Nuremburg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945-1949. A total of 13 trials were carried out to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. Nazi Party officials, as well as high ranking officers and German industrialists, lawyers and doctors were charged with crimes against humanity as well as crimes against peace. Adolf Hitler was never brought to trial because he commited suicide before he would have been captured.
The Trial of Major War Criminals was held on November 20, 1945 and lasted until October 1, 1946. These trials are the nest-known of the Nuremberg trials. These trials were unique because the defense attorneys and prosecutors worked according to British and American law; but when it came to the decisions and sentences a panel of judges, rather than just one judge or jury. Each of the four allies gave two judges and also a main judge and an alternate. Six Nazi organizations that were determined to be criminal and twenty-four individuals were charged. Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels had all committed suicide in the spring of 1945, before they could be indicted. All of the defendants could choose their own lawyers, and the most common way to defend themselves was by the examples of ex post facto, from the London Charter, meaning; they were laws that criminalized actions committed before the laws were drafted. Another thing the defense lawyers tried to do was show how the Allies were being harsh on the German's but were being very lenient with crimes that their own soldiers had committed.
One of the things that was introduced during the Nuremberg Trials was the innovation of instantaneous translation. The judge and the accused men all spoke different languages so IBM gave technology and recruited men/women from international phone exchanges to proved instant translations through headphones. The four languages that were translated were English, French, German and Russian.
All but three defendants were found guilty by the panel of judges. Twelve were given execution sentences, one had already committed suicide, and the rest were sentenced to prison. Ten of the twelve men, who were sentenced to execution, were hanged on October 16, 1946. Hitler's designated successor and the head of the German air force, Herman Göring, committed suicide the night before his scheduled execution by taking a cyanide tablet that was hidden in a pill case.
After the Trial of Major War Criminals, there were 12 other trials held. These trials lasted from December 1946 - April 1949, these are known as the Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings. These trials were conducted in front of military officials rather than in front of international tribunal. The trials were held in the same place as the other trials, in the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. These trials included the Doctors Trial, which lasted from December 9, 1946-Agust 20, 1947. there were 23 people who were indicted on crimes against humanity, and medical experiments performed on prisoners of war. Another trial that was held was the Judges Trial. The Judges Trial lasted from March 5-December 4, 1947, 16 lawyers and judges were indicted on furthering the Nazi plan for racial purity by placing eugenic (the want to improve a population by controlling a specific breed to increase to get a desirable heritable characteristic) laws of the Third Reich. Other small trials were held against industrialists who were accused of using slave labor and ruining occupied countries. Other trials also included charges brought against high-ranking Nazi officers who were accused of atrocities against prisoners of war, and also SS officers who were accused of violence against prisoners in concentration camps. A total of 185 people were indicted in the trials, 12 people received execution sentences, 8 were sentenced to life in prison, and 77 people received prison sentences that differed.
As a result of the Nuremberg Trials, which had at first been controversial, was a move towards the establishment of international law. The findings at Nuremberg had resulted: in the United Nations Genocide Convention in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the Geneva Convention on the Laws and Customs of War in 1949. Another thing that came from the Nuremberg Trials was the trials of Japanese war criminals could be done after the International Military Tribunal gave a useful model for the trials to be molded after. In 1961 Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi leader was given a trial, and then tribunal.
The Trial of Major War Criminals was held on November 20, 1945 and lasted until October 1, 1946. These trials are the nest-known of the Nuremberg trials. These trials were unique because the defense attorneys and prosecutors worked according to British and American law; but when it came to the decisions and sentences a panel of judges, rather than just one judge or jury. Each of the four allies gave two judges and also a main judge and an alternate. Six Nazi organizations that were determined to be criminal and twenty-four individuals were charged. Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels had all committed suicide in the spring of 1945, before they could be indicted. All of the defendants could choose their own lawyers, and the most common way to defend themselves was by the examples of ex post facto, from the London Charter, meaning; they were laws that criminalized actions committed before the laws were drafted. Another thing the defense lawyers tried to do was show how the Allies were being harsh on the German's but were being very lenient with crimes that their own soldiers had committed.
One of the things that was introduced during the Nuremberg Trials was the innovation of instantaneous translation. The judge and the accused men all spoke different languages so IBM gave technology and recruited men/women from international phone exchanges to proved instant translations through headphones. The four languages that were translated were English, French, German and Russian.
All but three defendants were found guilty by the panel of judges. Twelve were given execution sentences, one had already committed suicide, and the rest were sentenced to prison. Ten of the twelve men, who were sentenced to execution, were hanged on October 16, 1946. Hitler's designated successor and the head of the German air force, Herman Göring, committed suicide the night before his scheduled execution by taking a cyanide tablet that was hidden in a pill case.
After the Trial of Major War Criminals, there were 12 other trials held. These trials lasted from December 1946 - April 1949, these are known as the Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings. These trials were conducted in front of military officials rather than in front of international tribunal. The trials were held in the same place as the other trials, in the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. These trials included the Doctors Trial, which lasted from December 9, 1946-Agust 20, 1947. there were 23 people who were indicted on crimes against humanity, and medical experiments performed on prisoners of war. Another trial that was held was the Judges Trial. The Judges Trial lasted from March 5-December 4, 1947, 16 lawyers and judges were indicted on furthering the Nazi plan for racial purity by placing eugenic (the want to improve a population by controlling a specific breed to increase to get a desirable heritable characteristic) laws of the Third Reich. Other small trials were held against industrialists who were accused of using slave labor and ruining occupied countries. Other trials also included charges brought against high-ranking Nazi officers who were accused of atrocities against prisoners of war, and also SS officers who were accused of violence against prisoners in concentration camps. A total of 185 people were indicted in the trials, 12 people received execution sentences, 8 were sentenced to life in prison, and 77 people received prison sentences that differed.
As a result of the Nuremberg Trials, which had at first been controversial, was a move towards the establishment of international law. The findings at Nuremberg had resulted: in the United Nations Genocide Convention in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, the Geneva Convention on the Laws and Customs of War in 1949. Another thing that came from the Nuremberg Trials was the trials of Japanese war criminals could be done after the International Military Tribunal gave a useful model for the trials to be molded after. In 1961 Adolf Eichmann, a Nazi leader was given a trial, and then tribunal.
"Axis Leaders." History.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
<http://www.history.com/photos/axis-military-leaders/photo8>
"Beginning of the Nuremberg Trials..." - RareNewspapers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
<http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/5643>
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<http://www.anglonautes.com/history/hist_20_ww2_ger_nuremberg/hist_uk_us_20_ww2_holo_nurem.htm>
<http://www.history.com/photos/axis-military-leaders/photo8>
"Beginning of the Nuremberg Trials..." - RareNewspapers.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014.
<http://www.rarenewspapers.com/view/5643>
"Anglonautes History 20th Century WW2 USA / Europe Holocaust Nuremberg Trials." Anglonautes History 20th Century WW2 USA / Europe Holocaust Nuremberg Trials. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2014
<http://www.anglonautes.com/history/hist_20_ww2_ger_nuremberg/hist_uk_us_20_ww2_holo_nurem.htm>