Nuremburg Trials
Lathan Lauing
Why Nazi Officials were tried for War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity
Germany’s power in World War II scared most countries during the
Holocaust, all, but the allied forces. United States and its allies were
determined to bring justice to all German Nazi officials. Nazi officials were
tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On December 17, 1942, the leaders of the United States and its
allied forces issued the first joint declaration officially noting the mass
murder of European Jews and resolving to prosecute those responsible for crimes
against civilian populations (USHMM War Crimes Trials). The trials that were
created to prosecute these war criminals took place in Nuremburg Germany, before
judges representing Allied forces (USHMM War Crimes Trials). The trials in
Nuremburg, Germany were designed to specifically prosecute high-ranking Nazi
officials with whom authority over heinous atrocities rested (Harrer). War
criminals were broke into two different categories, major and minor. For
example, “major war criminals, whose crimes could be assigned no particular
geographical location, would be punished by joint decisions of the allied
governments” (USHMM War Crimes Trials). Then there’s “minor war criminals, who
were civilians or former soldiers whose crimes were committed in specific
locations” (USHMM War Crimes Trials).
There were four counts of indictment that were used to prosecute
war criminals at the time of the Holocaust. The first count was conspiracy to
commit crimes in other counts; count number two was committing crimes against
the peace. Number three was committing war crimes, and lastly, count number four
was committing crimes against humanity (Harrer).
The reason why war criminals were prosecuted for war crimes on
the previous four indictment charges, were because of the severity of the crimes
committed against humanity. The largest of the reasons is the crimes Nazi
individuals committed. A man named “Otto Ohlendorf, was commander of Einsatz (“action”) group D that shot and
gassed 90,000 Hungarian Jews” (Stephenson 5). Sandor Kepiro …”was among
Hungarian officers alleged to have carried out a three-day massacre of more than
1,000 Jewish people”…in Siberia (Soares 2).
An Austrian medic named Heim committed extensive crimes that
were indefinitely worth prosecuting for. The Austrian medic “knocked out,
castrated, and then decapitated one of his patients” that same patient then had
his head boiled “to remove the flesh and then his skull was put on display” for
all the others to see to cast fear among the Jewish people (Soares 1). During an
interview in a German prison a man named Hoess told his experiences. Mr. Hoess
“…went into detail about the killing operation he observed at Auschwitz…he’d the
first to experiment with the popular disinfectant, Zyklon B, a commercial form
of Hydrochloric Acid, and had found it highly effective in killing prisoners”
(Stephenson 4). It had been Hoess’s idea “ to install peepholes into the chamber
doors so that the dying process could be properly observed”, while Hoess was at Auschwitz he put more than 2.5
million people to death, including woman, men, and
children.
Another demented man named “Mr. Zentai…was accused of beating 18-year old boy named Peter Balasz
to death when he caught him riding a Budapest tram without wearing a yellow star
to identify himself as a Jew” (Soares 2). Then there was “Micheal Seifert who
tortured his victims in a North Italian concentration camp using fire, broken
bottles, clubs, and ice-cold water” (Soares 2). There were numerous others who
committed crimes worth prosecuting for war crimes and crimes against humanity,
but the actions these men did were the very reason allied forces created the
Nuremburg War Crimes Trials in the first place. These men were among the many
that were tried as “minor” war criminals.
Some of the most infamous criminals tried for war crimes and crimes
against humanity were considered “major” war criminals. One of the most famous
trials was that of Adolf Einchman. Adlof Eichman was the chief architect in the
deportation of Jews. He would send them off to concentration camps and many
extermination camps all over Europe (USHMM War Crimes Trials). Konstantin Von
Neurath served as chief German official in Protecturate and played an important
role in the wars of aggression which Germany was wagering in the East, knowing
that crimes agasinst humanity were being committed under his authority. Nuerath
was found guilty on counts three and four. He was sentenced to 20 years in
prison (Harrer).
Mr. Alfred Jodl was the chief of operations for the german high
command and was active in planning the attacks against Norway, Holland, Poland,
Greece, Yugoslavia, and Russia. Jodl was responsible for the elimination of the
Soviet Commis Sars. He was found guilty on all accounts and was sentenced to
death by hanging (Harrer). Navel Admiral Karl Doenitz eventually commanded the
whole navy. He was also responsible for Hitler’s commando order, by which the
members of the allied motor torpedo boat were turned over to the SD and shot.
His verdict was guilty on counts two and three, and sentenced to 10 years in
prison (Harrer).
Most of the officials tried were sentenced to imprisonment or
death by hanging, very rarely was any man let out of prison. Wilhelm Frick was
largely responsible for bringing the German control of the NDSAP. Frick had
knowledge systematic murdering if the insane, ill, and aged people. Wilhelm
Frick was guilty on counts two, three, and four. He was sentenced to death by
hanging (Harrer). Another man that was sentenced to death by hanging was Joachim
Von Ribbintrop. He played an active role in Hilter’s Final Solution, when he
worked to accelerate the deportation of Jews to concentration camps in the East.
He was found guilty on all four accounts and sentenced to death by hanging
(Harrer). A man by the name of Arthur Seyss-Inguart was Reich commissioner for
the occupied Netherlands. He was involved in the shooting of hostages and was a
voluntary participant in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Arthur was
tried and found guilty on counts two, three, and four. He was sentenced to death
by hanging (Harrer).
Fritz Sauckel was chief of slave labor recruitment for the Nazi
regime. He was responsible for deporting five million people for slave labor.
After his case went to trial he was found guilty on counts two, three, and four.
Sauckel was sentenced to death by hanging (harrer). Mr. Hoess’s interview that
he had with a European reported he answered to the following question asked to
him: “Did you supervise gas chamber murders?” “Yes, I had the whole supervision
of that business. I was often, but not always, present when the gas chambers
were being used” (Stephenson).
Though many of the people who “committed crimes against humanity and war
crimes were caught and tried, many people refuge in other neutral countries. It
is unfortunate that many perpetrators of Nazi-era criminality have never been
tried or punished” (USHMM War Crimes Trials). Many of the war perpetrators just
went back to their normal lives to escape allied forces (USHMM War Crimes
Trials). Still today the hunt for German and Axis war criminals still goes on
today (USHMM War Crimes Trials). A popular place that Nazi official refuged to
was South America. Today many Nazi refugees are being found and brought to trial
to get the justice they deserve.
Overall Nazi perpetrators were brought to justice and tried for war
crimes and crimes against humanity. Though many Nazis are still alive and free,
the Nuremburg War Trials were a huge success. Allied countries tried thousands
of Nazi officials that got the justice they deserved. For those that were never
tried hopefully, time caught up with them and they have no need to be found and
tried. As for the question of why Nazi officials were tried, hopefully it is
clear to see that the crimes many of them committed were worth trying them for.
Works Cited Page
Research Paper Only
Harrer, Allison. "Nuremberg Trials: Judgment." Nuremberg
Trials: Judgment. Ed. Karren Phinney. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/projects/nurembg/NuremJudgement.htm.>
Soares, Claire. "Race Against Time to Bring the Last Surviving
Nazi Fugitives.." The Independent (London, England): n.p. May 01 2008.
SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 16 Sep. 2013 <http://sks.sirs.com>.< http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SSD0354-0-4706&artno=0000277361&&shfilter=U&key=claire%20soares&title=Race%20Against%20Time%20to%20Bring%20the%20Last%20Surviving%20Nazi%20Fugitives%2E%2E%2E&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N>.
Stephenson, Frank. "The Nazi Voices of Nuremberg." Florida
State University Research in Review Vol.15 No.2, 3 2005: 18+. SIRS Issues
Researcher. Web. 16 Sep. 2013< http://sks.sirs.com>.< http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SSD0354-0-4706&artno=0000272651&&shfilter=U&key=frank%20stephenson&title=The%20Nazi%20Voices%20of%20Nuremberg&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N>.
https://www.google.com/search?q=margaret+bourke-white&safe=active&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=cvtzU-nJKIGjyAS_1IKwBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=705#hl=en&q=nuremberg+trials&safe=active&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=KUncNQHHVDKhiM%253A%3BmdT0cMt_xdJiCM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.molloy.edu%252FImages%252FNews%252Fntrials2.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.molloy.edu%252Fnews-and-events%252Fnews-archive%252Fthe-nuremberg-trials-as-you-have-never-heard-it-before%3B470%3B344
Why Nazi Officials were tried for War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity
Germany’s power in World War II scared most countries during the
Holocaust, all, but the allied forces. United States and its allies were
determined to bring justice to all German Nazi officials. Nazi officials were
tried for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
On December 17, 1942, the leaders of the United States and its
allied forces issued the first joint declaration officially noting the mass
murder of European Jews and resolving to prosecute those responsible for crimes
against civilian populations (USHMM War Crimes Trials). The trials that were
created to prosecute these war criminals took place in Nuremburg Germany, before
judges representing Allied forces (USHMM War Crimes Trials). The trials in
Nuremburg, Germany were designed to specifically prosecute high-ranking Nazi
officials with whom authority over heinous atrocities rested (Harrer). War
criminals were broke into two different categories, major and minor. For
example, “major war criminals, whose crimes could be assigned no particular
geographical location, would be punished by joint decisions of the allied
governments” (USHMM War Crimes Trials). Then there’s “minor war criminals, who
were civilians or former soldiers whose crimes were committed in specific
locations” (USHMM War Crimes Trials).
There were four counts of indictment that were used to prosecute
war criminals at the time of the Holocaust. The first count was conspiracy to
commit crimes in other counts; count number two was committing crimes against
the peace. Number three was committing war crimes, and lastly, count number four
was committing crimes against humanity (Harrer).
The reason why war criminals were prosecuted for war crimes on
the previous four indictment charges, were because of the severity of the crimes
committed against humanity. The largest of the reasons is the crimes Nazi
individuals committed. A man named “Otto Ohlendorf, was commander of Einsatz (“action”) group D that shot and
gassed 90,000 Hungarian Jews” (Stephenson 5). Sandor Kepiro …”was among
Hungarian officers alleged to have carried out a three-day massacre of more than
1,000 Jewish people”…in Siberia (Soares 2).
An Austrian medic named Heim committed extensive crimes that
were indefinitely worth prosecuting for. The Austrian medic “knocked out,
castrated, and then decapitated one of his patients” that same patient then had
his head boiled “to remove the flesh and then his skull was put on display” for
all the others to see to cast fear among the Jewish people (Soares 1). During an
interview in a German prison a man named Hoess told his experiences. Mr. Hoess
“…went into detail about the killing operation he observed at Auschwitz…he’d the
first to experiment with the popular disinfectant, Zyklon B, a commercial form
of Hydrochloric Acid, and had found it highly effective in killing prisoners”
(Stephenson 4). It had been Hoess’s idea “ to install peepholes into the chamber
doors so that the dying process could be properly observed”, while Hoess was at Auschwitz he put more than 2.5
million people to death, including woman, men, and
children.
Another demented man named “Mr. Zentai…was accused of beating 18-year old boy named Peter Balasz
to death when he caught him riding a Budapest tram without wearing a yellow star
to identify himself as a Jew” (Soares 2). Then there was “Micheal Seifert who
tortured his victims in a North Italian concentration camp using fire, broken
bottles, clubs, and ice-cold water” (Soares 2). There were numerous others who
committed crimes worth prosecuting for war crimes and crimes against humanity,
but the actions these men did were the very reason allied forces created the
Nuremburg War Crimes Trials in the first place. These men were among the many
that were tried as “minor” war criminals.
Some of the most infamous criminals tried for war crimes and crimes
against humanity were considered “major” war criminals. One of the most famous
trials was that of Adolf Einchman. Adlof Eichman was the chief architect in the
deportation of Jews. He would send them off to concentration camps and many
extermination camps all over Europe (USHMM War Crimes Trials). Konstantin Von
Neurath served as chief German official in Protecturate and played an important
role in the wars of aggression which Germany was wagering in the East, knowing
that crimes agasinst humanity were being committed under his authority. Nuerath
was found guilty on counts three and four. He was sentenced to 20 years in
prison (Harrer).
Mr. Alfred Jodl was the chief of operations for the german high
command and was active in planning the attacks against Norway, Holland, Poland,
Greece, Yugoslavia, and Russia. Jodl was responsible for the elimination of the
Soviet Commis Sars. He was found guilty on all accounts and was sentenced to
death by hanging (Harrer). Navel Admiral Karl Doenitz eventually commanded the
whole navy. He was also responsible for Hitler’s commando order, by which the
members of the allied motor torpedo boat were turned over to the SD and shot.
His verdict was guilty on counts two and three, and sentenced to 10 years in
prison (Harrer).
Most of the officials tried were sentenced to imprisonment or
death by hanging, very rarely was any man let out of prison. Wilhelm Frick was
largely responsible for bringing the German control of the NDSAP. Frick had
knowledge systematic murdering if the insane, ill, and aged people. Wilhelm
Frick was guilty on counts two, three, and four. He was sentenced to death by
hanging (Harrer). Another man that was sentenced to death by hanging was Joachim
Von Ribbintrop. He played an active role in Hilter’s Final Solution, when he
worked to accelerate the deportation of Jews to concentration camps in the East.
He was found guilty on all four accounts and sentenced to death by hanging
(Harrer). A man by the name of Arthur Seyss-Inguart was Reich commissioner for
the occupied Netherlands. He was involved in the shooting of hostages and was a
voluntary participant in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Arthur was
tried and found guilty on counts two, three, and four. He was sentenced to death
by hanging (Harrer).
Fritz Sauckel was chief of slave labor recruitment for the Nazi
regime. He was responsible for deporting five million people for slave labor.
After his case went to trial he was found guilty on counts two, three, and four.
Sauckel was sentenced to death by hanging (harrer). Mr. Hoess’s interview that
he had with a European reported he answered to the following question asked to
him: “Did you supervise gas chamber murders?” “Yes, I had the whole supervision
of that business. I was often, but not always, present when the gas chambers
were being used” (Stephenson).
Though many of the people who “committed crimes against humanity and war
crimes were caught and tried, many people refuge in other neutral countries. It
is unfortunate that many perpetrators of Nazi-era criminality have never been
tried or punished” (USHMM War Crimes Trials). Many of the war perpetrators just
went back to their normal lives to escape allied forces (USHMM War Crimes
Trials). Still today the hunt for German and Axis war criminals still goes on
today (USHMM War Crimes Trials). A popular place that Nazi official refuged to
was South America. Today many Nazi refugees are being found and brought to trial
to get the justice they deserve.
Overall Nazi perpetrators were brought to justice and tried for war
crimes and crimes against humanity. Though many Nazis are still alive and free,
the Nuremburg War Trials were a huge success. Allied countries tried thousands
of Nazi officials that got the justice they deserved. For those that were never
tried hopefully, time caught up with them and they have no need to be found and
tried. As for the question of why Nazi officials were tried, hopefully it is
clear to see that the crimes many of them committed were worth trying them for.
Works Cited Page
Research Paper Only
Harrer, Allison. "Nuremberg Trials: Judgment." Nuremberg
Trials: Judgment. Ed. Karren Phinney. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013.
<http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/projects/nurembg/NuremJudgement.htm.>
Soares, Claire. "Race Against Time to Bring the Last Surviving
Nazi Fugitives.." The Independent (London, England): n.p. May 01 2008.
SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 16 Sep. 2013 <http://sks.sirs.com>.< http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SSD0354-0-4706&artno=0000277361&&shfilter=U&key=claire%20soares&title=Race%20Against%20Time%20to%20Bring%20the%20Last%20Surviving%20Nazi%20Fugitives%2E%2E%2E&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N>.
Stephenson, Frank. "The Nazi Voices of Nuremberg." Florida
State University Research in Review Vol.15 No.2, 3 2005: 18+. SIRS Issues
Researcher. Web. 16 Sep. 2013< http://sks.sirs.com>.< http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display?id=SSD0354-0-4706&artno=0000272651&&shfilter=U&key=frank%20stephenson&title=The%20Nazi%20Voices%20of%20Nuremberg&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N>.
https://www.google.com/search?q=margaret+bourke-white&safe=active&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=cvtzU-nJKIGjyAS_1IKwBQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=705#hl=en&q=nuremberg+trials&safe=active&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=KUncNQHHVDKhiM%253A%3BmdT0cMt_xdJiCM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.molloy.edu%252FImages%252FNews%252Fntrials2.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.molloy.edu%252Fnews-and-events%252Fnews-archive%252Fthe-nuremberg-trials-as-you-have-never-heard-it-before%3B470%3B344