I never treated him differently than I did the others I guarded.. 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. BAY CITY . One can only imagine the effect the pounding had on the condemned prisoners, now with only one more day to live. They even accused guards of watching them undress. [60] The American prosecution became derailed during attempts to provide evidence of the German annexation of Austria. Later. The prisons concrete walls, most of which were more than three feet thick, encased the solitary cell window that offered the prisoners no view of the outside world. All sessions of the tribunal were held in Nrnberg, Germany, under the presidency of Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence. A mother of three small children, she would eventually serve as a guard at Auschwitz, Ravensbruck and Majdanek concentration camps. [54] The Soviet judges and prosecutors were not permitted to make any major decisions without consulting a commission in Moscow led by Soviet politician Andrei Vyshinsky; the resulting delays hampered the Soviet effort to set the agenda. No favoritism was shown nor was a selection offered. Let me have that again, please. Master Sgt. At least Im out here and you are in there, said the former guard. Text Size:thredup ambassador program how to dress more masculine for a woman. He was quiet by nature and spent much of his time writing his memoirs. He never repented for anything he ever did. They just never admitted to it. [46], The French prosecutor, Franois de Menthon, had just overseen trials of the leaders of Vichy France;[37] he resigned in January 1946 and was replaced by Auguste Champetier de Ribes. In some cases, this arrogance lingered into their years of incarceration. [32] The trial was held under modified common law. However, some Russian guards who had perhaps the best reason to want to harshly punish the former German leaders in retaliation for previous atrocities and other crimes committed in the Soviet Union, were friendly and, even in some cases, considerate of the prisoners and American personnel.. The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. The Nuremberg Trials ended on October 1, 1946. Some, over time, even grew to despise him. Minister of Foreign Affairs 193238, succeeded by Ribbentrop. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany waged war across Europe, invading Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Low Countries, France, Denmark, Norway, Yugoslavia, Greece, and the Soviet Union, among others. Once the IMT established the criminality of aggressive war, war . The British government was still opposed, unable to see the benefit of such a trial and preferring summary execution of Nazi leaders. One of the new USA light tanks (M24) on guard outside the courthouse at Nuremberg. With the change of command by rotating countries every month, each of the countries altered the previous countrys rules. Immediately following the end of the IMT, the American military government held twelve more war crimes trials in Nuremberg. 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. Prestianni also favorably related to Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the notorious chief of Germanys security police and a behind-the-scenes prime mover at the January 1942 Wannsee Conference where the proposed extermination of Jewry in central Europe was discussed by top Nazis. After trial, incarcerated at. [62] Vyshinsky demanded extensive corrections to the crimes-against-peace charges, especially regarding the role of the GermanSoviet pact in starting World War II. [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. [99] Nevertheless, defense lawyers (although not most of the defendants) often argued that the prosecution was trying to promote German collective guilt and forcefully countered this as a strawman argument. The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.. Prestianni particularly liked Speer, Hitlers architect and the designer of many of Berlins most spectacular buildings and later minister of armament and munitions. Four were convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years. After his release from prison in Nuremberg, a Stuttgart court sentenced him to eight years in a work camp. The defense lawyers saw themselves as acting on behalf of their clients, but also the German nation;[78] they prioritized the Wehrmacht's reputation over the lives of the generals on trial. Give me information about your Dad and I will help you research about your fathers deployment to Germany. [223], The International Military Tribunal, and the drafters of its charter, invented international criminal law essentially from nothing. Martin Bormann was tried and condemned to death in absentia, and Hermann Gring committed suicide before he could be executed. Streicher, sentenced to death, was perhaps the most despised prisoner of all due to his complete obsession with sex. Guards occasionally retaliated against unpopular, troublesome prisoners by rapping on the cell doors with their night sticks to disturb the occupants sleep. This page was last edited on 8 October 2022, at 21:33. Streicher had published Der Sturmer, a widely read newspaper filled with pornography, ethnic hate, and anti-Jewish cartoons to enflame the German population. The requested reassignments were generally granted.. American chow was prepared for the guards and other Army personnel. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. He argued that Germans needed Lebensraum (living space) and that they were looking only for land expansion. There was a constant, steady flow of rules and regulations, many of them meaningless, while others tended to be more punitive, he said. [66][67] The prosecutors wanted to try representative leaders of German politics, economy, and military; and the Americans had a list of 70 names at the London Conference. Read about WWII here. Many of the worst offenders were not prosecuted, for logistical or financial reasons. They, as a group, had no problem with their guilt. Nuremberg Trials Nuremberg Trials after WWII Nuremberg Trials post Second World War Categories: General news, War and unrest, Government and politics, Military and defense, Social affairs; Location: Germany Display: All Displaying 1 - 124 of 124 Results < Prev | 1 | Next > 4508300110 4508301118 4508310176 4508310168 451007142 490414058 490414049 Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded many countries across Europe, inflicting 27 million deaths in the Soviet Union alone. Through these openings, aluminum food trays could be placed within reach of the prisoners. During the months of imprisonment, the brisk gait of some of the prisoners gradually evolved into defeatist, head-bowed shuffling as acceptance of their fate gradually wore them down and eroded their will. Ten of those men would be hung 16 days later. The night Gring pulled that off on October 16, 1946, now that was quite a night, he recalled. Another, Hermann Goring, opted to commit . As well as the tank three Military Policemen can be seen on duty. I believe her rank was a corporal. I only patrolled there once. [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. [119] Unlike the British and American prosecution strategy, which focused on using German documents to make their case, the French prosecutors took the perspective of the victims, submitting postwar police reports and calling eleven witnesses. [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. [150] The judges barred most evidence on Allied misdeeds from being heard in court. He had been instrumental in establishing a totalitarian state. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment: Rudolf Hess, Walther Funk, and Erich Raeder. [6][7] Trainin's ideas were reprinted in the West and widely adopted. He was good, real sharp, Prestianni related. Cell doors were never opened when food was distributed. [1] The defendants included some of the most famous Nazis, including Hermann Gring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Wilhelm Keitel. [183][184] The judges proved their independence from the governments that appointed them, the defendants were seen as receiving due process, and the evidence of guilt amassed by the prosecution was overwhelming. He didnt really talk to me very much. [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. The culmination of the unprecedented War Crimes trials in the German city of Nuremberg, where the Nazis had staged their infamous pre-war rallies. After encountering a you tube video by accident I have a different answer. What was the name of that individual? The names were -- Wippern, Hahnefeld and myself carried out the checking. [46] The British chief prosecutor was Hartley Shawcross, assisted by David Maxwell Fyfe, who had been the attorney general in Churchill's government. [139] Some defendants denied their involvement in, or knowledge of, certain crimes,[140] even resorting to implausible lies. He is in several pictures standing at Hans Franks left. [161][162], The International Military Tribunal agreed with the prosecution that aggression was the gravest charge against the accused, stating in its judgement that because war in general is evil, "To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. After Ley hanged himself, this strict suicide watch was instituted, Prestianni explained. His face had an animal look to it, Prestianni stated. Minister of Foreign Affairs (until 1938), then Reich Protector for Bohemia and Moravia. One was sentenced in absentia. However, one thread of similarity was woven among them. They [the prisoners] were to always be considered innocent until proven guilty. [241][242], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}492716N 110254E / 49.45444N 11.04833E / 49.45444; 11.04833. William L Shierer "the Rise and Fall of the third Reich", part IV, Nuremberg-chapter, the United States committed the same breach, Last and Near-Last Words of the Famous, Infamous and Those In-Between, "The International Military Tribunal for Germany", The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_defendants_at_the_International_Military_Tribunal&oldid=1114903079, Successor to Hess as Nazi Party Secretary. [132] The inclusion of Katyn in the charges undermined the credibility of Soviet evidence in general. [34][35] Located in the American occupation zone, Nuremberg was a symbolic location as the site of Nazi rallies. They were individually handcuffed to guards, driven by ambulance to a nearby airfield, and flown to Berlin, where they were processed at Spandau Prison. Three of the defendants were acquitted: Hjalmar Schacht, Franz von Papen, and Hans Fritzsche. By special arrangement with a guard or prison official, he gave his handwritten notes to be mimeographed and returned to him. I never really got to know him very well during the few months before he was released, commented Prestianni, but at one time he tried to teach me an intricate German card game, but I never could catch on to it. The British worked on putting together the aggressive war charge; the French and Soviet delegations were assigned the task of covering crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on the Western Front and the Eastern Front, respectively. The toilet was the single source of water. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Keitel was one of ten defendants hanged in the Palace of Justice in the early morning hours of October 16, 1946. The Wiener Holocaust Library's holdings on war crime trials largely pertain to those crimes committed by the Nazis and their allies during the Second World War. 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. [210] As the Cold War began, the rapidly changing political environment began to affect the effectiveness of the trials. [58], The charge of conspiracy was spearheaded by the United States prosecution and was less popular with the other Allies. The priest was most likely the Nrnberg prisons Lutheran chaplain, Henry F. Gerecke. Still others displayed docile and taciturn mannerisms and personalities. These were the intellectuals; the ramrod-stiff military officers; the cunning politicians; the worlds most vicious, depraved, notorious mass murderers; an architect; a filthy-minded and sex-obsessed anti-Semitic newspaper publisher; a gentle writer of poetry; the bombastic bullies; an unrepentant, ghost-like figure; the subservient military lackeys; and even their self-appointed leader, a bloated, drug-addicted former war hero. Neurath, after serving eight years of his 15-year sentence, was spirited away in clandestine fashion, without fanfare, and mysteriously set free in the dead of night on November 6, 1954, because of an alleged eye ailment. My father, Jack J. [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. Many were resistance fighters or political opponents. To maintain the steady flow of Speer pencil sketches, guards always provided him with an adequate supply of paper and sharpened pencils. [30] Article 7 prevented the defendants from claiming immunity for their actions under the act of state doctrine,[31] and the plea of acting under superior orders was left for the judges to decide. Call us at (425) 485-6059. [20][21] The offenses that would be prosecuted were crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Answer (1 of 3): Yes, he was a German lawyer named Otto Stahmer from Kiel. Frick was rather taciturn, not given to talking. [188] The Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes identified 2,500 major war criminals, of whom 177 were tried. Hitler's friend, favorite architect, and Minister of Armaments from 1942 until the end of the war. Koch ordered skin emblazoned with tattoos to be stripped from the cadavers of prisoners and made into lampshades. I never heard him speak, Prestianni remembered. 1 They were convened under the authority of Control Council Law No.. list of guards at nuremberg trialsdelpark homes sutton list of guards at nuremberg trials. SS members were generally frowned upon and can't imagine them having anything to do with the trials except sit in the dock. Two and a quarter hours before he was to be executed he took poison under the. It was supposed to pass to me, but my brothers widow lost it and it has not been turned over to me. Everyone within hearing distance knew what the hammering signified. [73] Also on trial were propagandists Julius Streicher and Hans Fritzsche; Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy who had flown to Britain in 1941; Hans Frank, governor-general of the General Governorate of Poland; Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach; Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands; and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the leader of Himmler's Reich Main Security Office. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment. On October 1, 1946, the verdicts on 22 of the original 24 defendants were handed down for the Nrnberg trials. Prestianni played checkers and chess with four of the prisoners and argued politics with others. [116] In contrast to the other prosecution teams, the French prosecution emphasized how Nazi ideology and pan-Germanism had led to the Nazis' crimes, and delved into the Sonderweg theory of Germany's development in the nineteenth century. I had no idea of the magnitude of what they had done. It was an appointment that, when coupled with his Baltic origin, brought him into sharp conflict with most of those in Hitlers entourage. Corrections? [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. The same routine was followed for each of the condemned prisoners. He was short but very powerfully built. The Nuremberg Trials were 13 trials held in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II. He was the popular picture court room scene the second on the left of the door. The Nrnberg trials were a series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 1945 and 1946 following the end of World War II. (November 1945) Sources: All photos copyright and courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum She was released after four years and eventually committed suicide in a Bavarian prison. Below are facts about what has been called the greatest trial in history. [228][24] The charge of crimes against humanity, the charge of conspiracy, and imposing criminal penalties on individuals for breaches of international law were also novel but attracted little criticism. Verdicts were handed down on October 1, 1946. His name was David C. Porter from Pennsylvania. My Dad Arthur Tacopino was a guard at The Nuremberg Trials. After the first trial ended in October 1946, the United States held 12 other trials at Nuremberg under the authority of the International Military Tribunal. He has little or no memory of the six remaining defendants, Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach, Labor Front head Robert Ley, Minister of Economics Walther Funk, Plenipotentiary for Labor Deployment Fritz Sauckel, propagandist Hans Fritzsche, or Artur Seys-Inquart, the administrator of the occupied Netherlands. Trial issues are criminal activities or subjects at issue in a trial that are addressed by a document. [22][23] War crimes already existed in international law as criminal violations of the laws and customs of war. His daily diary notes culminated in a book after his release. [146] The Nuremberg Laws were compared to discriminatory laws in the United States. He was usually confrontational and argumentative with the other prisoners. Hildegard Lchert (AKA "Bloody Brigette" or "Beast") Hildegard Lchert was conscripted to join the Nazi women in 1942, at the age of 22. Hess, former deputy fhrer of the Nazi party and Hitlers private secretary during the early years of the National Socialist movement, was sentenced to life imprisonment and served every day of it to the age of 92 when he died in 1987 under mysterious circumstances in Berlins Spandau Prison. I asked him why that necessitated the killing of people to achieve this so-called needed land, especially the people of Poland. [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". It was always a battle of authority. Had been imprisoned since then. I have been searching for evidence that my Dad was a guard, so that the stories I have been told since I was a child could be documented. All guards were forced to stand practically motionless at parade rest behind their assigned prisoner seated before them in the dock. [87] Over the course of the trial, Western judges allowed the defendants additional leeway to denounce the Soviet Union, which was ultimately revealed to be a co-conspirator in the outbreak of World War II. He did mention seeing the prisoners in their cells. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death, three to life imprisonment, four to imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years, and three were acquitted. He could never understand why he had been tried for war crimes. [194] Luftwaffe general Erhard Milch was tried for using slave labor and deporting civilians. Recently one of our readers in the US contacted us with a photo of a pair of sunglasses that were in a box in his grandfather's garage. Only Speer stood in the courtroom showing some remorse and, in an act of contrition, admitted his guilt and knowledge of the camps. Other prisoners shuffled past him without even glancing in his direction or outwardly acknowledging that he existed. [90][91] The bringing of conspiracy charges also slowed the trial, as the same evidence ended up being read out multiple times, when it was relevant to both substantive and conspiracy charges. Prestiannis assignment was over, and he was transferred to guard duty at a POW compound at Bamberg, Germany. [64] The division of labor, and the haste with which the indictment was prepared, resulted in duplication, imprecise language, and lack of attribution of specific charges to individual defendants. [127] Evidence was presented on the murder of children, attempts to cover up atrocities,[128] systematic plunder of occupied territories, and confiscation or destruction of cultural heritage. Answer (1 of 5): None of the footage I have seen of the trials revealed anyone but American MPs. Joachim von Ribbentrop's body after his execution. Nuremberg Trials On November 20, 1945, six months after the surrender of Nazi Germany to allied forces, twenty-one military, political, media, and business leaders of the Third Reich filed into the dock of the Palace of Justice in the devastated and occupied German city of Nuremberg. Updated on January 22, 2020. Goring had been given a list of approved lawyers by the US authorities, but rejected every name on it. On October 1, 1946, the International Military Tribunal handed down its verdicts in the trials of 22 Nazi leaders - eleven were given the death penalty, three were acquitted, three were given life imprisonment and four were given imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years. Jackson. Some were gassed. [129] The Soviet prosecution also attempted to fabricate German responsibility for the Katyn massacre, which had in fact been committed by the Soviet Union. All I can recall is that he was standing to the left in the court room. Seven others, over time, were reduced by lengthy prison sentences to hollow, shuffling shadows of their former selves. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. [120] Ultimately, the French prosecution was unable to convince the court that Germanization was a crime against humanity, and incidents such as the German annexation of AlsaceLorraine went unmentioned in the final verdict. [55], The work of drafting the indictment was divided up by the national delegations. Colonels from all four countries were running around trying to determine how it happened.. [95] None of the defendants tried to assert that the Nazis' crimes had not occurred; instead, they attempted to divert blame from their own actions. 1 Feb 1946. Prominent banker and economist. The Rome Statute establishing a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC), which had been proposed in 1953, was finally agreed to in 1998. Had I known just who these prisoners were at the time and what they had been accused and convicted of having done, I probably would not have had such a close relationship with them. To some, he was demeaned as the foreigner., I didnt like his looks at all. [156], On 31 August, closing arguments were presented. Expressed repentance. I sure would like to find out more about his service. [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. The whole focus was on keeping the prisoners under surveillance through the opening in the cell doors, Prestianni said. [189], One set of trials focused on the actions of German professionals: the Doctors' trial focused on human experimentation and euthanasia murders, the Judges' trial on the role of the judiciary in Nazi crimes, and the Ministries trial on the culpability of bureaucrats of German government ministries, especially the Foreign Office. She kept a scrapbook which had photos of her group and many signatures of court officials and army officers commending them for their service. The tribunal responded that such acts had been regarded as criminal prior to World War II. Prestianni does not recall Raeder maintaining even a limited friendship with the other prisoners. The tribunal consisted of a member plus an alternate selected by each of the four signatory countries. [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. Again, without a word being spoken, the door was slammed shut. The trials were not fair, though not in the way you are suggesting. 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. April 22, 2020. His name was Raymond J Arsenault. He told multiple stories of his time there. [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. Hess was eccentric. Does anyone know where I can read about the nuremberg trials from the guards perspective? Dnitz, who was named successor to Hitler during the waning days of the war and served 10 years in prison, remained aloof. The United States delegation outlined the overall Nazi conspiracy and criminality of Nazi organizations. He was found innocent and released but sentenced in 1949 by a German court to nine years in prison.