2.  At the end of World War II, the Allies (U.S., Britain, France and U.S.S.R.) decided to put Nazi leaders on trial for “crimes” committed during the war

3.  The Allies created a “military tribunal” that tried these Nazis

4.  The trials were called the Nuremberg Trials after the city in which they were held  There were, in fact, a number of trials.  The most famous of the trials dealt with the Nazi leadership.

5.  The Nazi leaders were tried under a new set of international law which were controversial for three reasons

6.  1. the were created “after the fact”  2. they were created by the “winners” and used against the “losers”  3. laws were imposed by an “international community” on people acting within their “home country”

7.  There were four basic charges

8.  Planning, preparation, initiation or waging war of aggression

9.  Murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labour members of civilian populations  Murder, ill-treatment of prisoners of war  Killing of hostages  Plunder or property

10.  Murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population before or during war  Persecution on political, racial, religious grounds whether or not in violation of domestic laws of country where perpetrated

11.  This included plans to commit any of the three main charges, particularly, Crimes Against Peace

12.  24 defendants were originally charged in the Nuremberg Trials  Some Nazis like Heinrich Himmler, leader of the SS, committed suicide before they were brought to trial  Some like Martin Bormann escaped and were never captured

13. HERMAN GOERING

14.  One of Hitler’s key deputies  Created the Gestapo  Built up the armed forces and led the Luftwaffe in strikes against Poland and other countries  Created the first concentration camp  Used slave labour  Persecuted Jews in Germany and occupied areas

15. CHARGEEVIDENCEVERDICTPUNISHMENT CRIMES AGAINST PEACE WAR CRIMES CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONSPIRACY

16. ALFRED ROSENBERG

17.  Developed key Nazis philosophies  Created policies to exploited civilian population including forced labour and extermination of Jews in occupied areas  Subordinates engaged in mass killings of Jews  Ordered 40,000 – 50,000 youths to be shipped to Germany

18. CHARGEEVIDENCEVERDICTPUNISHMENT CRIMES AGAINST PEACE WAR CRIMES CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONSPIRACY

19. JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP

20.  Helped planned invasion into Czechoslovakia  Negotiated the secret Nazi-Soviet pact  Helped plan the invasion of Poland  In 1942, helped develop the “final solution” to the Jewish question  Assisted in the deportation of Jews in occupied territories

21. CHARGEEVIDENCEVERDICTPUNISHMENT CRIMES AGAINST PEACE WAR CRIMES CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONSPIRACY

22. RUDOLF HESS

23.  Was deputy to Hitler  Top Nazi outside of Hitler, had authority to make decisions in Hitler’s name  Willing participant in the invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland  Tried to negotiate peace with Britain during a solo flight in 1941, was captured and imprisoned for rest of war  Shows signs of mental deterioration during the trials

24. CHARGEEVIDENCEVERDICTPUNISHMENT CRIMES AGAINST PEACE WAR CRIMES CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONSPIRACY

26.  Of the 24 defendants, 19 were found guilty  5 were acquitted  12 were sentenced to hang including Martin Bormann but he was never found  11 were executed by hanging

27. DEFENDANT COUNT 1COUNT 2COUNT 3COUNT 4 SENTENCE HERMAN GOERING GUILTY DEATH ALFRED ROSENBERG GUILTY DEATH JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP GUILTY DEATH RUDOLF HESS GUILTYINNOCENT GUILTYLIFE

28. DEFENDANTSENTENCERESULT HERMAN GOERINGDEATH BY HANGINGCOMMITTED SUICIDE OCTOBER 15, 1946, DAY BEFORE SCHEDULED EXECUTION,. BODY WAS CREMATED AND ASHES WERE SCATTERED ALFRED ROSENBERGDEATH BY HANGINGEXECUTED OCTOBER 16, 1946. BODY WAS CREMATED AND ASHES WERE SCATTERED JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROPDEATH BY HANGINGEXECUTED OCTOBER 16, 1946. BODY WAS CREMATED AND ASHES WERE SCATTERED RUDOLF HESSLIFE SENTENCECOMMITTED SUICIDE JULY 17, 1987, AT AGE 97. BODY WAS BURIED

29.  THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW SET OF INTERNATIONAL LAWS FAILED TO DEAL WITH A KEY DEFENSE INTRODUCED BY MANY OF THE DEFENDANTS ON TRIAL:  “I WAS JUST FOLLOWING ORDERS”

30.  A new principle arose out of the trials that was to be applied to future cases of War Crimes:  a soldier has a duty to ignore a clearly immoral order.  This was put to the test during the Vietnam War

31.  In 1968, U.S. troops were engaged in a massacre of elderly men, women and children in the village of My Lai  Women and children were raped, all villagers were shot and the village was torched

32.  When news reports surfaced about the massacre, there was public and international pressure on the U.S. government to prosecute the soldiers for War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity  This presents a problem: an army trying their own soldiers – this becomes an indictment of a system

33.  Many of the soldiers used the same defense as the Nazi leadership: “I was just following orders”

34.  A soldier still has duty to disobey an immoral law  However, a soldier must be taught what an immoral law is.