“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 Wilhelm Stäglich ∙ February 1, 2015
Auschwitz is the epicenter of the Holocaust. There is no place on earth where more people are said to have been murdered than at Auschwitz. At this detention camp the industrialized mass murder of the Jews by Nazi Germany reached its demonic pinnacle. This narrative is based on a wide range of evidence, the most…
By Edward L. Van Roden ∙ January 2, 1949
I American investigators at the U. S. Court in Dachau, Germany, used the following methods to obtain confessions: Beatings and brutal kickings. Knocking out teeth and breaking jaws. Mock trials. Solitary confinement. Posturing as priests. Very limited rations. Spiritual deprivation. Promises of acquittal. Complaints concerning these third degree methods were received by Secretary of the…
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ January 9, 1990
The Tokyo War Crimes Trial, or, You Are What You Eat – So Be Careful If You Can't Eat 'Em, Beat 'Em Or, How I Killed Thousands of People With My Bare Hands I Left my Heart in Old Mukden, or, How I Survived Miraculously While Almost Nobody Died Japan was Provoked into a War…
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ January 1, 1990
In war crimes trials, “conspiracy”, “design”, and “plan”, are used sometimes synonymously, and sometimes not. The doctrine of conspiracy was borrowed from American state and lower Federal Court decisions, particularly Marino vs. US, 91 Fed. 2d. 691, Circuit Court of Appeals. The rest of the world, of course, was not placed on notice to obey…
By Claus Jordan ∙ January 1, 1993
For a short time during the war, Gottfried Weise was a German guard in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Was he therefore automatically a subhuman not deserving to be heard? Gottfried Weise asserted that he did not do anything evil in these months, and ten former internees who could remember Weise confirmed this. However, two other…
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ January 1, 1990
In war crimes trials, confessions are usually typewritten by the interrogator, often entirely in English. Paragraphs in the prisoner's handwriting have usually been dictated by the interrogator. The First Dachau Trial (Trial of Martin Gottfried Weiss and Thirty Nine Others), offers an insight into the manner in which these confessions were obtained. TESTIMONY OF KICK,…
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ January 1, 1988
© Historical Review Press, 1988 Introduction War crimes trials are characterized by the assumption that rules of evidence are a technicality designed to enable the guilty to evade punishment. In fact, however, their purpose is to protect tribunals from errors in judgement. Centuries ago, it was common to prosecute women for performing sexual acts with…
By Carlos Whitlock Porter ∙ January 1, 1990
Objects of human skin feature prominently in war crimes trials. As a rule, no such objects were found; no forensic tests were performed. Prosecution testimony as to the existence of such objects is taken as “proven fact”, while defence testimony is ignored. At Dachau, the prosecution claimed that Jews were skinned; that the skins were…
By Mark Weber ∙ December 1, 1989
Simon Wiesenthal is a living legend. In a formal White House ceremony in August 1980, a teary-eyed President Carter presented the world's foremost “Nazi hunter” with a special gold medal awarded by the U.S. Congress. President Reagan praised him in November 1988 as one of the “true heroes” of this century. He is the recipient…
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