The Nuremberg Trials

A detailed Summary of The Nuremberg Trials

The idea of accountability for war crimes has been a major issue in the twentieth century. There have been many trials dealing with the personal responsibility of war criminals. The military tribunal in Tokyo after WWII, the trials to persecute war criminals in the former Yugoslavia, and the trials in Rwanda are all examples of such trials. Since the Nuremberg trials of 1945, which dealt with the responsibility of Nazi war criminals, the denial of personal accountability for war crimes was not accepted. Even though the Nuremberg trials brought in new laws and policies, it was a poorly run trial with uncertain prosecutors. At the end of the Nuremberg trials, new laws and policies which are utilized to this day, were the end result of the trials. The trials forever changed war and the accountability for war crimes. Eleven of those who were tried received sentences of death. Compared to the 6 million Jews killed, justice was certainly not one of the end results of the Nuremberg trials.

To understand the Nuremberg trials and the concept of it bringing justice, one must have a knowledge of the events leading up to the trial. In July 1941, Adolf Hitler began carrying out what he called the final solution. The Final Soluti

A few of the defendants were also disruptive during the trial. Hermann Goring, on many occasions, would attempt to stand and read a prepared statement in the middle of the proceedings. He was asked to sit down each time with no further chastisement. He charmed the guards and the members of the court. He tried to create a united front among the defendants, only to find that his partners in crime were ashamed of their acts and did not want to be associated with the horrors of concentration camps, mass murder and slave labour. He was methodical and diabolical and extremely unremorseful. During his cross-examination he showed no emotion and delivered smooth, calm answers. This was due to the fact that the court translators were very slow. As they were translating the question into German for the German speaking court members, Goring would formulate an answer and deliver it perfectly. For example, Jackson tried to persuade Goring to confess that the Nazi's plan to occupy Rhineland without warning in 1936, was a Nazi secret, hidden from other countries. Goring smoothly answered, "I do not believe I can recall reading beforehand the publication of the mobilization preparations of the United States." Answers such as these were common. The prosecution also had many more faults in their courtroom actions. After Robert H. Jackson, a United States lawyer, based a line of questioning on a mistranslated document, Goring corrected him. When he seemed to be closing in on Goring, Jackson suddenly switched subjects.

The horrors of the Holocaust were displayed, uncensored, in the courtroom. Film evidence, of Nazi Generals beating, killing and burning Jews was shown, with no remorse from any of the defendants. Desensitization had definitely occurred among the defendants and some, such as Hermann Goring, were proud of what they had done. Albert Speer ranked high among Hitler's few confidants and was chief of all Nazi war production for the Nazi's last three years. He oversaw 14 million workers; he could hardly claim ignorance of their condition or how they were recruited. In the spring

All of the defendants oversaw thousands of Jews. Most of these men supervised the concentration camps and extermination camps and were not unaware of the workers condition or what their future condition would be. Each man was personally accountable for the death of thousands. Out of the twenty-two defendants, eleven received the death penalty, one of which was tried in absentia. The others received life sentences, or sentences as short as ten years. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Germans were involved in the Nazi's final solution yet only twenty-two were tried. The court proceedings were ridiculous and the recordings of these proceedings were even more mediocre. The one positive outcome of the Nuremberg trials were the new laws and policies adopted to prosecute war criminals all over the world. Although they changed the policies regarding war criminals, the Nuremberg trial never remotely enabled the world to outlaw war. By 1991, the wars of this century had killed more than 107 million people. The court of 1945 may seem irrelevant to the wars of the 1990's, in which ethnic killers manage to avoid justice, yet there is one common ground. The desire to prosecute those who assault and besiege society and its people. What the Nuremberg judges and lawyers really achieved has never been more important. By rejecting group guilt and insisting on accepting personal accou

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Category: History