"We must never forget
what the record on which we judge these defendants today
is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow.
To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our lips as well."
-Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson
what the record on which we judge these defendants today
is the record on which history will judge us tomorrow.
To pass these defendants a poisoned chalice is to put it to our lips as well."
-Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson
the holocaust led to the nuremberg trials
Some of the higher ranking Nazi officials were tried and 5,025 Nazi criminals were convicted between 1945-1949. The Nuremberg Trials forced the international community to take action against future genocide, including the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in 1948.
The International Tribunal: Nuremberg
The Nuremberg Trials was an important turning point in
international criminal law. Before World War II, government officials slipped
past punishment for their crimes. During the Holocaust, the Nazi's terrorized
and tortured the Jews using their military forces. By the end of the Holocaust,
world civilization was shocked by the gruesome details of the tortured victims
in the concentration camps. The Nuremberg Trials took place in hopes of
preventing cruel acts similar to the Holocaust from ever occurring again.
Unfortunately, history repeated itself, but the principles established by the
Nuremberg Trials influenced the laws that were made on modern international
law.
international criminal law. Before World War II, government officials slipped
past punishment for their crimes. During the Holocaust, the Nazi's terrorized
and tortured the Jews using their military forces. By the end of the Holocaust,
world civilization was shocked by the gruesome details of the tortured victims
in the concentration camps. The Nuremberg Trials took place in hopes of
preventing cruel acts similar to the Holocaust from ever occurring again.
Unfortunately, history repeated itself, but the principles established by the
Nuremberg Trials influenced the laws that were made on modern international
law.
"The Allies put on trial 24 Nazis from the highest
echelons, including the principal surviving members of the government, the army, the machinery of repression, as well as business and administrative leaders, including those in the occupied territories. The defendants were represented by German legal experts." -Road to International Criminal Court |
Crimes Committed
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"The criminals, had made many crimes, described are only few. "(A) human head with the skull bone removed, shrunken, stuffed, and preserved. The Nazis had one of their victims decapitated, after having had him hanged, apparently for fraternizing with a German woman, and fashioned this terrible ornament from his head." -Thomas Dodd explaining exhibit number USA-254 "The corpses were then turned over to the pathological department where the desired pieces of tattooed skin were detached from the bodies and treated. The finished products were turned over to SS Standartenfuehrer Koch's wife, who had them fashioned into lamp shades and other ornamental household articles, I myself saw such tattooed skins with various designs and legends on them, such as "Hansel and Gretel," which one prisoner had on his knee, and designs of ships from prisoners' chests. This work was done by a prisoner named Wernerbach."
-Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 3 |
THE POWER OF THE NUREMBERG TRIALS ON CRIMINAL LAW.
"The Nuremberg trials established that all of humanity would be guarded by an international legal shield and that even a Head of State would be held criminally responsible and punished for aggression and Crimes Against Humanity. The right of humanitarian intervention to put a stop to Crimes Against Humanity- even by a sovereign against his own citizens – gradually emerged from the Nuremberg principles affirmed by the United Nations." -roberthjackson.org |
THE LEGACY OF THE NUREMBERG TRIALS
"The Legacy of the Nuremberg Trials, were that they were created to protect civilians, medics, the wounded or prisoners of war, and ban weapons or methods of warfare likely to cause unnecessary losses or excessive suffering, such as hollow bullets or poison gas. Today more than 190 nation states adhere to the conventions -- almost all the countries in the world. The international gathering at Nuremberg was the world's first tribunal to hold a country and its leaders responsible for violating these conventions." -pbs.org/nuremberg |