The Trials Of The Defeated Nazis

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

As World War II began to come to a close, one question remained on the minds of the Allies: What were they going to do with the Nazi leaders that had inflicted so much pain and suffering on the world? There were multiple stances taken by each country and their leaders. Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviets, as well as the United States of America both proposed the idea of a fair trial for the war criminals. However, on the other hand, men like Winston Churchill believed summary justice, a system that punishes offenders quickly, excluding a court hearing or jury, was the correct way to deal with them.

Later, it was proven that the USSR was correct in pushing for a trial to occur. If the United States had continued its argument to not to go through with the trial, it would jeopardize the values that the country was built on. The trials began with a 24,000 word indictment, taking nearly two days to read (Levinson 578). Each of the men was tried on four counts, conspiracy to wage aggressive war, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity (Levinson 578), by a set of judges and jury that represented each of the Allied countries (fix citation). By having a fair and just trial, it gives the court the power to show that every human, no matter what the crime, has the right to a fair trial and that justice would eventually be served. By exercising the justice system, it also allowed the public to view the magnitude of the crimes committed by the men, and the level of involvement that each of them had in Nazi activity.

Twenty-four major political and military leaders of Nazi Germany, indicted for aggressive war, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Of the twenty-four twenty-one were taken into custody and put on trial; these were known as the Nuremberg Trials. These trials started on November 20th 1945 and were the first ever war crime tribunal. The Trials were held by the Allied forces of World War II and were held in the city of Nuremberg in Bavaria Germany out of the Palace of Justice. Accusations placed against them were for their involvement in the Nazi Party during World War II. Nazi officials were judged unfairly during the Nuremburg Trails for a

One possible idea that stood behind establishing the Nuremburg trials was to implement the first tribunal where leaders of brutal war crimes and calculated atrocities against humanity were given the chance to go through the judicial process and prove their case in court, with judges from the opposing side presiding over the trials. A majority of the Allied powers and countries invaded by Nazi Germans preferred summary executions of the Nazi leaders because they considered their crimes to be beyond the scope of human justice. America was the front man for advocating a war crimes trial, expressing a notion of setting an example for the world to see that as victors of World War II, they were willing to show Nazis humanity and a chance to let the

A brief look at the Nuremberg Trials and some of the people involved. It steps upon the problems leading to the start of the trials including three of the doctors, three of the experiments performed on prisoners, and the judgment of three people involved with carrying out the vulgar experiments. Also included are three people who decided to commit suicide instead of facing certain death after going before a jury. The three people who committed suicide were also three of the biggest people involved in building the Nazi party in Germany and its surrounding areas.

The Nuremberg trials were started when the Nazi leaders were arrested by the International Military Tribunal . The military wanted to execute them right on spot but everyone in the court agreed on no execution if there were no trials. Thirteen trials were held from December 1946 to April 1949. Twenty two nazi leaders went on trial (Breitbart 102). There were 3 categories, the first one was crimes against peace, this included the planning or acting a war force. The second one was war crimes, where you would break the rules of war,such as the killing of the Jews. The last was crimes against humanity, which had included mass murder to the human population. Every nazi leader was accused for one or more of 4 charges, unless they got out of the trial (History).

It is a pleasant autumn day in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1960. Suddenly, agents from Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, tackled a man to the ground (Lichtblau, The Nazis Next Door 68). Unbeknownst to spectators, that man was Adolf Eichmann, aide to the Fascist dictator Adolf Hitler. Along with Hitler and other Third Reich Nazis, he had organized the Holocaust—a massive genocide murdering eleven million people. How is it possible that, after all of these years, Eichmann remained hidden? How is it possible that the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, which were held by the Allied Powers after World War II, did not execute this man? The Nuremberg Trials were a series of thirteen trials held between 1945 and 1949 to prosecute some Nazi war criminals. The trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, because its courthouse was not damaged from the war. The four Allied Powers held the hearings, and the best-known trial was the Trial of Major War Criminals (“Nuremberg Trials”). The fact of the matter is that not many Nazis were actually convicted in the Nuremberg Trials, even though these court proceedings were supposed to bring Nazis to justice. Overall, the Nuremberg Trials were not effective in prosecuting Nazi war criminals. This is because few Nazis were executed, many fled to South America, the U.S. enlisted them as spies, and they became top scientists in the United States Space Program.

The trials of leading German officials were held before the International Military Tribunal, known as the IMT. From October 18, 1945, to October 1, 1946, the IMT tried twenty-two “major” war criminals on charges of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. The lead prosecutors were from the United States, United Kingdom, France, and the USSR (“War Crimes Trials”). Some of the defendants were Hermann Wilhelm Gӧring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Robert Ley, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Walter Funk, Hjalmar Schacht, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, Karl Dӧnitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Martin Bormann, Franz von Papen, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Albert Speer, Konstantin von Neurath, and Hans Fritzsche (“Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal”). Twelve of those tried were sentenced to death, including Hermann Gӧring, Hans Frank, Alfred Rosenberg, and Julius Streicher. The IMT sentenced three defendants to life in prison. The IMT also gave four defendants prison sentences ranging from ten to twenty years long. Three defendants were acquitted (“War Crimes

How could the law, first explicitly accepted in the Nuremberg Charter of 1945, have bound the defendants in the trial when they committed the acts for which they were indicted years earlier?

These trials are best known for being the first trial of the major war criminals. Held in the German city of Nuremberg, at the first trial twenty four of the most important leaders of Nazi Germany was tried, and at the second set of trials Nazi Doctors and Judges were conducted at the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunals (“The Nuremberg Trials.”). Since defense attorneys and prosecutors were presented by the British and American law, and the sentences were appointed by a panel of judges, the arrangement of the trial was a blend of legal traditions. All of the four Allied powers equipped two judges, one being the main judge and the other an alternate. (History.com Staff). Within the twenty four of the most important leaders of Nazi Germany being tried, so was the six Nazi organizations, such as the “Gestapo”, also known as the secret police. Each defendant was able to choose their own lawyers, and one of the defense strategies included that the trail was a plan of victor’s justice. This stated that the Allied were applying severe standards to the crimes taken place by the German and tolerance to crimes committed by their own soldiers (History.com Staff). Although in the spring of 1945, a critical set back occured when Hitler and two of his leading collaborators, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels, all committed suicide before they could be brought to

Bringing Nazi criminals accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity to justice was the purpose of trying them. The trials were held to deter similar crimes in the future.

A set of military trials held after the Second World War between 1945 to 1947 by the Allies in the city of Nuremberg, Germany, is known as the Nuremberg Trials. This series of Trials aimed to prosecute the war criminals whom were former prominent leaders in the Nazi Party, or had participated in the deportation and annihilation of the Jewish race during the Second World War. The judges were from France, Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union and the indictments were divided into three major sections: Crimes against peace, humanity and War crimes (“JURISDICTION AND GENERAL PRINCIPLES” 6). Ultimately, ten war criminals were sentenced to death, excluding Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels, who had committed

The Nuremberg Trials all started when the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the United States of America issued a joint declaration

“The Trial of German Major War Criminals : Proceedings of the International Military Tribunal Sitting at Nuremberg Germany.” Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy,