner Fuellmich have begun legal proceedings against the CDC, WHO & the Davos Group for crimes against humanity. The purpose of the trial was not just to convict the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi crimes, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, and delegitimize the traditional German elite. To receive Stanford news daily, [240] The IMT is one of the most well-studied trials in history, and it has also been the subject of an abundance of books and scholarly publications, along with motion pictures such as Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and The Memory of Justice (1976). and Chris Smith (R-N.J.) would . And you know what keeps me going? (@carolecadwalla) July 24, 2021 J Opacka (@jopackaj) July 24, . Monday, Aug. 16, 2021, in Des Moines . 25. Preserving records from the Nuremberg Trial as well as materials from the subsequent tribunals and truth and reconciliation commissions it inspired is crucial to protecting the historic and judicial legacies of the war and acknowledging the consequences of mass atrocities, said David Cohen, director of the Stanford Center for Human Rights and International Justice and professor of classics in the School of Humanities and Sciences. By submitting the above I agree to the privacy policy and terms of use of JTA.org. [227] The main legal criticisms of the trial focused on questions of retroactivity, selectivity, and jurisdiction. [114], In mid-December the Americans switched to presenting the case against the indicted organizations, while in January both the British and Americans presented evidence against individual defendants. Holocaust Memorial Museum placed online more than 700 hours of audio recordings from the trials, as well as 37 reels of film introduced as evidence. House introduces bipartisan bill to award Nuremberg trials prosecutor Below his face, his motto: "law, not war.". At the opening of his trial in Nuremberg, . [101] He described the fact that the defeated Nazis received a trial as "one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason". I am naive? This was Case #1 of the Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings . [46], The French prosecutor, Franois de Menthon, had just overseen trials of the leaders of Vichy France;[37] he resigned in January 1946 and was replaced by Auguste Champetier de Ribes. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. View from above of the judges' bench at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. Although controversial at the time for their use of ex post facto law, the trials' innovation of holding individuals responsible for violations of international law established international criminal law. Lesley Stahl: Going on right this minute in Sudan. The Palace of Justice was relatively intact but needed to be renovated for the trial due to bomb damage; it had an attached prison where the defendants could be held. Our intention is to make these trial archives visible to the world, via the web, using the best technology we can find, build, adopt or adapt to make scholarship easier on very complex archives, said Michael Keller, the Ida M. Green University Librarian at Stanford. People get discouraged. Benjamin Ferencz: Yes. add_to_queue. War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. [6] The Soviet Union wanted to hold a show trial similar to the 1930s Moscow trials, in order to demonstrate the Nazi leaders' guilt and build a case for war reparations to rebuild the Soviet economy, which had been devastated by the war. [115], From 17 January to 7 February 1946, France presented its charges and supporting evidence. The Jews were shot? Twelve defendants received a death sentence, seven were sentenced to prison terms of varying lengths, and three were acquitted. Benjamin Ferencz: We're marching forward. [60] Conspiracy charges were especially central to the cases against propagandists and industrialists; the former were charged with providing the ideological justification for war and other crimes, while the latter were accused of economic mobilization without which no war would have been possible. Without simultaneous translation the trial cannot happen. [86] Overall, the prosecution called 37 witnesses compared to the defense's 83, not including 19 defendants who testified on their own behalf. Benjamin Ferencz: No. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death (Gring, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, Seyss-Inquart, and Bormann). [90][91] The bringing of conspiracy charges also slowed the trial, as the same evidence ended up being read out multiple times, when it was relevant to both substantive and conspiracy charges. [159] During the closing statements, most defendants disappointed the judges by their lies and denial. [58], The charge of conspiracy was spearheaded by the United States prosecution and was less popular with the other Allies. The Center for Human Rights and International Justice and Stanford Libraries hope to establish a single destination point that can help people understand how to seek justice when crimes against humanity have occurred and how to pursue accountability for systematic and widespread violence. Benjamin Ferencz: Never in my life. [100], On 21 November, Jackson gave the opening speech for the prosecution. Defendants in the dock at the Nuremberg trials. FALSE: "Nuremberg Trial 2" took place due to the - Poynter Fish contaminated with "forever chemicals" found in nearly every state, CBS News Poll: How GOP primary race could be Trump v. Trump fatigue, Missing teens may be among 7 found dead in Oklahoma, authorities say, Gordon Lightfoot, "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" singer, dies at age 84, Bob Lee died from three stab wounds, medical examiner says, At least 6 dead after dust storm causes massive pile-up on Illinois highway, Oklahoma governor signs gender-affirming care ban for kids, U.S. tracking high-altitude balloon first spotted off Hawaii, What the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive wants the world to know. When we first reported on him back in 2017, he was 97 years old, barely 5 feet tall, and he had served as prosecutor of what's been called the biggest murder trial ever. [99] According to historian Kim Christian Priemel, the conspiracy charge "invited apologetic interpretations: narratives of absolute, totalitarian dictatorship, run by society's lunatic fringe, of which the Germans had been the first victims rather than agents, collaborators, and fellow travellers". [217][218] The last prisoner was released in 1958. Speer managed to distinguish himself from other defendants, giving the impression of apologizing, although without assuming personal guilt or naming any victims other than the German people. [68] Most of the defendants had surrendered to the United States or United Kingdom. At the time, Ferencz just had the documents, and he started adding up the numbers. [17] On May 8, Germany surrendered unconditionally. Toward the end of the war, because of his legal training, he was transferred to a brand new unit in General Patton's Third Army, created to investigate war crimes. The British government was still opposed, unable to see the benefit of such a trial and preferring the summary execution of Nazi leaders. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. [198] The trials targeted 177 defendants and obtained 142 convictions, including 25 death sentences;[199] the severity of sentencing was related to the defendant's proximity to mass murder. 5. I hear it here for the first time." The New Nuremberg Trials 2021: Update from Dr. Reiner Fuellmich - Minds COVID-19 vaccination does not violate the Nuremberg Code Stanford scholars expand digital archive of Nuremberg trial Ralf Bosen. Other absent and dead men including Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Adolf Eichmann, and Bormann were also blamed. 2021/07/09 | Georgia. The Nuremberg trials were a series of indictments and criminal procedures against Nazi war criminals that were held from 20 November 1945 to 1 October 1946 at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany.These indictments and criminal procedures were carried out by the occupying Allies following the events of the Second World War.. Innocent lamb. [232] On 11 December 1946, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution affirming "the principles of international law recognized by the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and the judgment of the Tribunal". They could-- like, they're waiting for a bus. It was also a way to indirectly charge crimes committed before the beginning of World War II, which the charter placed outside the court's jurisdiction. Stanford University is marking the 75th anniversary of the International Military . And I can't believe you're 97 years old. [165] The official interpretation of the IMT held that all of the charges had a solid basis in customary international law,[166] which was elaborated in the verdict. And he's been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. That's insane. It prevents a battery or negligence, and protects the autonomy rights of the patient. He became the first in his family to go to college, then got a scholarship to Harvard Law School. Defendants-- absolutely blank. But SLS scholars argue that Native people profoundly shaped the conversation. Stanford, California 94305. Ferencz says his goal from the beginning was to affirm the rule of law and deter similar crimes from ever being committed again. [83] The American and British prosecutors focused on documentary evidence and affidavits rather than testimony from survivors, as the latter was considered less reliable and more liable to accusations of bias, but at the expense of reducing public interest in the proceedings. So the Jewish question was for me solved in Germany, but I believed that another international solution will come, that we should meet with Zionists, listen to their demands, he said on April 26, 1946 at the military tribunal where he stood trial with other Nazi officials for crimes against humanity. Bus Tours. [175][176], Four organizations were ruled to be criminal: the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party, the SS, the Gestapo, and the SD, although some lower ranks and subgroups were excluded. As U.S. forces liberated concentration camps, his job was to rush in and gather evidence. [30] Article 7 prevented the defendants from claiming immunity for their actions under the act of state doctrine,[31] and the plea of acting under superior orders was left for the judges to decide. [89] Because of the loose evidentiary rules, photographs, charts, maps, and films played an important role in making incredible crimes believable. Streicher was executed in 1946 by hanging along with nine other Nazis, including Hans Frank, the highest-ranking Nazi officer in occupied Poland. By early 1946, Western prosecutors were uneasy about the Katyn charge, although they never publicly rejected it for fear of casting the entire proceedings into question. [212], The German churches, both Catholic and Protestant, were vociferous proponents of amnesty,[213] which had cross-party support in West Germany, which was established in 1949. 10 issued by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The father had died just as we were entering the camp. [108][109], On 12 December, Shawcross gave the opening speech for the British. [99] Nevertheless, defense lawyers (although not most of the defendants) often argued that the prosecution was trying to promote German collective guilt and forcefully countered this as a strawman argument. Nuremberg trials News, Research and Analysis - The Conversation General Telford Taylor, in charge of the Nuremberg trials, asked him to direct a team of researchers in Berlin, one of whom found a cache of top-secret documents in the ruins of the German foreign . [229] Some defenders of the trial argued that the legal principle of nullum crimen sine lege (no crime without law) was not binding in international proceedings. So you do it.". I'm a realist. Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Channette Alexander), (Image credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Courtesy Randy Cole), Stanford Center for Human Rights and International Justice, is an expanded repository of digital records, A better, faster tool for saving water on farms. He's an intelligent, patriotic human being. [41][42], The United States' chief prosecutor was Supreme Court justice Robert H. [10][11], Of all the Allies, the Soviet Union lobbied most intensely for trying the defeated German leaders for aggression in addition to war crimes. [67] Former Nazis were allowed to serve as counsel[45] and by mid-November all defendants had lawyers. Lesley Stahl: Ben? QAnon Followers Think Secret Trials Will Be Held for COVID Rule Launching Oct. 1 is an expanded repository of digital records, preserved in cooperation with the ICJ in the Stanford Digital Repository (SDR). Ferencz came home, married his childhood sweetheart and vowed never to set foot in Germany again. Jan Lemnitzer, University of Oxford. General Telford Taylor, in charge of the Nuremberg trials, asked him to direct a team of researchers in Berlin, one of whom found a cache of top-secret documents in the ruins of the German foreign ministry. All wars, and all decent people. (JTA) At the opening of his trial in Nuremberg, Julius Streicher made several uncharacteristically friendly statements about Jews a people he had devoted his professional life to demonize. 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. [18], At the London Conference, held from 26 June to 2 August 1945, representatives of France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States negotiated the exact form that the trial would take. Ben Ferencz in court: The charges we have brought accuse the defendants of having committed crimes against humanity. It was one of the biggest trials in post-war Germany dealing with Nazi-era war crimes. Look at the emancipation of woman in my lifetime. Lesley Stahl: They're making them run to their own death? And you're very wise. The verdict was drafted by British alternate judge Norman Birkett. (Image credit: National Archives of the Netherlands / ANP, CC0). After they had been made to give up their clothing and valuables, all of them were killed, which took several days." But Ferencz knew they were guilty and could prove it. Judges deliberate at the trials of Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany, Jan. 1, 1945. . [201], At the same time as the Nuremberg Charter was finalized, the Allies also signed the Potsdam Agreement, which provided for the mass expulsion of millions of Germans from central and eastern Europe, so that certain acts for which Nazis were convicted at Nuremberg were therefore made an official policy of the Allies. This additional collection, to be known as the Taube Archive of the International Military Tribunal of Nuremberg, will allow the public to easily browse and discover the contents of over 5,000 trial records including 250,000 pages of digitized paper documents showing in meticulous detail the efforts of the IMT, a group of representatives from four Allied countries the U.S., the U.K., the Soviet Union and France who were tasked with prosecuting former officials of the Third Reich and holding them accountable for the horrific acts inflicted during World War II and the Holocaust. Lesley Stahl: And you had his name down on a piece of. Nrnberg trials, Nrnberg also spelled Nuremberg, series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 1945-46, in which former Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal. Nov. 20, 2021 / 3:00 AM On This Day: Nuremberg trials begin On Nov. 20, 1945, 24 German leaders went on trial at Nuremberg before the International War Crimes Tribunal. Benjamin Ferencz: There was only one time I wanted to-- really. Streichers paper was a symbol for how Nazi propaganda methodically dehumanized Jews and used mass media to ready non-Jewish Germans to carry out the Holocaust. Judges deliberate at the trials of Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany, Jan. 1, 1945. [98] Jackson maintained that while the United States did "not seek to convict the whole German people of crime", neither did the trial "serve to absolve the whole German people except 21 men in the dock". [59] The conspiracy charge was used to charge the top Nazi leaders, as well as bureaucrats who had never killed anyone or perhaps even directly ordered killing. The courtroom was Nuremberg; the crime, genocide; and the defendants, a group of German SS officers accused of committing the largest number of Nazi killings outside the concentration camps -- more than a million men, women, and children shot in their own towns and villages in cold blood. Fact-checked by: Myth Detector. Dr. Reiner Fuellmich, alongside thousands of . The IMT focused on the crime of aggressionplotting and waging aggressive war, which the verdict declared "the supreme international crime" because "it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole". But the trials were already underway, and prosecution staff was stretched thin. [167] The judges were aware that both the Allies and the Axis had planned or committed acts of aggression, writing the verdict carefully to avoid discrediting either the Allied governments or the tribunal. But during his first semester, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and he, like many classmates, raced to enlist. By SIMCHA PASKO 01/10/2021 Germany, May 1945: a surrender, a country in chaos and the top Nazi leaders attempting to slip away. Benjamin Ferencz: When I reached over a million people murdered that way, over a million people, that's more people than you've ever seen in your life, I took a sample. [153] Midway through the trial, Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech denouncing the Soviet threat delighted the defense. Between November 20, 1945, and October 1, 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 21 of the most important surviving leaders of Nazi Germany in the political, military, and economic spheres, as well as six German organizations.