Nuremberg Trials Fair Essay

The Nuremberg Trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany from the 20th of November 1945 to the 1st of October 1946, 24 of the Nazi leaders were tried for their crimes against humanity, however only 22 trials were officially carried out due to Robert Ley committing suicide and Gustav Krupp von Bohlen deemed unfit for trial before their hearing. It was considered to be controversial as all Nazi officials at one time claimed that they were simply following orders from a higher power and that they weren’t to blame for their crimes because they were acting in self defence. Hermann Göring also committed suicide the day before his scheduled execution. Also a few of Hitler’s accomplices committed suicide before they had a chance to be trialled. These adjustments to the expected outcome of the Nuremberg Trials caused controversy amongst everyone who knew of the Nazi’s treatment of others, especially Jews. There was also some bias towards the Nazi party from the people conducting the trial as they were mostly from Allied descent and had personal reasons to persecute Nazis simply because they were Nazis without fairly considering their crimes against humanity.

According to Justice Lawrence, author, the purpose of the Nuremberg Trials, later known as the Doctor’s Trial, was to “not only the punishment of those who were guilty but the establishment of the supremacy of international law over national law and proof of the actual facts” (Lawrence, p. 153) of the atrocious mass genocide known now as the Holocaust. This means that point of these trials were not only to punish the murderous doctors but also to show the world that international law is the highest form of power. A separate form of trials initially took place in Germany, however, it was a “farce” according to Lawrence. “The majority got off and such sentences as were inflicted were derisory and were soon remitted” (Lawrence, p. Yo27153). Due to the growing tension between the German court of law and other countries the Doctor’s Trial was then moved to Nuremberg, and the evidence was eventually over-turned to the United States who would eventually indict 23 doctors on a number of crimes

Victims searched for someone to be punished. They wanted someone to suffer and take responsibility for all the pain and suffering that they endured. All of the, “precedents set in trials against Holocaust perpetrators have guided a new understanding of justice as a tool for seeking accountability, providing affirmation to victims, warning perpetrators, and reflecting society’s highest ideals about truth and justice” (2011 Days of Remembrance). The trials are a crucial stepping stone to the road of justice. They act as a permanent reminder to the world of the mistakes that were made. Germany has paid for its mistakes and has now moved on to become an ally to many nations. This alliance can be taken as a message. The countries can forgive, however, they will never

The Nuremburg Trials were trials held by allied forces to accuse a system of government for war crimes after World War II. These crimes dealt with invading nations, violating the Treaty of Versailles, and primarily “crimes against humanity.” They were later known as the Holocaust, where many victims were deported, enslaved, and executed. The victims of the Holocaust were primarily Jewish, Polish, Gypsies, and handicapped elderly who were considered dangerous. The International Military Tribunal, called the prosecutors consisted of lawyers and judges from the United States, France, and Soviet Union. The purpose of the trial was to decide how to prosecute the judges that did not do their job of serving justice to a multitude of innocent individuals

The Nuremberg Trials may have been awful but now researchers are aware of the difference between right and

Towards the end of World War II ally powers began to come across concentration camps which housed what the Nazi’s deemed the “undesirables” mainly people of the Jewish faith, gypsies, Russians, polish, the mentally disabled, and the physically impaired. What happened in these camps is one of the most appalling events in world history which would become to be known as the Holocaust. Approximately eleven million people died in the Holocaust due to malnourishment, slave labor, extermination, and medical experimentation (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). These were so heinous that allied powers took the Nazi members to international court for crimes against humanity, which became to be known as the Nuremburg Trials (Duhaime's Law Dictionary).

The trial attracted a lot of public recognition in Germany, but considered Fritz Bauer; who played a significant role as a Judge and prosecutor on the trails, was quoted to say that the trials in a macro-scale was a failure. Only 22 SS members were charged, with an estimate of 6,000 to 8,000 who were thought to have been involved in the administration and operation of the camp. Six officials received life sentences, and many others were given long sentences. However, several were given on average 3-7 years and it is documented that four were acquitted and released. It was the first time individuals responsible for the Nazi's methods of exterminating Jews and people of other minorities were brought before national courts in Germany. In my focus, I would also like to show emphasis on the 360 witnesses who were called to testify, of which 210 were survivors of the Holocaust and the Hitler

Althoughthe Nuremberg Trials were designed to punish the Nais and to offer some sort of closer to the victims, there was one major problem that clogged the system. The problem was that there were

During the Nuremberg Trials, thousands of Nazi soldiers, Third Reich leaders, government officials, and perpetrators were prosecuted for crimes against humanity. Many of those under investigation were lower status soldiers who pleaded for clemency, arguing that they were “just following orders.” But this didn’t change their sentence. Looking back, we emphatically shake our heads and vow that we would never have done such things, and that of course those rotten Nazis got exactly what they deserved. But maybe if we think just a bit harder, it’s not so simple. Needless to say, this is not to excuse any of the atrocities committed by Nazi soldiers, but the situation itself isn’t so cut-and-dry when we put ourselves into the shoes of these soldiers who would’ve faced imprisonment, mutilation, even death, had they not obeyed the laws of their government.

In November 1944, Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin published his influential book the Axis Rule in Occupied Europe. It was in this book where Lemkin exposed the multiple flaws that existed in international law and requested the recognition of a new crime, which he named ‘genocide’. It is suggested that Lemkin wrote the Axis Rule to use as evidence for anticipated war crime trials that would be carried out once WWII ended, and that he was also conscious of the opportunity the trials would provide for recognising genocide as a crime under international law. Shortly after the book was published, he was able to aid in the prosecution of the perpetrators of this crime in the Nuremberg trials and in doing so, advance the understanding and credibility of the term, which eventually led to its recognition and criminalisation. The purpose of this essay is to explore the role Raphael Lemkin played in the Nuremberg trials, and furthermore, explore the extent to

This paper seeks to canvass the legacy of the Nuremberg Trial; the legal justifications and procedural innovations that were once controversial and which through the turn of the century have now come to be regarded as a milestone towards the application of principles of international law, establishment of a permanent international criminal court enshrined under the Rome Statute and setting new precedents for the international community. Furthermore, the author seeks to juxtapose the legal and political justifications given for the

From the research I have done Keitel is portrayed as a disgraced desk soldier whose only defence in the trial was that he was obeying orders. I still do not agree with Wilhelm’s argument because he had a choice not to follow through with Hitler’s wishes but instead signed orders for various ruthless killings and attacks. Keitel knew his actions were really obscene but he chose to go through with them to please Hitler. The judge’s final verdict for Wilhelm Keitel was that he is guilty on all four accounts and sentenced to death by hanging. Keitel signed orders for the attacks on the neutral countries of Belgium and the Netherlands. He also ordered the attacks on soldiers in the East that should be met by putting to death fifty to one hundred Communists for one German soldier’s death. The judges made the appropriate sentencing for Keitel as he deserved to die for his inhumane war orders. Superior orders, even to a soldier, cannot lessen the crime when the evil doings are committed deliberately and ruthlessly. These kinds of orders Keitel singed off on were just so vicious and cold blooded. Any normal human being in their right mind would not allow for these actions to happen. Finally, Hans Frank was the third accused Nazi who used the defence that he was just following orders. Frank was appointed Chief Civil Administration Officer for occupied Polish territory during the war. Hans Frank stated during the trial, “I did not approve of the persecutions of

In the tumultuous period leading up to World War II, a series of laws were devised in Nazi Germany that subjected the Jewish people to prohibitory and discriminatory forms of treatment. Although the Jewish people only accounted for 503,000 of the 55 million occupants of the country, Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship preached the incorporation of anti-Semitism into law and practice in order to quell the people he considered to be the enemy of the country.

The Nuremberg Trials were a critical point in the history of international law because it established the fact that humanity has the need of an international shield to shelter and protect. This event was responsible for contributing in the ongoing process of developing rules that are binding between states and nations also known as international laws. The judgment of the trials may be one of the most important events in the history of international law due to the fact that it assisted in establishing laws against war crimes. One of the biggest questions raised was whether causing a war was an international crime that would be punishable or not. Many believed there was no

As can be seen, The Nuremberg Trials had many impacts on the world and also the future. They had bought Nazi’s to justice and the trials had saved many lives. The Nuremberg Trials impact had launched World War II but in this process, they had eliminated many Nazi’s. The trials had lasted 218 days in all. Some of the prison sentences they had were turned into death sentences while some death sentences were turned into a death