The Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials • The International Military Tribunal of 1946, convened by the U. S. , British, French and Soviets, which convicted the major Nazi leaders who survived World War II AND • Twelve cases tried by U. S. military tribunals at Nuremberg from 1946 -9 of groups of doctors, lawyers, industrialists, Einsatzgruppen and more.
Legacy • • International Law Human Rights & Genocide Conventions Code of Medical Ethics Enforcement Mechanisms & Tribunals Models of Bringing Individual Perpetrators to Justice Deportations to Home Countries for Justice Vocabulary: War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity, Genocide, Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Timeline • 11/30/43: Moscow Declaration signed by U. S. , U. K. , Soviet Union and China. • 2/4 -11/45: Yalta agreement signed by Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin • 4/12/45: Truman becomes President • 4/12/45: Dachau liberated by U. S. • http: //www. trumanlibrary. org/photographs/displayimage. php? pointer=3855
Timeline continued • 4/30/45: Adolf Hitler commits suicide. • 5/2/45: Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson appointed as chief U, S, prosecutor in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. http: //www. trumanlibrary. org/photographs/displayimage. php? pointer=11270
Timeline continued • 5/8/45: Germany surrenders unconditionally to Allies. • 7/7/45: Jackson visits Nuremberg & recommends it as trial site. • 8/2/45: Potsdam Protocol • 8/8/45: London Agreement • 10/6/45: 4 powers issue joint statement of indictment http: //www. trumanlibrary. org/photographs/displayimage. php? pointer=2693
Timeline continued • 10/14/45: Sir Geoffrey Lawrence (UK) elected President of the IMT • 10/18 -19/45: 24 men and 7 organizations are indicted, charged with the systematic murder of millions of people • 11/20/45: Nuremberg Trials begin. All defendants plead “not guilty. ” • http: //www. trumanlibrary. org/photographs/displayimage. php? pointer=11274
Nuremberg Charges • The Common Plan or Conspiracy – Crimes Against Peace – War Crimes – Crimes Against Humanity http: //www. trumanlibrary. org/photographs/display image. php? pointer=3918 Bergen Belsen
The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated. … Justice Jackson from his opening statement
Why Trials? The Trial which is now about to begin is unique in the history of the jurisprudence of the world and it is of supreme importance to millions of people all over the globe. Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, President, Opening Remarks • Create precedents in international law • Create moral precedents • Collate historical record
Procedural Innovations • International Tribunal • Individuals Tried States do not commit crimes; individuals do • No Immunity for Heads of State, etc.
Substantive Innovations • Established Crimes Against Humanity as a charge: mass crimes – murder, torture, (rape) • Established Crime of Genocide
• In the spring of 1945, as the war finally came to an end, the world confronted the atrocities the Nazis had committed. • Who was responsible for the Holocaust?
• Should those who participated in the atrocities committed during the war be punished, and if so, who was accountable? • Should those individuals be tried in a court of law? What is the purpose of a trial? Is it to punish evil doing or is it to set a precedent for the future?
• Who should be tried? Are individuals responsible for their crimes if they have obey the laws of their nation? Are there higher laws and if so, what are they?
• How does one determine punishment? Is everyone equally guilty or do some bear more responsibility than others? Can an entire nation be guilty?
• Between 1945 and 1950, the fate of 199 individuals was decided in thirteen separate trials in Nuremberg. Those trials established important precedents that have become part of the unwritten laws of nations in the years since.
The Allies and the Trials • Winston Churchill did not want a trial – Thought all should be hung • Americans and Russians wanted a trial • How do you try people for the murder of millions of people that had been made “legal” under Hitler?
• Many people were convinced that the individuals responsible had to be tried before an international court and they wanted each person to take personal responsibility for their actions.
• Winston Churchill argued that the Nazis should be summarily hung. Only after considerable pressure from the Russians and the Americans, did the British change their stand.
• Ironic Stalin wanted a trial. In the early 1930’s, Stalin held many “trials” when he was trying to consolidate his power. Most of these people were considered guilty and had to prove their innocence. Most were killed, including some of Russia’s top Generals.
• Trials decide questions of law, but what laws had the German’s broken? Some would insist that “all is fair in love and war”
The Lieber Code • Compiled by Frances Lieber and given to American soldiers during the Civil War – It detailed how civilians, prisoners of war, and spied were to be treated – Other nations, including Britain, France, and Germany prepared similar manuals – View the code – See important parts of the code
• Before Nuremberg, the most famous war crimes trial was at the end of the Civil War. Captain Henry Wirts, a Confederate officer who commanded the prison camp at Andersonville, Georgia. This camp had a reputation for starvation and cruelty that was not equaled until Hitler’s time.
• Wirts was accused of the deaths of several thousand Yankee prisoners of war. He was tried in a military court, convicted, and hanged. • Wirtz argued he was only obeying the orders of his commander. The evidence supported Wirz’s claims, but the judges convicted him because he followed orders willingly rather than under duress. What is the difference?
The Hague • Held in 1907 in Hague, Netherlands – Focused on the rights of civilians and soldiers who have surrendered
Geneva Accord • Established how prisoners of war were to be treated and called for the protection of the wounded.
Previous Violations • World War I- Germany while unprovoked, invaded Belgium – Treaty of Versailles said Kaiser Wilhelm was to be tried for aggression, but those trials never took place • 1915 - Turks massacred the Armenians in genocide- no trials took place
• As Hitler prepared for the “final solution of the Jewish question, ” he asked, “Who after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians? What was he saying about international law? What was he saying about the “rules of war”
• Professor Richard Hovannisian maintains that had the perpetrators of the Armenian Genocide been more vigorously prosecuted and punished for their crimes, the case might have served as a deterrent for the Holocaust. Do you agree?
The Crimes • Crime of conspiracy – Leaders, organizers, instigators, and accomplices in the formulation or execution of a common plan, or a conspiracy to commit any of the following crimes are responsible for all acts performed by any persons in executing such a plan.
• The Allies were going to punish anyone who violated international law. They were going to hold accountable not only those who ordered the crimes, but also those who participated in them. This included businessmen, doctors, lawyers, and a number of other people.
The Crimes • Crimes against peace – Planning, preparing or initiating a war of aggression. • War Crimes – This meant breaking the rules of war. It included killing prisoners or war and destroying homes and property
• Aggression is an attack on someone • War crimes- violations of the laws or customs or war. Such violations shall include, but not limited to, murder, ill -treatment or deportation to slave labor for any other purposes of civilian population of or in an occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity.
The Crimes • Crimes against humanity – The murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population before or during the war.
Who should be tried? • The first job facing the court at Nuremberg was to decide who should be tried. • 24 Nazi’s were indicted • 22 stood trial • The rest were turned over to local trials
• The first job facing the court at Nuremberg was to decide who should be tried. • Though Hitler and a few others had taken their own lives, most of the top Nazi leaders had been captured by the Allies. Hundreds of names of accused Nazis were brought before the court. The International Military Tribunal decided to try only 24 of the central leaders of the Nazi Party.
• Only 24 Nazis were indicted and two of them never stood trial. Robert Ley, the head of the Nazi labor movement committed suicide before the trial began. • The court ruled that Gustav Krupp, an industrialist, was too ill to be tried. Many other top Nazi leaders, including Hitler and Goebbels, killed themselves in the final days of the war. Others like Adolf Eichmann, managed to disappear during the confusion that marked Germany’s defeat.
How the trials were set up • Allies formed the International Military Tribunal (IMT) to bring the Nazi leaders to trial – Tribunal is a court of justice • The defendants were made aware of all charges, each was entitled to a lawyer and had the right to plead his own case, offering witnesses and evidence on his behalf.
• In the 1200’s St. Thomas Aquinas defined a “just war” as one fought by a legitimate government for a just cause and with the intention of bringing about good. Was the battle raged by the Allies a “just war”
• In 1945, the United States dropped atomic bombs on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Research the bombings and decide if they were “war crimes” • How important is it to establish rules of warfare? Does the knowledge that those rules cannot always be implemented affect your response?
The Nuremberg Trials • Began Nov. 20, 1945 and lasted 10 months • Chief prosecutor was Robert H. Jackson, justice on United States Supreme Court – Opening Statement by Jackson
Statement by Jackson • “We must never forget that the record on which we judge these defendants today is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow. To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our own lips as well. ”
• When this was said, many looked at the two Soviet judges. The Russians had invaded Poland in 1939 and Finland in 1940 and were widely believed to be responsible for the massacre of thousands of Polish officers in the Katyn Forest. They were also responsible for the murder of thousands of their own citizens in the 1930 s as part of Stalin’s efforts to consolidate his control over the nation.
• By 1970, Telford Taylor could sadly write that, “now the wheel has spun full circle, and the fingers of accusation are pointed not at others… but at ourselves. Worse yet, many of the pointing fingers are our own. Voices of the rich and poor and black and white, strident voices and scholarly voices, all speaking our own tongue, raise questions of the legality under the Nuremberg principles of our military actions in Vietnam
The Prosecution • Used the Nazi’s own records • Tried to show the Nazis planned a war and planned to conquer the world if they could – A crime against peace • A minor part of the prosecution was documents and witnesses of the Holocaust
• Throughout the trial, the prosecution used the Nazis own records as evidence. Jackson himself was amazed not only at the quantity of records available, but also at the incredible detail in those records. He did not think “men would ever be so foolish as to put in writing some of the things the Germans did. ”
The Defense • Too much evidence to claim the Holocaust didn’t happen – Had to make case on other issues • Said tribunal had no legal authority • Said they were just following orders
• Defense said that the trial was just a way for the Allies to take revenge and that it was a “show trial” to justify the execution of individual Nazis.
• A big part of the defense was that it was the government of Nazi Germany that was at fault. These Nazi leaders had only been following orders. But the judges declared:
• “That international law imposes duties and liabilities upon individuals as well as upon States… Crimes against international law are committed by men, not by abstract entities (such as a government or political party) and only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes can… international law be enforced. P. 167 -The Holocaust and the World of the Jews
The Defense • Vehemently denied responsibility for crimes against humanity
• Throughout the trial, the defendants vehemently denied responsibility for crimes against humanity. They argued that wars have always been brutal and this war was much like any other. They also insisted that the victors were equally guilty.
• The judges said that all people are aware of certain basic laws such as the law against murder, the law against enslavement, and the law against extermination.
• Duty to these human laws comes before duty to any state or nation and a person will not be forgiven for “following orders’ in violation of these laws. In fact, the higher a person is in military or governmental authority, the greater his or her accountability.
The Defense • Used the argument Fuhrer-prinzip – Nazi “leadership principal” – All orders given in Germany were Hitler’s orders and the punishment for not obeying was death.
• They claimed that all Nazis were innocent; only Hitler could be held accountable.
• The Tribunal rejected this argument. The judges stated, “It was also submitted on behalf of most of these defendants that… they were acting under the orders of Hitler…. That a soldier was ordered to kill or torture in violation of the international law of war has never been recognized as a defense to such acts of brutality. —The Holocaust and the World of the Jews. P. 169
• Amazingly enough, the laws of the Nazi Germany agreed with this ruling. Article 47 of the German military law stated that “no obedience was due to an order that called for the performance of a crime” This law applied to the SS as well as the German Army.
The Nuremberg Trials • The details of what the Nazi’s had done became vivid to the rest of the world
• The details of what the Nazis had accomplished in their death camps, the socalled medical experiments they had conducted, their slave labor program, the horrors they had inflicted wherever they went, were day by day, exposed in thousands upon thousands of words of testimony, motion pictures, and grisly exhibits.
• A war-weary world soon became all too familiar with the overwhelming and virtually incomprehensible statistics of the Nazi nightmare, and with the expressionless faces of the inconsequential-looking men in the prisoner’s docks.
• That vindictiveness was not the purpose of the trial was shown by the differences in sentences handed down. • Hans Fritsche, an editor and propagandist • Franz von Papen, former chancellor and diplomat • Hjalmar Horace Greeley Schacht- a financial genius • All were acquitted
• Death sentences were given to: • Martin Gormann, the SA Boss, in absentia • Hermann Goering, who managed to poison himself an hour before execution • Ribbentrop • Kaltenbrunner • Rosenberg • Frank • Streicher • Frick • Sauckel • Seyss-Inquart • Jodl
• Prominent Japanese war leaders were similarly tried. Two committed suicide: General Shigeru Honjo and Prince Fumimaro Konoye. • Seven were sentenced to hanging: General Hideki Tojo sought, unsuccessfully, to kill himself.
Sentences • Martin Bormann – Hitler’s secretary, was tried in absentia, never captured, sentenced to die A body was later found in Berlin and Bormann was pronounced dead by a German court in 1973.
Sentences • Hermann Goering- – Highest ranking official, 2 nd to Hitler – Commanded the Luftwaffe – Set up the Gestapo – Sentenced to death, but took poison hours before he was to be hung
• According to the judges, he was the “moving force for the aggressive war, second only to Hitler” He was the “creator of the oppressive pogrom against the Jews and other races, at home and abroad. ” • It was he who developed the Gestapo and the concentration camps • “
• By decree of July 31, 1941, he directed (Heinrich) Himmler and (Reinhard) Heydrich to bring about a complete solution to the Jewish question in the German sphere of influence in Europe. ”
• Hermann Goering told a fellow defendant that “you must accept the fact that your life is lost. The only question left is whether you are willing to stand by me and die a martyr’s death. You should not feel too said, some day the German people will rise against and acknowledge us as heroes, and our cones will be moved to marble caskets, in a national shrine. ”
Sentences • Jochaim von Ribbentrop – Hitler’s foreign minister – Deported Jews from occupied countries “to the East”
Sentences • Julius Streicher – Published Der Stuermer, an antisemitic newspaper – Found guilty of “inciting the population to abuse, maltreat, and slay their fellow citizens. ”
• Goebbels was in the bunker with Hitler. After Hitler and Ava Braun died, he gave lethal injections to his six children. He then ordered the SS orderlies to shoot him and his wife.
• Himmler, the man behind the final solution, was convinced Germany should seek peace with Britain and the U. S. Discovering this, Hitler ordered Himmler’s arrest. Himmler escaped in disguise, but was arrested by the British and committed suicide before he could be interrogated.
• Bayer became part of IG Farben, a conglomerate of German chemical industries which formed the financial core of the Nazi regime. IG Farben owned 42. 5% of the company that manufactured Zyklon B a chemical used in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
• When the Allies split IG Farben after World War II for involvement in several Nazi war crimes, Bayer reappeared as an individual business. Bayer executive Fritz ter Meer, sentenced to seven years in prison by the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, was made head of the supervisory board of Bayer in 1956, after his release. • Bayer corporation also discovered Heroine
Later Trials • The first Nuremberg Trials were followed by a dozen others. • Those accused – Military leaders – High-ranking SS and police officers – Doctors who performed selections and medical experiments – Businessmen who used slave labor
• After the first set of trials ended, the United States held twelve others at Nuremberg. • Read Facing History Reading: The Scientists of Annihilation p. 434
• Physicians are bound by the Hippocratic Oath Discuss what responsibilities a physician has to his or her patients and society? • To what extent were doctors and health-care professionals in the Third Reich guided by ideology rather than the interests of medicine and their patients.
• Alfreid Krupp and the directors of his company were tried for their use of slave labor. • Top executives of I. G. Farben were tried for the sale of Zyklon B and the construction of industrial plants at Auschwitz.
• Just a few years after the trials, American scientists and physicians secretly experimented on prisoners and mentally retarded children to discover the effects of radiation. Most Americans knew nothing of the test until the Energy Secretary Hazel O’Leary opened the records to the public in 1993. Use newspapers and magazines to research the story that reporters then discovered.
• Albert Speer research reading in Facing History book p. 437 • Most of the defendants in the second round of trials were convicted. Some were sentenced to death. However, in 1948, many of the death sentences were reduced to prison sentences. Many of the convicted war criminals were freed after only a few
• Why was this done? The main reason was because by late 1940’s there was great tension between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the Soviet Union as an enemy, the United States thought it needed the support of the German people. The United States believed that shortening the sentences of former Nazi leaders might help win that support. The decision was a great disappointment to the survivors of the
• Together, Britain, France, and the United States convicted over 5, 000 Nazis and sentenced 800 to death. P. 440 Facing History The Soviets held similar trials but did not release statistics. • These trials took place between 1946 and 1949 and 177 defendants were accused of various crimes
Later Trials • The Allies extradited many Nazis to nations once occupied by Germany • Norwegians convicted Prime Minister Vidkun Quisling • French convicted Henri-Philippe Petain • The Belgians convicted 75 Nazis, the Luxembourgers 68, the Dutch 204, the Danes and Norwegians 80 each and the Poles thousands of Nazis
Later Trials • Rudolf Hess – Tried by the Poles and the Czechs – Was the Commandant at Auschwitz – Sentenced to life in prison
• Hess was asked if he had considered whether the Jews he murdered deserved such a fate. He responded: • From Facing History p. 433
• Don’t you see, we SS men were not supposed to think about these things. It never even occurred to us. And besides, it was something already taken for granted that the Jews were to blame for everything…
• We just never heard anything else. It was not just newspapers like Der Steurmer but it was everything we ever heard. Even our military and ideological training took for granted that we had to protect Germany from the Jews…
• It only started to occur to me after the collapse that maybe it was not quite right, after I had heard what everybody was saying… We were all so trained to obey orders without even thinking that the thought of disobeying an order would simply never have occurred to anybody and somebody else would have done just as well if I hadn’t…
• You can be sure that it was not always a pleasure to see those mountains of corpses and smell the continual burning. - But Himmler had ordered it and had even explained the necessity and I really never gave much thought to whether it was wrong. It just seemed a necessity.
Results of the Nuremberg Trials • Told the world in great detail about the Holocaust • Established the principle that individuals can’t escape responsibility for their actions by saying they were following orders • Set the standards for judging the actions of nations in the future
Adolf Eichmann Trial • Some high ranking Nazis escaped from the Allies – One was Adolf Eichman • Did more than any other Nazi to persecute Jews • Was in charge of deporting Jews from all over Europe to death camps
• Many Nazi leaders disappeared at the end of the war. Some were aided by relatives and friends with international connections. He drove over 100, 000 Jews out of Austria in less than two years. • Eichmann enjoyed his work. He added his own personal cruelty to his victim’s suffering whenever he could
• He regularly lied to leaders of the Jewish community. He used nasty and vulgar insults when talking to them. He liked showing the Jews the power he had over their lives. • He was the official who organized the Wannsee Conference for his boss Reinhard Heydrich. He also prepared a record of the conference.
• Between 1942 and 1945, Eichmann was in charge of deporting Jews from all over Europe to the death camps. He determined the timing and pace of deportations. He seized Jewish property and hid the real purposes of the deportations from the world. • Himmler, the head of the SS, called Eichman “the Master” when it came to deporting Jews. He was dedicated to his work. He often visited the camps.
• In 1944, Eichmann went to Auschwitz and made suggestions to speed up the process of murder. Eichmann wanted to increase the murder rate from 10, 000 to 12, 000 per day. Eichmann also went to Hungary in 1944 to oversee the deportation of Jews to Auschwitz.
• He stopped at nothing to secure every available train. He did not care that the German army needed trains to get soldiers and weapons to the front lines. Like Hitler, Eichmann considered killing Jews to be more important than the needs of the German army.
• Russia and U. S. competed for Nazi scientists. American officials were even willing to alter the files of Nazi medical researchers and physicists to help them gain admission to the United States. Among them were scientists who helped the United States develop its rocket science program. The Americans also recruited Siegfried Ruff, who conducted experiments at Dachau on human survival capabilities at high altitudes.
• Adolf Eichman was not one of the leaders of the Nazi party. However, once Hitler decided to exterminate the Jews, no Nazi official did more to carry out that policy than Adolf Eichmann.
• Eichmann rose through the ranks of the SS because he worked hard and with great enthusiasm. In 1938 and 1939 - Eichman was in charge of forcing Jews out of Austria.
Tracking Down Eichmann • Simon Wiesenthal, a Holocaust survivor, was instrumental in tracking Eichmann to Argentina • Found in 1949, but by then, most countries had lost interest and would not extradite Nazis
• Eichmann had covered his tracks very effectively. For a while, not even his wife and children knew he was alive. Eventually, he was able to contact his wife and bring his family to Argentina
• Simon Wisenthal told the Isreali government. They sent an agent to get his photograph. He was living under the name Ricardo Klement. The photograph was shown to many people who had met Eichmann prior to 1945 and a police expert compared it with another photo of him and concluded it was him.
• In April 1960, the Israeli agents went to Argentina and spent weeks learning his daily routine. They decided it would be easiest to grab him while he was on his way home from work. They kidnapped Eichmann and brought him to an Israeli hideout for 10 days.
The Trial of Adolf Eichmann • April 11, 1961 Eichmann walks into a courtroom in Jerusalem, Isreal – Put in bulletproof glass booth, for his protection • Main focus was crimes against the Jewish people
Eichmann’s Defense • His main defense was “just following orders” • He also lied about how much authority he had, what he knew, and what he did. • He said he had no power of his own. Many of his answers were “It was so ordered”
Eichmann’s sentence • Was sentenced to death • He is the only person executed by the State of Israel
• On Dec. 11, 1961, the Israeli court found Eichmann guilty of crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and membership in criminal organizations. Four days later it sentenced him to death.
• Eichmann appealed the court’s decision, but the court of appeals upheld the guilty verdict. In May 1962, Eichmann was hanged and his body cremated. His ashes were scattered at sea.
Effect of Eichmann Trial • More Holocaust survivors came forward to tell their stories • More scholars studied the Holocaust
“Nazi Hunters” • Individuals and organizations known as “Nazi Hunters” still actively seek to bring Nazis to trial. • The Butcher of Lyons was sentenced to life in prison in 1987. • Klaus Barbie, the head of the Gestapo in Lyons, France, was tracked down by Nazi hunters. His trial concentrated on his part in the Final Solution. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1987.
Legacy: Genocide Convention • 1933: Raphael Lemkin begins to write about mass murder as a crime under international law • 1943: Coins the word: “genocide. ” – Greek –genos (family, tribe or race) – Latin -cide (killing) • 1946: Genocide recognized by UN as crime in international law • 1948: Genocide Convention adopted by UN. Rape eventually added as an act of genocide
Genocide Convention • Article I: The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Legacy: Genocide • 4 decades before the U. S. ratifies the Genocide Convention • 50 years before anyone is convicted of genocide • 97 countries ratify the convention before the U. S.
Legacy: Human Rights • Adoption by UN of Declaration of Human Rights follows the Genocide Convention in 1948 on the next day. • Article 1. • All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. • Article 2. • Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
Legacy: Nuremberg Code of Medical Ethics • Code of Ethics: – Informed Consent mandatory and exercised freely – Experiments must avoid physical and mental suffering – Experiments must be avoided if death or disabling injury a possibility
Never Again?
Genocides Continue Armenia East Timor. Sudan Europe Uganda ? ? Indonesia Iraq ? ? Burundi Yugoslavia Bangladesh Rwanda Uganda
War Crimes Continue Srebrenica Rwanda Abu Grahib
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