Top ways to experience Nuremburg Trial Courthouse and nearby attractions. You're sitting here as a female. Benjamin Ferencz: And I'm still in there fighting. 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. 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. [206], Many Germans at the time of the trials focused on finding food and shelter; few followed the trial closely. Benjamin Ferencz: Of course, is my answer. 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 . [222] By the late 1950s, the West German consensus on release began to erode, due to greater openness in political culture and new revelations of Nazi criminality, including the first trials of Nazi perpetrators in West German courts. Marie-Claude Valliant Couturier revealed the conditions under which French women existed while interned; 49 of the 230 French women sent to Auschwitz survived. This photograph was taken in Kyiv, Ukraine, not Nuremberg . [215] Early releases of those convicted by the Nuremberg Military Tribunals began in 1949;[216] and in 1951, High Commissioner John J. McCloy overturned most of the sentences. [24][25] Although a novel construct, "crimes against humanity" covered acts that were already prohibited by the laws of most countries. [236][237], The trials were the first use of simultaneous interpretation, which stimulated technical advances in translation methods. Vaillant Couturier later became a French politician. The film, compiled from footage of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, shocked both the defendants and the judges, who adjourned the trial. from. 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. Germany, May 1945: a surrender, a country in chaos and the top Nazi leaders attempting to slip away. (Image credit: U.S. Without simultaneous translation the trial cannot happen. [238][239] The Palace of Justice houses a museum on the trial and the courtroom became a tourist attraction, drawing 13,138 visitors in 2005. [92], The International Military Tribunal began trial on 20 November 1945,[93] after postponement requests from the Soviet prosecution, who wanted more time to prepare its case, were rejected. Other absent and dead men including Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Adolf Eichmann, and Bormann were also blamed. Nuremberg war crimes trials 70 years on: a complex legacy. Lesley Stahl: Now, you've been at this for 50 years, if not more. A new tool for designing and managing irrigation for farms advances the implementation of smart agriculture, an approach that leverages data and modern technologies to boost crop yields while conserving natural resources. [87], Initially, it was planned to hold a second international tribunal for German industrialists, but this was never held because of differences between the Allies. 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 . She said: "The Nuremberg Code relates to research, where the emphasis of informed consent requirements is on preventing the research participants from being used as a means to an end. QAnon followers believe a second set of Nuremberg-like trials will be held to prosecute those who introduced coronavirus restrictions, on the grounds of "crimes against humanity." Acolytes of the . But the trials were already underway, and prosecution staff was stretched thin. He scored a victory when the international criminal court in The Hague was created in 1998. [172] All 22 defendants were charged with crimes against peace, and 12 were convicted. Defendants-- absolutely blank. [138], From March to July 1946, the defense presented its counterarguments. [77] Gring, the most famous surviving Nazi, headlined the trial. [234][235] Further developments in international criminal law in the aftermath of the trials included the Genocide Convention (1948) and the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949). In doing so, it established a legal precedent in international humanitarian law that is still relevant today. [33], The negotiators decided that the tribunal's permanent seat would be in Berlin, while the trial would be held at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. [188] The Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes identified 2,500 major war criminals, of whom 177 were tried. [143] Although a few defense lawyers inverted the arguments of the prosecution to assert that the Germans' authoritarian mindset and obedience to the state exonerated them from any personal guilt, most rejected such arguments. 22 mins. [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". [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. Two of the 24 defendants died during the trials, including Hermann Goring, commander of Nazi Germanys air force, who committed suicide. Benjamin Ferencz: Defendants' face were blank, all the time. It isn't easy viewing. [157] Over the course of the trial, crimes against humanity and especially against Jews (who were mentioned as victims of Nazi atrocities far more than any other group) came to upstage the aggressive war charge. Your legs won't reach the pedals." [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. [84][85] The American prosecution drew on reports of the Office of Strategic Services and information provided by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the American Jewish Committee. 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. Stanford, California 94305. Benjamin Ferencz: They said, "No, you're too short. On Thursday, Florida Gov. 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." [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". Benjamin Ferencz: A father who, his son told me the story. [2] German aggression was accompanied by immense brutality in occupied areas and the systematic murder of millions of Jews in the Holocaust. Twelve defendants received a death sentence, seven were sentenced to prison terms of varying lengths, and three were acquitted. [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. [68] Most of the defendants had surrendered to the United States or United Kingdom. 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.. Ben Ferencz entered into evidence the defendants' own reports of what they'd done. 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. . The bill was introduced by Reps. Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Joe Wilson (R-S.C.), Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) Lesley Stahl: Did anybody ever say that you're naive? (Image credit: National Archives of the Netherlands / ANP, CC0). The New Nuremberg Trials 2021: Update from Dr. Reiner Fue. I know I'm right. [117] The French prosecutors, more than their British or American counterparts, emphasized the guilt of the German people;[118] they barely mentioned the charge of aggressive war and instead focused on forced labor, economic plunder, massacres, and Germanization. [223], The International Military Tribunal, and the drafters of its charter, invented international criminal law essentially from nothing. [87][149] United States admiral Chester Nimitz testified that the United States had used the same methods of submarine warfare that the German admirals were accused of; Dnitz's counsel successfully argued that this meant that such actions could not be crimes. Gabrielle Karampelas, Stanford Libraries: (650) 497-4414, gkaram@stanford.edu. [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. [66][67] The prosecutors wanted to try representative leaders of German politics, economy, and military; and the Americans had a list of 70 names at the London Conference. COVID-19 vaccination does not violate the Nuremberg Code . [45] At Jackson's recommendation, the United States appointed judges Francis Biddle and John Parker. 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. I got on the next plane, flew from Berlin down to Nuremberg, and I said to Taylor, "General, we've gotta put on a new trial.". In 1946, verdicts were handed down in the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. (Image credit: National Archives of the Netherlands / ANP, CC0), (Image credit: U.S. So he finished at Harvard then enlisted as a private in the Army. Boy, I felt if I'd had a bayonet I woulda jumped over the thing, and put a bayonet right through one ear, and let it come out the other. [103], Much of the American case focused on the development of the Nazi conspiracy before the outbreak of war. All eight judges participated in the deliberations, but the alternates could not cast a vote. 27-year-old Ben Ferencz became the chief prosecutor of 22 Einsatzgruppen commanders at Nuremberg. He promoted an intentionalist view of the Nazi state and its overall conspiracy to commit all of the crimes mentioned in the indictment. Exhibit 179, from Kiev in 1941: "The city's Jews were ordered to present themselves about 34,000 reported, including women and children. Episode 10 - Too Much Paper . Look what's happened to the same-sex marriages. [145], Despite the fact that the charter did not recognize a tu quoque defense, such arguments were repeatedly raised during the trial. Fact check:Doctors' Trial was one of 13 Nuremberg Trials. Part of an artillery battalion, he landed on the beach at Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. "Informed consent for treatment serves a slightly different purpose. Following the end of World War II, trials aimed at holding Nazi war criminals accountable were held in Nuremberg, Germany. [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. [106][107] The Americans summoned Einsatzgruppen commander Otto Ohlendorf, who testified about the murder of 80,000 people by those under his command, and SS general Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, who admitted that German anti-partisan warfare was little more than a cover for the mass murder of Jews. This footage came to light years later. But it's a reality today. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Cohen is also the WSD-HANDA Professor in Human Rights and International Justice. Now I will tell you something very profound, which I have learned after many years. Nothing new ever happened before. [27] Especially the United States wanted to avoid countenancing any rule that would give an international court jurisdiction over a government's treatment of its own citizens. The Marines, they just looked at me and said, "Forget it, kid.". [56][57] After this division of formulating the charges, the British and American delegations decided to work jointly in drafting the charges of conspiracy to wage aggressive war. They all have already tags on 'em. The trial of 22 Nazi leaders began on Nov. 20, 1945, and the Tribunal pronounced its judgment on Oct. 1, 1946. It was classified, so many Jews, so many gypsies, so many others--. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. [95] None of the defendants tried to assert that the Nazis' crimes had not occurred; instead, they attempted to divert blame from their own actions. [80][81] The aim was to have these organizations declared criminal, so that their members could be tried expeditiously for membership in a criminal organization. [104] On 29 November, the prosecution was unprepared to continue presenting on the invasion of Czechoslovakia, and instead screened Nazi Concentration and Prison Camps. People get discouraged. It helps people understand the human consequences of the things that are going on today and to understand the human dimension of what these kinds of events mean, said Cohen. [8][9] On November 1, 1943, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and the United States issued the Moscow Declaration to "give full warning" to the Nazi leadership of the Allies' intent to "pursue them to the uttermost ends of the earthin order that justice may be done". Lesley Stahl: Had you prosecuted trials before? At a later date, more multimedia such as film, audio recordings, photographs will be added to the collection. [200] The case law of the trials fleshed out the skeleton provided by the Nuremberg charter and the IMT verdict. He didn't deny the killings -- he had the gall to claim they were done in self-defense. And that's how 27-year-old Ben Ferencz became the chief prosecutor of 22 Einsatzgruppen commanders at trial number 9 at Nuremberg. [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. 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. [108][109], On 12 December, Shawcross gave the opening speech for the British. [190][191] Also on trial were industrialistsin the Flick trial, the IG Farben trial, and the Krupp trialfor using forced labor, looting property from Nazi victims, and funding SS atrocities. [85] After the American prosecution flooded the trial with untranslated evidence, the judges insisted that all of the evidence be read into the record, which slowed the trial. This week, the U.S. 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. [10] The declaration also stated that those high-ranking Nazis who had committed crimes in several countries would be dealt with jointly. He says he's grateful for the life he's lived in this country, and it's his turn to give back. [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. [55], The work of drafting the indictment was divided up by the national delegations. [197] The trials heard 1,300 witnesses, entered more than 30,000 documents into evidence, and generated 132,855 pages of transcripts, with the judgements themselves totaling 3,828 pages. You know, kick 'em in. [155] In the context of the brewing Cold War, the trial became a means of condemning not only Germany but also the Soviet Union. Published Jul 14, 2021. [67] Former Nazis were allowed to serve as counsel[45] and by mid-November all defendants had lawyers. [129] The Soviet prosecution also attempted to fabricate German responsibility for the Katyn massacre, which had in fact been committed by the Soviet Union. [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. And I see the progress. [224][225][226] During the two decades after the trial, opinions were predominantly negative. 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. People receiving the COVID-19 vaccines at this point are not taking part in a medical experiment, because the vaccines already have gone through clinical trials and have received emergency . [39] Besides legal professionals, there were many social-science researchers, psychologists, translators and interpreters, and graphic designers, the latter to make the many charts used during the trial. [228] The most controversial charge was crimes against peace. Stanford University is marking the 75th anniversary of the International Military . [207][208] In a 1946 poll, 78 percent of Germans assessed the trial as fair, but four years later that had fallen to 38 percent, with 30 percent considering it unfair. [227] The main legal criticisms of the trial focused on questions of retroactivity, selectivity, and jurisdiction. [139] Some defendants denied their involvement in, or knowledge of, certain crimes,[140] even resorting to implausible lies. [192] Members of the SS were tried in the Pohl trial, which focused on members of the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office that oversaw SS economic activity, including the Nazi concentration camps;[193] the RuSHA trial of Nazi racial policies; and the Einsatzgruppen trial, in which members of the mobile killing squads were tried for the murder of more than one million people behind the Eastern Front. 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. Benjamin Ferencz: Well, I'm still a young man. At the Nuremberg Trials, the doctors and nurses stood trial, and they hung. Lesley Stahl: Ben? 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. Our aim is to create a resource that enables users to draw on that experience and knowledge in ways that can assist governments, institutions and experts in improving how we achieve accountability for mass atrocity crimes, said Cohen. [150] The judges barred most evidence on Allied misdeeds from being heard in court. Ferencz had stumbled upon reports sent back to headquarters by secret SS units called Einsatzgruppen, or action groups. Stanford University is marking the 75th anniversary of the International Military Tribunal of Nuremberg with a significant expansion of records from the historic trial. And that's just the beginning. [124] Paulus incriminated his former associates, pointing to Keitel, Jodl, and Gring as the defendants most responsible for the war. First published on June 27, 2021 / 6:54 PM. The British worked on putting together the aggressive war charge; the French and Soviet delegations were assigned the task of covering crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on the Western Front and the Eastern Front, respectively. A 103-year-old South Florida man who fought Nazi atrocities as a Nuremberg prosecutor is now the recipient of the Governor's Medal of Freedom. 27 Aug 2021. [43] The United States prosecution believed that Nazism was the product of a German deviation from Western history (the Sonderweg thesis) and sought to correct this deviation with a trial that would serve both retributive and educational purposes. 03/Jun/2021. [160] On 2 September, the court recessed; and the judges retreated into seclusion to decide the verdict and sentences, which had been under discussion since June. Not guilty. 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. Proposals for how to punish the defeated Nazi leaders ranged from a show trial (the Soviet Union) to summary executions (the United Kingdom). Stanford Libraries is working with the Registry of the International Court of Justice to build a complete digital corpus of this historic archive. This March, Ben Ferencz turned 101 and he's still in there fighting. 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. Streicher, editor in chief of the Der Sturmer anti-Semitic weekly, claimed that hed always viewed German Jews as legitimate compatriots and long supported Zionism. [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". He also recalls how, for a time, he followed in his fathers footsteps to become a school principal before he became politically radicalized and joined Adolf Hitlers Nazi Party, which he said he believed offered the best path to recovering Germanys ailing economy and improving its international status after its devastating defeat in World War I. Grbe painfully recounts how he saw a grave of over a thousand bodies, some of whom were still moving.. The Nuremberg trials after World War II were historic -- the first international war crimes tribunals ever held. Benjamin Ferencz: I was so young. [211] The educational purpose of the Nuremberg Military Tribunals was a failure, in part because of the resistance to war crimes trials in German society, but also because of the United States Army's refusal to publish the trial record in German for fear it would undermine the fight against communism. They could-- like, they're waiting for a bus. / CBS News. I am naive? Ferencz came home, married his childhood sweetheart and vowed never to set foot in Germany again. Lesley Stahl: You've really seen evil. [95][96] As Jackson made clear, the purpose of the trial was not just to convict the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi crimes, establish individual responsibility and the crime of aggression in international law, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, delegitimize the traditional German elite,[97] and allow the Allies to distance themselves from appeasement. 06/29/2021. Benjamin Ferencz: --recall if I'd ever been in a courtroom actually. But he isn't content just being a part of 20th-century history -- he believes he has something important to offer the world right now. [141] The defendants tried to blame their crimes on Hitler, who was mentioned 1,200 times during the trialmore than the top five defendants combined. . These were people who could quote Goethe, who loved Wagner, who were polite--. [125], More so than other delegations, Soviet prosecutors showed the gruesome details of German mistreatment of prisoners of war and forced laborers, as well as the systematic murder of Jews in eastern Europe. They're not real. [37] Nineteen states ratified the charter and were admitted as observers. They would never have been brought to justice were it not for Ben Ferencz. This is Ferencz making his opening statement in the Nuremberg courtroom 73 years ago. For the Tokyo Trial, see. (Image credit: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Courtesy Randy Cole). Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 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. Judge: How do you plead to this indictment, guilty or not guilty? Posted Wed 11 Aug 2021 at 8:00pm Wednesday 11 Aug 2021 at 8:00pm Wed 11 Aug 2021 at 8:00pm. Benjamin Ferencz: Well, this is typical operation. 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. I was 27 years old. The Nuremberg Trials . Lesley Stahl: You don't think they turn into savages even for the act? [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. Episode 9 - To Stay the Hand of Vengeance. [13] Planners in the United States Department of War were drawing up plans for an international tribunal in late 1944 and early 1945. The New Nuremberg Trials 2021. That is the current system. [119] Unlike the British and American prosecution strategy, which focused on using German documents to make their case, the French prosecutors took the perspective of the victims, submitting postwar police reports and calling eleven witnesses. Thanks to a grant from Tad Taube and Taube Philanthropies, now, on the 75th anniversary of the first major international war crimes trial ending, a significant new collection of digital materials will be made available to the public. And they're chasing them. But during his first semester, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, and he, like many classmates, raced to enlist. Taylor told Ferencz adding another trial was impossible. (The U.S. Jackson submitted his final report to President Truman one week after the verdicts. And I can't believe you're 97 years old. A Supreme Court justice led the American team of prosecutors. One of these-- my defendants said-- He gets up, and he says, "[GERMAN]," which is, "What? In 1954, the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear submarine, was . All wars, and all decent people. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death (Gring, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, Seyss-Inquart, and Bormann). He's a patriotic human being acting in the interest of his country, in his mind. But that didn't last long. [41][42], The United States' chief prosecutor was Supreme Court justice Robert H. [130] The defense presented evidence of Soviet responsibility,[131] and Katyn was not mentioned in the verdict. 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. [144] Most defendants argued their own insignificance within the Nazi system, but Gring took the opposite approach, presenting himself as Hitler's loyalist and expecting that while he would be executed, the German people would eventually appreciate his loyalty. The Natural Capital Project is working with development banks and 10 pilot countries to put the environment at the forefront of policy and investment decisions.

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