“I thought at the time and still think that the Nuremberg trials were unprincipled. Law was created ex post facto to suit the passion and clamor of the time. The concept of ex post facto law is not congenial to the Anglo-American viewpoint on law. Before criminal penalties can be imposed there must be fair warning that the conduct which one undertook was criminal.”—William O. Douglas, LL.D. (Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the U.S., 1939-1975)
We used to have these trials listed under postwar crimes, but since most visitors don't expect them there, hence had a hard time finding it, we moved it up one notch. If you wonder why we put it there in the first place: because the Allied tribunals and all the trials that followed in their wake were a crass violation of international law and thus a crime by definition. Here are papers bringing that message home.
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ March 1, 2000
Approximately 10,000 “War Crimes Trials” have been held since 1945. Trials of Japanese military personnel ended in 1949, yet “war crimes trials” of Germans and Eastern Europeans continue to date. Almost invariably, the charge is “violation of the laws and customs of war”, derived, in turn, from international conventions signed at the Hague in 1899…
By CODOH ∙ January 1, 1996
Click on small pictures to see larger versions, download sizes indicated. Large Images will open in a separate window and are best viewed at 1,024×768 pixels or higher resolution, but 800×600 is adequate. DACHAU LIBERATION88K GIF DACHAU LIBERATION71K GIF DACHAU LIBERATION53K GIF DACHAU LIBERATION60K GIF BELSEN CORPSES89K GIF BUCHENWALD CORPSES49K GIF DACHAU CORPSES55K GIF GUARDS…
By N. Schwernik, J. Trainin, Nikolaus Lyssenko ∙ January 1, 1996
Introduction “The Nuremberg Trials.” The mere mention of these words conjures up stark images of atrocities of the Second World War. These were the trials of the top surviving members of the Nazi leadership. At the conclusion of the trials, a set of volumes would be produced documenting the evidence presented. These volumes would become…
By Joseph P. Bellinger ∙ January 1, 2000
Willy Frey was 22 years old when he was placed on trial by the allies for his alleged participation in a 'common design' to murder or abuse inmates at Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. The Presiding Judge at the trial was A. H. Rosenfeld, whose rulings in nearly every instance favored the prosecution. The prosecuting…
By Germanica ∙ January 1, 1998
The other day I cited a prominent and highly regarded Russian historian (that is, historian of Russia) whose interpretation of some aspects of 20th century Soviet history matched my own, and which in both cases tended toward a revisionist perspective. The rejoinder I received was something along the lines of “OK, so you found a…
By Stephen J. Sniegoski ∙ April 13, 1998
Nuremberg: The Last Battle by David Irving. Focal Point Publications, 1996. 377 + x pp., £20.00. Stephen J. Sniegoski As stated in the title of by David Irving's book, the Nuremberg Trial was the last battle of World War II in Europe. Nazi Germany had already been physically destroyed by the superior military power of…
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ January 3, 1998
In my book, Not Guilty at Nuremberg, I wrote: “Telford Taylor was incapable of repeating the simplest statement truthfully. (See XX 626, the statements of General Manstein, compared with Taylor's 'quotation' from Manstein, XXII 276.) The following are “quotations” from Taylor (Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials, Back Bay Books, Little Brown & Co., paperback, by…
By Göran Holming ∙ January 8, 1997
As is well known, no order or any other kind of directive from Hitler or Himmler exists that calls for the extermination or gassing of the Jews. On the other hand, allied propaganda alleges that there was an order from Himmler to stop the gassings.[1] If such an order indeed existed, it would provide strong…
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ January 1, 1996
In his famous dissentient judgment at the Tokyo Trial Justice R.B. Pal of India used the term “vile competition” in reference to propaganda and atrocity charges. One gets the impression that “witnesses”, “affiants” and “deponents” are striving to outdo each other in improvements upon the same tale, each claiming to have personally suffered the most….
By Lawrence Douglas ∙ January 11, 1995
Introduction: Film as Witness and The Problem of Representation[1] November 20, 1995, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of the most unusual judicial proceedings of the century, the Nuremberg war crimes trials. After a day devoted to entering die indictment and the pleas, Robert H. Jackson, a sitting Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court…
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