In Germany, in the late 1930's Adolph Hitler was gaining power. Hitler promised change to the social and economic problems caused by the reprimand payments due for losses in WWI (Nelon 45). Hitler used the Jews as scapegoats and blamed them for Germany's turmoil. During Hitler's time in power 6,000,000 Jew were executed in concentration camps. Many people took part in these murders, and would end up paying the price at Nuremberg.

The Nuremberg war crimes trial was the first of its kind, and with it came many problems. During the war much land had been lost and gained. It was difficult to determine if the actions of the Nazis were simply an attempt to regain land, or war aggre

The trial seemed almost perfect for an event carried out by humans, but some remained unsatisfied. The Germans viewed the trial as a ritual act of revenge (Botting 280). The Russians were upset because they had wanted all those found guilty to be executed. Sauckel and Speer had committed similar crimes, however, Sauckel had been sentenced to death, and Speer only had 20 years in prison. Particular allies were also mad about the length of the trial and the cost of $4,435,719, but overall, the allies agreed the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial had been a success (Lipstadt 86).

...we must never fail however deeply we are tired and however fundamentally we are moved by the sufferings of others, to do justice according to justice...whatever happens...war criminals shall be dealt with because they are proved to be criminals and not because they belong to a race led by a maniac...who had brought this frightful evil upon the world (Mushkat 7).

The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated (Antoniou 32).

The opening session of the Nuremberg Trial was held on October 18, 1945. The 24 suspects were chosen for their role as political, military, and economic leaders during the war. Out of the 24, only 20 were there, and one was tried in absentia. The men ranged in age from 39 to 73 with most in their 50's and 60's. The defendants were underweight because they had been denied drugs. The men also had to undergo intelligence tests. Streicher, a professional Jew-baiter, received the lowest score of 106, and the banker, Schacht had the highest score of 143 (Botting 279).

The dock was filled with the most notorious Nazi's. One of the defendants was Herman Goering. Goering was Hitler's assistant, the Reichsmarschall, and President of the Reichstag (Botting 278). Another defendant, Rudolf Hess was Hitler's Deputy. Hess had been captured by the British because they had told him they were having peace talks in Scotland. When he arrived in Scotland, he was captured and put in a British prison (Mushkat 3). Joachim von Ribbentrop, an ex-champagne salesman, the closest advisor to Hitler, and foreign minister of Germany was also tried (Mushkat 4). Baldur von Schirach was a German aristocrat. He was anti-Semitic, anti-Christian, and ironically anti-aristocratic (Mushkat 3). Schirach was also the man in charge of Hitler youth ranging in age from 10 to 18. Julius Streicher was at the Nuremberg trial also. He was an early Nazi and wrote a semi-pornographic tabloid called the Der Sturmer (The AttackerStormer). He was the chief Jew-baiter of the Nazi party and was responsible for many propaganda speeches. Then there was Albert Speer, the minister of Arms and Munitions. He was an architect and engineer and was the loner of the Nazi party. Speer used slave laborers by the millions to supply Germany's army, and was considered a major war criminal (Mushkat 4). Next was Arthur Seyss-Inquart the Austrian chancellor and deputy governor of Poland. He was accountable for the deportation of Dutch Jews to camps and five million Netherlanders into forced labor. Other defendants included Constatin v

Some common words found in the essay are:
Palace Justice, Nuremberg Trials, Nuremberg Trial, House Lords, Nuremberg Nuremberg, Deputy Hess, Jackson America's, Heinrich Himmler, Berlin Traitors, Martin Bormann, palace justice, war crimes, found guilty, nazi party, international military tribunal, french russians, international military, jews holocaust, nuremberg war, military tribunal, crimes peace, staff command german, nuremberg war crimes, war crimes trial, german armed forces,
Approximate Word count = 2293
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)