The Trials Of The Nazis During The Holocaust

In The Perils of Obedience, Stanley Milgram introduces us to his experimental studies on the conflict between one’s own conscience and obedience to authority. From these experiments, Milgram discovered that a lot of people will obey a figure in authority; irrespective of the task given - even if it goes against their own moral belief and values. Milgram’s decision to conduct these experiments was to investigate the role of Adolf Eichmann (who played a major part in the Holocaust) and ascertain if his actions were based on the fact that he was just following orders; as most Germans accused of being guilty for war crimes commonly explained that they were only being obedient to persons in higher authority.

The Nuremberg trials were the largest trials held to punish the Nazis. Nuremberg, Germany was the chosen site for these trials, therefore the name Nuremberg trials. The Nuremberg Trials took place in 1945 and 1946 (The Nuremberg Trials). “Those individuals directly involved in the killing received the most severe punishments.” Judges from the countries of the United States, France, Great Britain, and The Soviet union presided over the Nuremberg Trials (The Nuremberg trials). Of the Nazi’s convicted twelve were sentanced to death, seven were sent to the Spandau Prison in Berlin and ten were hung (The Nuremberg Trials). The majority of the major war leaders were convicted in the Nuremberg Trials and the Allies came together to decide on the punishments of these criminals. The Nuremberg Trials punished many Nazis and Nazi supporters, but many more still remained after the trials and went into hiding to never be

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.

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

The main idea behind the Nuremberg Trials following World War II was to set an international precedent for how war crimes should be persecuted following wartimes. Part of the motivation for the Nuremberg Trials was in the way the Germans were treated after World War I. Harsh sanctions were imposed on Germany and huge debts were accumulated – this inevitably crippled the German economy and bred unrest. During a period of time when anti-allied sentiments were high it was easy for a charismatic Hitler to gain power and lead the Germans to WWII. With the hopes of finding a way to punish those directly responsible for the war, rather than the whole nation, the United States, United Kingdom, France, and Russia joined together to create an international

The idea behind the establishment of the Nuremberg trials is to bring justice to the war crimes that took place during World War II in Nazi Germany. After Adolf Hitler committed suicide, many of Germany’s top officers, party officials, etc.; were brought to court by the Allied forces. Many of the actions taken by the Nazis broke peace within humanity and treaties with other countries. They showed many videos of how the Jews were mistreated in the concentration camps. But they had to have a fair trial for all of the people detained. However most of the prisoner’s used the fact that they were just following orders and not directing them. Within the Palace of Justice, they showed a lot of evidence against the detained people; however, in some

After World War II when all the camps were liberated, trials were held against the Nazi’s who took part in this genocide. These trials were called the Nuremburg trials. The trials took place between October 20, 1945 and October 1, 1946 . Although Many Nazis felt they were taking orders their punishments through the Nuremburg trials were justified due to the massive loss of life in the concentration as well as the social consequences on families.

“Laws control the lesser man… Right conduct controls the greater one (Plato).” World War II was the deadliest conflict in world history, on and off the battlefield. The genocide performed by Nazi Germany was something that had never been seen before, and shocked mankind across the world. This atrocious behavior punished those for what they believed in, in the most inhumane ways possible. The trials that followed, which made those who participated in this behavior answer for their actions, were some of the most historic trials in legal history, not just because of what was being judged, but also because of the viewpoints that came about because of them. The Nuremberg Trials, which occurred in Germany, were viewed across the world with opposing

Almost five decades later, Stanley Milgrams famous study of obedience to authority is by far one of the most known and talked about psychological experiments of the twentieth century. Milgram’s ground-breaking research showed participants a side of them that not only shocked them but also brought the world of psychology to a standstill. Milgram’s renowned study where he asked several participants to administer voltage shocks to ‘learners’ behind a screen was one of the most famous research studies done on obedience. The findings of Milgram’s study showed that authority can be a dangerous trait. This was also shown in real life situations such as the devastating time periods of the Holocaust and Abu Ghraib where humans administered shocking

But they still had the right to say something or to look at evidence in the trials to try to defend themselves. “A defendant was entitled to receive a copy of the charges, to offer any relevant explanation to the charges brought against him, and to be represented by counsel and confront and cross-examine the witnesses”(Britannica “Nuremberg Trials”). But who was in charge of these trials? The trials were conducted by representatives from the United States, Great Britain, The Soviet Union, and France.”The trials amounted to 216 court sessions, which took almost a year to complete”(Britannica “Nuremberg Trials”). Why it took so long was because there was so many Nazi’s to go through and like one of the other paragraphs said, they are still having to hunt down Nazi’s for there crimes. Everyone decided to have the trials in Nuremberg. “The trials took place in Nuremberg, a city with symbolic significance as the place where racial laws had been passed”(Spielberg 169). The world will never know what the Nuremberg trials really felt towards the

On the evening of the 8th of November 1923, Hitler and his Nazi forces marched onto a Munich Beer Hall where Bavarian Politicians Herr Khar and Herr Lossow were holding a meeting with 3000 officials. Hitler and his troops entered the Hall, interrupting the meeting; a revolver was fired and Hitler took Lossow, Seisser and Khar into a side room. Reentering the Hall, Hitler went on to announce that a 'national revolution has begun'. The next day, Hitler, accompanied by Ludendorff and S.A. forces, marched to the Centre of Munich to acquire more forces from the army and police; enough to take over the Weimar Republic.

The Nuremberg Trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany and conducted by the International Military Tribunal. The Tribunal was composed of a member and an alternate from the 4 major Allied powers. There were 24 major trials, including Bormann’s, and 185 minor ones (1). Those prosecuted included war generals, prominent Nazi figures, and doctors who performed drastic and horrendous medical experiments. Before the trials commenced, there were agreements made between the four Allied powers to make sure that the proceedings were fair, just, and consistent in punishing those who committed war crimes. Also, the four powers agreed to release all war criminals to the tribunal committee to process but the Soviets did not immediately comply, and withheld

The IMT (International Military Tribunal) was established at Nuremberg to punish the surviving Nazi leaders politically. Even though some viewed the Trial as a put up exercise or nothing but just rendering justice, there were bigger meanings and ideas behind it. Harlan Stone, the US Supreme Court Justice, called Nuremberg as a “high-grade lynching affair” (cited in Douglas, 2001: 49). The Nuremberg trial showed the power of the law towards terrible crimes. It was a historical lesson towards the Nazis. Robert K, a prosecutor at Nuremberg, perceived the trial as “the greatest history seminar ever held in the history of the world” (cited in Douglas, 2001: 2).

"It was the virtue of the Nuremberg trial that it was conceived in hatred of war, and nurtured by those starved of peace. Of course, the trial was botched and imperfect…it had to deal with new crimes for which there was no provision in national law or international law." (Rebecca West). The trials were full of controversy and an overwhelming hope for justice which was the motive behind everything. The creation of the first concentration camp sparked the anger amongst the Allied nations leading to an increase of hostility. Throughout the Nuremberg Trials archive, the group of memorialized people are the German Nazis and the Allied powers. The Nazis whom were

A study conducted by Milgram in the 1960s provided strong evidence that despite people’s seemingly good intentions and honest or positive persona the majority followed instructions in shocking a participant to dangerous levels (Werhand et al., 2013; Chaleff, 2015). The subjects did not have evil intentions or sadistic tendencies, but they somehow went along with experiments without much resistance which researchers find perplexing. Milgram describes the way the subjects transfer agency from themselves to those in authority as “agentic shift” and suggests they shut off “their sense of responsibility for their own