My Dad was a guard at the Nuremberg trials. Boy I wish I asked more questions of the trials. [2] They were indicted for: [202] All four powers later fought independence movements using methods that had been ruled illegal at Nuremberg. [224][225][226] During the two decades after the trial, opinions were predominantly negative. The first of the trials was the Major War Crimes Trial, in . The Nuernberg trial records include transcripts of proceedings . [48] The French judges were Henri Donnedieu de Vabres, a professor of criminal law, and alternate Robert Falco, who had represented France at the London Conference. One can only imagine the effect the pounding had on the condemned prisoners, now with only one more day to live. A defendant was entitled to receive a copy of the indictment, to offer any relevant explanation to the charges brought against him, and to be represented by counsel and confront and cross-examine the witnesses. Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. [102] Jackson's focus was on the aggressive war charge, which he described as the root of the crimes against humanity and of war crimes. Each watch was of two hours duration, standing almost motionless looking in the cell door openings. Guards were randomly assigned to prisoners, and the assignments were generally not known by the guards until the duty roster was posted or announced each morning during roll call. It was a very old, ancient, almost primitive prison, Prestianni recalls. Prestianni particularly liked Speer, Hitlers architect and the designer of many of Berlins most spectacular buildings and later minister of armament and munitions. I only patrolled there once. For example, Baldur von Schirach, former head of the Hitler Youth, was known only as Number 1. [115], From 17 January to 7 February 1946, France presented its charges and supporting evidence. List of Judges Francis Biddle (American) John J Parker (American) Edward Francis Carter (American) Colonel Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, Lord Justice (British, President of the Tribunal) Sir Norman Birkett (British) Henri Donnedieu de Vabres (French) Robert Falco (French) Major General Iona Nikitchenko (Soviet) At least 30,000 women died here. The only part of the French charges that were accepted by the judges was the deportation of Jews from France and other parts of Western Europe. [49][48] The French government tried to appoint staff who were not tainted by collaboration with the Vichy regime; some appointments were of those who had been in the French resistance. I sure would like to find out more about his service. The names were -- Wippern, Hahnefeld and myself carried out the checking. There were limits to how much gore that could be tolerated by some of the courtroom guards, he recalled. Trial issues are criminal activities or subjects at issue in a trial that are addressed by a document. All sessions of the tribunal were held in Nrnberg, Germany, under the presidency of Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence. They saw the horrible films the NAZIs took and heard the case the prosecution presented with all the evidence and saw the brutal photos, It was very hard on these young women, but they did their job they were asked to do. Ten of them Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Alfred Rosenberg, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Keitel, and Arthur Seyss-Inquart were hanged on October 16, 1946. He remained bombastic and arrogant right up to the end, all the while looking upon the other prisoners as inferior beings., Ribbentrop, another of Prestiannis checker opponents, was vainglorious, almost constantly given to pompous bragging and considered stupid by the other prisoners. Front row, from left to right: Hermann Gring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Walther Funk, Hjalmar Schacht. [215] Early releases of those convicted by the Nuremberg Military Tribunals began in 1949;[216] and in 1951, High Commissioner John J. McCloy overturned most of the sentences. The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. My father, Jack J. [44] As the numerically strongest delegation, it would take on the bulk of the prosecutorial effort. The International Military Tribunal (IMT) delivered its judgment against the Nazi leaders on September 30 and October 1, 1946. He looked like a gaunt corpse, like a ghost. [205] Where the prosecution was disappointed by some of the verdicts, the defense could take satisfaction. Dnitz remained an unrepentant Nazi until his death in 1980. [133], Inspired by the films shown by the American prosecution, the Soviet Union commissioned three films for the trial: The German Fascist Destruction of the Cultural Treasures of the Peoples of the USSR, Atrocities Committed by the German Fascist Invaders in the USSR, and The German Fascist Destruction of Soviet Cities, using footage from Soviet filmmakers as well as shots from German newsreels. [74], Although the list of defendants was finalized on 29 August,[75] as late as October, Jackson demanded changes and expansion of the defendants list, but this was rejected. [177] In the latter case, the Wehrmacht leadership was not considered an organization within the meaning of the charter;[177][178] but this verdict was later misrepresented as an acquittal of the criminality of the Wehrmacht, forming one of the foundations of the clean Wehrmacht myth. Two and a quarter hours before he was to be executed he took poison under the. In an attempt to further depersonalize them, prisoners were designated by numbers rather than by their familial surnames. The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials tried major war criminals, but of lower ranks than those tried in the first trial. He recently passed in January of 2020 at the age of 91. [36][35] On 8 August, the Nuremberg Charter was signed in London. He still resides in Framingham after retiring from a 33-year career in supervisory positions with the U.S. [45] At Jackson's recommendation, the United States appointed judges Francis Biddle and John Parker. Movement was extremely restricted and closely monitored, even for the guards. They even accused guards of watching them undress. The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949 to try those accused of Nazi war crimes. Unbelievable but true - an entire unit of former Waffen-SS Grenadiers were retrained and deployed by the Americans to help guard the Nuremberg Trials in 1946-49. Surviving members of the company marked the 56th anniversary of its founding , which took place, according to Toronto's Tommy Tomson, on December 26, 1946. [87][149] United States admiral Chester Nimitz testified that the United States had used the same methods of submarine warfare that the German admirals were accused of; Dnitz's counsel successfully argued that this meant that such actions could not be crimes. [47] Although the chief British judge, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence (Lord Justice of Appeal), was the nominal president of the tribunal, in practice Biddle exercised more authority. It was the last thing Streicher was known to have written. [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. [65], Some of the most prominent NazisAdolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbelshad committed suicide and therefore could not be tried. The Nrnberg trials began on November 20, 1945. He often went for hours without speaking to anyone. Others were deemed "unfit" for Nazi society: Jews, lesbians, sex workers or homeless women. We jokingly told him the girls coveted the gifts American soldiers could offer and they had all forgotten his (Schirachs) Nazi National Socialism propaganda indoctrination. . This page was last edited on 8 October 2022, at 21:33. [79] Initially, the Americans had planned to try fourteen organizations and their leaders, but this was narrowed to six: the Reich Cabinet, the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party, the Gestapo, the SA, the SS and the SD, and the General Staff and High Command of the Wehrmacht. Johann Georg Richert was found guilty and was executed in Minsk, Byelorussia. The ensuing trial pitted U.S. chief prosecutor and Supreme Court judge Robert Jackson against Hermann Gring, the former head of the Nazi air force, whom Adolf Hitler had once named to be his. Only Speer occasionally tried to befriend him or penetrate his deep solitude with a few words of encouragement. Number 6 was Walther Funk, former minister of economics, and Number 7 was Rudolf Hess, once Hitlers private secretary and deputy fhrer. [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. [234][235] Further developments in international criminal law in the aftermath of the trials included the Genocide Convention (1948) and the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949). All of those with whom I came in contact spoke flawless English, he remembered. Later 19 other nations accepted the provisions of this agreement. Sixteen of these captives were guarded by Pfc. [236][237], The trials were the first use of simultaneous interpretation, which stimulated technical advances in translation methods. He was good, real sharp, Prestianni related. There was a constant, steady flow of rules and regulations, many of them meaningless, while others tended to be more punitive, he said. Other prisoners were outspoken in their condemnation of Hess as a traitor to the Fatherland when he flew to England in May 1941, ostensibly to arrange a peace between Hitlers Germany and Great Britain. Four were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years: Karl Dnitz, Baldur von Schirach, Albert Speer, and Konstantin von Neurath. Keitel was one of ten defendants hanged in the Palace of Justice in the early morning hours of October 16, 1946. Alfred Rosenberg, Joachim von Ribbentrop and others were condemned on 16th October, 1946. It would be so greatly appreciated. Wells, was military policeman and a Provost Sergeant in charge of a special confinement unit whose responsibilities included providing security for the war crimes trials in Nrnberg. The Estonian Guard Co. 4221 was formed to answer the need to guard the Nuremberg courthouse and the prison where accused Nazi War Criminals were held. [17] On 8 May, Germany surrendered unconditionally. Below are facts about what has been called the greatest trial in history. we went to Germany with and my younger brother was born there, dad remained un the Army until 1960, when he retired after 32 years service. My father was also a guard, but he said he always was on the outside guarding. Sentenced to death, Reich Law Leader 193345 and Governor-General of the, Hitler's Minister of the Interior 193343 and. Those incarcerated at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg were allowed very limited and sporadic visitation rights with lawyers and family members. Uncover the topics related to the Nuremberg trials. Former field marshal Keitel, another prisoner who was eventually executed, gradually alienated himself from the other prisoners. (Robert Ley committed suicide while in prison, and Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbachs mental and physical condition prevented his being tried.) They, as a group, had no problem with their guilt. Most of the defendants had surrendered to the United States Army, but the Soviet Union also held a few top Nazis who were extradited for trial at Nuremberg. [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. The Nazi war criminal, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, after execution at Nuremberg. I inherited all of it. When asked how the individual personalities, habits, and mannerisms differed, Prestianni responded that they were varied. [63] Jackson also rewrote the indictment with the intent of keeping the proceedings under American control by separating out an overall conspiracy charge from the other three charges. The toilet was the single source of water. 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. He rarely talked, but when he did his speech was rambling. The verdict was drafted by British alternate judge Norman Birkett. My father was an MP at The Nuremberg Trails. [195][196], These trials emphasized the crimes committed during the Holocaust. He was quiet by nature and spent much of his time writing his memoirs. Whenever these female prisoners, most of whom were former concentration camp guards, created a problem, we merely, as instructed, called the sergeant-of-the-guard to resolve the situation. These citations refer to documents at "The International Military Tribunal for Germany". I had no idea of the magnitude of what they had done. [227] The main legal criticisms of the trial focused on questions of retroactivity, selectivity, and jurisdiction. Examine some of the collection's most-accessed trial topics.