Nuremberg Trials: Justice Against Nazi War Crimes

Twenty-one men took their seats in the dock at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, facing charges of crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy. The International Military Tribunal, convened by the victorious Allied powers, was attempting something unprecedented in the history of warfare: holding individual leaders criminally responsible for the actions of a state. The trial that began on November 20, 1945, would last nearly a year and establish principles of international law that endure to this day. The decision to hold trials rather than simply execute Nazi leaders was far from obvious. Winston Churchill initially favored summary execution. Stalin suggested shooting 50,000 to 100,000 German officers, a proposal he may or may not have made in jest. Henry Morgenthau, the U.S. Treasury Secretary, wanted to dismantle German industry entirely. The insistence on a legal proceeding came primarily from American Secretary of War Henry Stimson, who argued that judicial process would create an indisputable historical record and establish the principle that aggressive war was a crime. The tribunal brought together judges and prosecutors from the United States, Britain, France, and the Soviet Union, four nations with radically different legal traditions forced to agree on rules of procedure, evidence, and jurisdiction. The chief American prosecutor, Robert H. Jackson, delivered the opening statement, declaring that "the wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated."