The Nuremberg Trials

Held for the purpose of bringing Nazi war criminals to justice, the Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 194 and 1949! "he defendants, who included Nazi #arty officials and high$ran%ing military officers along with German industrialists, lawyers and doctors, were indicted on such charges as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity! Nazi leader &dolf Hitler '1((9$194 ) committed suicide and was ne*er brought to trial! &lthough the legal justifications for the trials and their procedural inno*ations were contro*ersial at the time, the Nuremberg trials are now regarded as a milestone toward the establishment of a permanent international court, and an important precedent for dealing with later instances of genocide and other crimes against humanity! +n ,ecember 194-, the &llied leaders of Great .ritain, the /nited 0tates and the 0o*iet /nion 1issued the first joint declaration officially noting the mass murder of 2uropean 3ewry and resol*ing to prosecute those responsible for *iolence against ci*ilian populations,4 according to the /nited 0tates Holocaust 5emorial 5useum '/0H55)! 3oseph 0talin '1(6($19 3), the 0o*iet leader, initially proposed the e7ecution of 8,888 to 188,888 German staff officers! .ritish #rime 5inister 9inston :hurchill '1(64$19; ) discussed the possibility of summary e7ecution 'e7ecution without a trial) of high$ran%ing Nazis, but was persuaded by &merican leaders that a criminal trial would be more effecti*e! &mong other ad*antages, criminal proceedings would re<uire documentation of the crimes charged against the defendants and pre*ent later accusations that the defendants had been condemned without e*idence! "here were many legal and procedural difficulties to o*ercome in setting up the Nuremberg trials! =irst, there was no precedent for an international trial of war criminals! "here were earlier instances of prosecution for war crimes, such as the e7ecution of :onfederate army officer Henry 9irz '1(-3$; ) for his maltreatment of /nion prisoners of war during the &merican :i*il 9ar '1(;1$; )> and the courts$martial held by "ur%ey in 1919$-8 to punish those responsible for the &rmenian genocide of 191 $1;! Howe*er, these were trials conducted according to the laws of a single nation rather than, as in the case of the Nuremberg trials, a group of four powers '=rance, .ritain, the 0o*iet /nion and the /!0!) with different legal traditions and practices! "he &llies e*entually established the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials with the ?ondon :harter of the +nternational 5ilitary "ribunal '+5"), issued on &ugust (, 194 ! &mong other things, the charter defined three categories of crimes@ crimes against peace 'including planning, preparing, starting or waging wars of aggression or wars in *iolation of international agreements), war crimes 'including *iolations of customs or laws of war, including improper treatment of ci*ilians and prisoners of war) and crimes against humanity 'including murder, ensla*ement or deportation of ci*ilians or persecution on political, religious or racial grounds)! +t was determined that ci*ilian officials as well as military officers could be accused of war crimes! "he city of Nuremberg 'also %nown as Nurnberg) in the German state of .a*aria was selected as the location for the trials because its #alace of 3ustice was relati*ely undamaged by the war and included a large prison area! &dditionally, Nuremberg had been the site of annual Nazi propaganda rallies> holding the postwar trials there mar%ed the symbolic end of HitlerAs go*ernment, the "hird Beich! "hese proceedings included the ,octors "rial ',ecember 9, 194;$&ugust -8, 1946), in which -3 defendants were accused of crimes against humanity, including medical e7periments on prisoners of war! +n the 3udges "rial '5arch $,ecember 4, 1946), 1; lawyers and judges were charged with furthering the Nazi plan for racial purity by implementing the eugenics laws of the "hird Beich! Cther subse<uent trials dealt with German industrialists accused of using sla*e labor and plundering occupied countries> high$ran%ing army officers accused of atrocities against prisoners of war> and 00 officers accused of *iolence against concentration camp inmates! Cf the 1( people indicted in the subse<uent Nuremberg trials, 1- defendants recei*ed death sentences, ( others were gi*en life in prison and an additional 66 people recei*ed prison terms of *arying lengths, according to the /0H55! &uthorities later reduced a number of the sentences!