Benjamin Ferencz: He was not ashamed of that. 60 Minutes correspondent Lesley Stahl and Nuremberg prosecutor Ben Ferencz, How carbon capture can help slow climate change, Texas man becomes unlikely Australian rules football star, Women in Louisiana struggle to get maternal health care, Google's AI experts on the future of artificial intelligence. Although controversial at the time for their use of ex post facto law, the trials' innovation of holding individuals responsible for violations of international law established international criminal law. A team of over 1,000 lawyers and over 10,000 medical experts lead by Dr. Reiner Fullmich have begun legal proceedings over the CDC, WHO, the Davos Group for crimes against humanity. Benjamin Ferencz: And I've got-- I've got his reports of how many he killed. Nuremberg Trials - Definition, Dates & Purpose - History 2023 jewish telegraphic agency all rights reserved. Despite being accused of the same crimes, Sauckel was sentenced to death, while Speer was given a prison sentence because the judges considered that he could reform. Nuremberg Combo Tour WWII + Old Town. QAnon followers believe a second set of Nuremberg-like trials will be held to prosecute those who introduced coronavirus restrictions, on the grounds of "crimes against humanity." Acolytes of the . 27 Aug 2021. [146] The Nuremberg Laws were compared to discriminatory laws in the United States. [81] Senior American officials believed that convicting organizations was a good way of showing that not just the top German leaders were responsible for crimes, without condemning the entire German people. [98] Jackson maintained that while the United States did "not seek to convict the whole German people of crime", neither did the trial "serve to absolve the whole German people except 21 men in the dock". It was classified, so many Jews, so many gypsies, so many others--. Included in the archive are firsthand accounts from the few who survived the Nazi concentration camps, including for example Marie-Claude Vaillant Couturier, a member of the French Resistance who was imprisoned at Auschwitz and Ravensbrck. [151], In order to appease concerns about fair process, the defendants were allowed a free hand with their witnesses and a great deal of irrelevant testimony was heard. [210] As the Cold War began, the rapidly changing political environment began to affect the effectiveness of the trials. Lesley Stahl: Going on right this minute in Sudan. [190][191] Also on trial were industrialistsin the Flick trial, the IG Farben trial, and the Krupp trialfor using forced labor, looting property from Nazi victims, and funding SS atrocities. Part of an artillery battalion, he landed on the beach at Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Ben Ferencz in court: The charges we have brought accuse the defendants of having committed crimes against humanity. [142] In contrast, most defendants avoided incriminating each other. Preserving records from the Nuremberg Trial as well as materials from the subsequent tribunals and truth and reconciliation commissions it inspired is crucial to protecting the historic and judicial legacies of the war and acknowledging the consequences of mass atrocities, said David Cohen, director of the Stanford Center for Human Rights and International Justice and professor of classics in the School of Humanities and Sciences. [45] At Jackson's recommendation, the United States appointed judges Francis Biddle and John Parker. Screenshot from film showing the Einsatzgruppen at work. [87] In France, some verdicts were met with outrage from the media and especially from organizations for deportees and resistance fighters, as they were perceived as too lenient. [18], At the London Conference, held from 26 June to 2 August 1945, representatives of France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States negotiated the exact form that the trial would take. He also recalls how, for a time, he followed in his fathers footsteps to become a school principal before he became politically radicalized and joined Adolf Hitlers Nazi Party, which he said he believed offered the best path to recovering Germanys ailing economy and improving its international status after its devastating defeat in World War I. Google trends show a notable increase in people searching for "Nuremberg trials" since the onset of the pandemic, as well as a dramatic recent increase in searches for "Nuremberg trials 2021". And these were daily reports from the Eastern Front-- which unit entered which town, how many people they killed. He scored a victory when the international criminal court in The Hague was created in 1998. For Cohen, testimonies in the archive show the lived horror of mass atrocity and violence, which is regretfully still relevant in the world today. [111][112] The British case covered invasions, from that of Poland to that of the Soviet Union, which Shawcross covered in the second part of his speech;[113] these charges took three days to present, with Maxwell Fyfe detailing 15 treaties broken by Germany. Nrnberg trials | Facts, Definition, & Prominent Defendants Benjamin Ferencz: That was their assignment, come in behind the troop, round up the Jews, kill 'em all. I was 27 years old. [27] Especially the United States wanted to avoid countenancing any rule that would give an international court jurisdiction over a government's treatment of its own citizens. [46] The British chief prosecutor was Hartley Shawcross, assisted by David Maxwell Fyfe, who had been the attorney general in Churchill's government. [212], The German churches, both Catholic and Protestant, were vociferous proponents of amnesty,[213] which had cross-party support in West Germany, which was established in 1949. The Nuremberg Trials, 75 Years Later - The Unwritten Record Bus Tours. I said, "Look. Benjamin Ferencz: Yes. Boy, I felt if I'd had a bayonet I woulda jumped over the thing, and put a bayonet right through one ear, and let it come out the other. Nov. 20, 2021 / 3:00 AM On This Day: Nuremberg trials begin On Nov. 20, 1945, 24 German leaders went on trial at Nuremberg before the International War Crimes Tribunal. Benjamin Ferencz: A father who, his son told me the story. But it's a reality today. It was also a way to indirectly charge crimes committed before the beginning of World War II, which the charter placed outside the court's jurisdiction. It's never been done before. There's the rabbi coming along there. [208][209] Many Germans lumped criminal trials with denazification, internment, and confrontation with the concentration camps, as illegitimate victor's justice and the imposition of collective guilt. [174] The judges interpreted crimes against humanity narrowly; they determined that crimes against German Jews before 1939 were not under the court's jurisdiction because the prosecution had not proven a connection to aggressive war. Jackson submitted his final report to President Truman one week after the verdicts. Nearly 75 years ago, the Nuremberg Trial came to a close when on Oct. 1, 1946, a group of convicted Nazi leaders was sentenced by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) for crimes against peace . [181] All three acquittals (Papen, Schacht, and Fritzsche) were based on a deadlock between the judges; these acquittals surprised observers. Stupid to an incredible degree to send young people out to kill other young people they don't even know, who never did anybody any harm, never harmed them. On Thursday, Florida Gov. [6] The Soviet Union wanted to hold a show trial similar to the 1930s Moscow trials, in order to demonstrate the Nazi leaders' guilt and build a case for war reparations to rebuild the Soviet economy, which had been devastated by the war. And I can't believe you're 97 years old. [169][170] The judges did not agree that the conspiracy extended to anyone who participated in the affairs of the Nazi government, only taking being present at the high-level meetings discussing war plans in 1937 and 1939 as evidence of belonging to the conspiracy. Institutional rivalries hampered the search. He became the first in his family to go to college, then got a scholarship to Harvard Law School. Nothing new ever happened before. 25. Complete Nuremberg Trials recordings online for the first time For the past seven years, Stanford Libraries has been working with the Registry of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague to obtain a complete digital corpus of the Nuremberg Trial in support of the Virtual Tribunal of the Stanford Center for Human Rights and International Justice. One of these-- my defendants said-- He gets up, and he says, "[GERMAN]," which is, "What? [188] The Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes identified 2,500 major war criminals, of whom 177 were tried. Then a series of subsequent trials were mounted against other Nazi leaders, including 22 SS officers responsible for killing more than a million people -- not in concentration camps -- but in towns and villages across Eastern Europe. The United States and the United Kingdom refused to endorse this proposal, citing the failure of war crimes prosecutions after World War I. Benjamin Ferencz: Of course. This photograph was taken in Kyiv, Ukraine, not Nuremberg . [39] Besides legal professionals, there were many social-science researchers, psychologists, translators and interpreters, and graphic designers, the latter to make the many charts used during the trial. [126] Lev Smirnov presented evidence on the Lidice massacre in Czechoslovakia, adding that such destruction of villages had occurred throughout eastern Europe. [14][15] The exact form that retribution would take was left unresolved at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Twelve further trials were conducted by the United States against lower-level perpetrators, which focused more on the Holocaust. The SA, the Reich Cabinet, and the General Staff and High Command were not ruled to be criminal organizations. [198] The trials targeted 177 defendants and obtained 142 convictions, including 25 death sentences;[199] the severity of sentencing was related to the defendant's proximity to mass murder. This first international military tribunal was monumental: Not only did it bring perpetrators of mass atrocities to justice, it was also the first time international law was used to prosecute individuals, including heads of state, for war crimes. Top ways to experience Nuremburg Trial Courthouse and nearby attractions. [83] The American and British prosecutors focused on documentary evidence and affidavits rather than testimony from survivors, as the latter was considered less reliable and more liable to accusations of bias, but at the expense of reducing public interest in the proceedings. This March, Ben Ferencz turned 101 and he's still in there fighting. The Nuremberg trials after World War II were historic -- the first international war crimes tribunals ever held. [69][37], The defendants, who were largely unrepentant,[70] included former cabinet ministers: Franz von Papen (who had brought Hitler to power); Joachim von Ribbentrop (foreign minister), Wilhelm Frick (interior minister), and Alfred Rosenberg, minister for the occupied eastern territories. [232] On 11 December 1946, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously passed a resolution affirming "the principles of international law recognized by the Charter of the Nuremberg Tribunal and the judgment of the Tribunal". People receiving the COVID-19 vaccines at this point are not taking part in a medical experiment, because the vaccines already have gone through clinical trials and have received emergency . The British government was still opposed, unable to see the benefit of such a trial and preferring the summary execution of Nazi leaders. And you're very wise. [175][176], Four organizations were ruled to be criminal: the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party, the SS, the Gestapo, and the SD, although some lower ranks and subgroups were excluded. And I see the progress. (@carolecadwalla) July 24, 2021 J Opacka (@jopackaj) July 24, . [55], The work of drafting the indictment was divided up by the national delegations. Proposals for how to punish the defeated Nazi leaders ranged from a show trial (the Soviet Union) to summary executions (the United Kingdom). Lesley Stahl: Ben? more_horiz. And that's how 27-year-old Ben Ferencz became the chief prosecutor of 22 Einsatzgruppen commanders at trial number 9 at Nuremberg. Eventually, the online database will include digital versions of film, audio recordings and photographs that will also include links and annotations. Ferencz learned quickly. [10][11], Of all the Allies, the Soviet Union lobbied most intensely for trying the defeated German leaders for aggression in addition to war crimes. Lesley Stahl: Had you prosecuted trials before? He was proud of that. [33], The negotiators decided that the tribunal's permanent seat would be in Berlin, while the trial would be held at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. London Anti-Vaxxer Says Healthcare Workers Face Nuremberg-Style Trials [123] The next week, the Soviet prosecution suddenly produced former field marshal Friedrich von Paulus, captured after the Battle of Stalingrad, as a witness and questioned him about the preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union. (November 18, 2021 / JNS) A bipartisan group of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives introduced a bill on Thursday to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the last living prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials.. Nrnberg trials, Nrnberg also spelled Nuremberg, series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 1945-46, in which former Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal. But Ferencz knew they were guilty and could prove it. The most optimistic. But that didn't last long. And he said, "Can you do this in addition to your other work?" One of America's most recognized and experienced broadcast journalists, Lesley Stahl has been a 60 Minutes correspondent since 1991. Lesley Stahl: So they went right in after the troops? QAnon Followers Think Secret Trials Will Be Held for COVID Rule You know, kick 'em in. Justice Jackson's Persistent Post-Nuremberg Legacy - Duke University [158][136] In contrast to the opening prosecution statements, all eight closing statements highlighted the Holocaust; and the French and British prosecutors made this the main charge, as opposed to that of aggression. Jackson. 10 Things You May Not Know About the Nuremberg Trials - History By SIMCHA PASKO 01/10/2021 [2] German aggression was accompanied by immense brutality in occupied areas and the systematic murder of millions of Jews in the Holocaust. [22][23] War crimes already existed in international law as criminal violations of the laws and customs of war. [165] The official interpretation of the IMT held that all of the charges had a solid basis in customary international law,[166] which was elaborated in the verdict. 27 Aug 2021. . This is Ferencz making his opening statement in the Nuremberg courtroom 73 years ago. This footage came to light years later. [229] Some defenders of the trial argued that the legal principle of nullum crimen sine lege (no crime without law) was not binding in international proceedings. I know I'm right. [214] By then, the Americans were hoping to use the offer of pardon to convicted war criminals in order to bind West Germany to the Western Bloc. [121], On 8 February, the Soviet prosecution opened its case with a speech by Rudenko that covered all four prosecution charges, highlighting both aggressive war and the devastation of Eastern Europe[122] and listing many crimes committed by the German occupiers against the Soviet people. [130] The defense presented evidence of Soviet responsibility,[131] and Katyn was not mentioned in the verdict. [180][172] On 16 October, ten were hanged, with Gring committing suicide the day before. [152] The defendants' witnesses sometimes managed to exculpate them, but other witnessesincluding Rudolf Hss, the former commandant of Auschwitz, and Hans Bernd Gisevius, a member of the German resistanceeffectively incriminated the defendants. . Because I want peace instead of war. Digitizing all the records from the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal Trial Archives is ongoing. A new tool for designing and managing irrigation for farms advances the implementation of smart agriculture, an approach that leverages data and modern technologies to boost crop yields while conserving natural resources. Stanford, California 94305. [139] Some defendants denied their involvement in, or knowledge of, certain crimes,[140] even resorting to implausible lies. Exhibit 111: "In the last 10 weeks, we have liquidated around 55,000 Jews." 'The unsung heroes of the Nuremberg trials': How translators played a This week, the U.S. A Supreme Court justice led the American team of prosecutors. The trial of 22 Nazi leaders began on Nov. 20, 1945, and the Tribunal pronounced its judgment on Oct. 1, 1946. [26], The final version of the charter only gave the court the ability to punish those crimes against humanity that had been committed "in connection with any crimes within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal". Lesley Stahl: You've really seen evil. To receive Stanford news daily, Judges deliberate at the trials of Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany, Jan. 1, 1945. . Yes. Ralf Bosen. The Palace of Justice was relatively intact but needed to be renovated for the trial due to bomb damage; it had an attached prison where the defendants could be held. I am naive? Judges deliberate at the trials of Nazi war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany, Jan. 1, 1945. Benjamin Ferencz: Well, this is typical operation. They should remember, from me, it takes courage not to be discouraged. Benjamin Ferencz: Well, don't say that. Ben Ferencz entered into evidence the defendants' own reports of what they'd done. General Telford Taylor, in charge of the Nuremberg trials, asked him to direct a team of researchers in Berlin, one of whom found a cache of top-secret documents in the ruins of the German foreign .