list of guards at nuremberg trials

Streicher, sentenced to death, was perhaps the most despised prisoner of all due to his complete obsession with sex. Today these sketches are highly prized. Soldiers in tank stand guard in front of the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg where the International Military Tribunal . That was until he took his own life by biting down on a cyanide capsule a few hours before he was scheduled to be hanged., Prestianni remembered vividly the night of the executions and Grings suicide. One was sentenced in absentia. [202] All four powers later fought independence movements using methods that had been ruled illegal at Nuremberg. Speer managed to distinguish himself from other defendants, giving the impression of apologizing, although without assuming personal guilt or naming any victims other than the German people. By early 1946, Western prosecutors were uneasy about the Katyn charge, although they never publicly rejected it for fear of casting the entire proceedings into question. Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi Germanys foreign minister beginning in 1938, was amiable, Prestianni said. I wish I would have ask more questions about his experience there. During our conversations, he often asked questions about the United States, a subject in which he appeared to be quite interested, Prestianni added. [235] In the 1990s, a revival of international criminal law included the establishment of ad hoc international criminal tribunals for Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR), which were widely seen as part of the legacy of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials. [102] Jackson's focus was on the aggressive war charge, which he described as the root of the crimes against humanity and of war crimes. For the subsequent trials held by the United States, see, "International Military Tribunal" redirects here. Most of the time the prison was dank, uncomfortably cold, and forbidding, especially during the winter months. Epidemic jaundice experiments High . Strict attention was always paid to the prisoners. Prompt medical attention was readily available to all prisoners. Other absent and dead men including Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Adolf Eichmann, and Bormann were also blamed. [120] Ultimately, the French prosecution was unable to convince the court that Germanization was a crime against humanity, and incidents such as the German annexation of AlsaceLorraine went unmentioned in the final verdict. The verdict was drafted by British alternate judge Norman Birkett. I rather liked him for the way he acted toward us. [183][184] The judges proved their independence from the governments that appointed them, the defendants were seen as receiving due process, and the evidence of guilt amassed by the prosecution was overwhelming. He served in that capacity for three months, bringing him in daily contact with 16 of the 22 accused war criminals. Raeder was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released for poor health on September 26, 1955. Many of the worst offenders were not prosecuted, for logistical or financial reasons. Most of the defendants had surrendered to the United States Army, but the Soviet Union also held a few top Nazis who were extradited for trial at Nuremberg. Patrolling the wall was cold, cold, cold, Prestianni remembered. [99] According to historian Kim Christian Priemel, the conspiracy charge "invited apologetic interpretations: narratives of absolute, totalitarian dictatorship, run by society's lunatic fringe, of which the Germans had been the first victims rather than agents, collaborators, and fellow travellers". we went to Germany with and my younger brother was born there, dad remained un the Army until 1960, when he retired after 32 years service. [154] The United States controlled the prison where the defendants and some of the witnesses were held, and tried its best to shut the Soviets out of the proceedings. [95][96] As Jackson made clear, the purpose of the trial was not just to convict the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi crimes, establish individual responsibility and the crime of aggression in international law, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, delegitimize the traditional German elite,[97] and allow the Allies to distance themselves from appeasement. Noticeable dislike existed between the prisoners and most of their Soviet guards. [14][15] The exact form that retribution would take was left unresolved at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Prestianni and another guard handcuffed Streicher and walked him silently to the gallows chamber, where they rapped on the door with their truncheons. [132] The inclusion of Katyn in the charges undermined the credibility of Soviet evidence in general. The Nrnberg trials began on November 20, 1945. Hess was eccentric. A. Alfred Rosenberg was considered by Hitler the philosopher of National Socialism. [182] Nikichenko released a dissent approved by Moscow that rejected all the acquittals, called for a death sentence for Hess, and convicted all the organizations. He died about five years ago and I wished I would have asked questions. jkeller, Aug 11, 2010 #16. macrusk Proud Daughter of a Canadian WWII Veteran. Hess, former deputy fhrer of the Nazi party and Hitlers private secretary during the early years of the National Socialist movement, was sentenced to life imprisonment and served every day of it to the age of 92 when he died in 1987 under mysterious circumstances in Berlins Spandau Prison. Prestianni also favorably related to Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the notorious chief of Germanys security police and a behind-the-scenes prime mover at the January 1942 Wannsee Conference where the proposed extermination of Jewry in central Europe was discussed by top Nazis. Of course he was amongst other guards to his left and right. Minister of Foreign Affairs 193845. [47] Although the chief British judge, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence (Lord Justice of Appeal), was the nominal president of the tribunal, in practice Biddle exercised more authority. All the prisoners smoked pipes, and they all tried to wheedle cigarettes from us.. (November 1945) Sources: All photos copyright and courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum [94] All defendants pleaded not guilty. [67] Former Nazis were allowed to serve as counsel[45] and by mid-November all defendants had lawyers. The defendants' lawyers jointly appealed to the court, claiming it did not have jurisdiction against the accused; but this motion was rejected. Goring had been given a list of approved lawyers by the US authorities, but rejected every name on it. After the first trial ended in October 1946, the United States held 12 other trials at Nuremberg under the authority of the International Military Tribunal. Hitler's friend, favorite architect, and Minister of Armaments from 1942 until the end of the war. I did nothing to be here, he stated. [87], Initially, it was planned to hold a second international tribunal for German industrialists, but this was never held because of differences between the Allies. Four were convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years. Koch ordered skin emblazoned with tattoos to be stripped from the cadavers of prisoners and made into lampshades. [229] Some defenders of the trial argued that the legal principle of nullum crimen sine lege (no crime without law) was not binding in international proceedings. Today I found out that most of the soldiers who guarded the high ranking Nazi prisoners during the Nuremberg trials were in fact former members of Baltic SS . I only patrolled there once. April 22, 2020. The tribunal was given the authority to find any individual guilty of the commission of war crimes (counts 13 listed above) and to declare any group or organization to be criminal in character. He argued that he was being persecuted.. The film, compiled from footage of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, shocked both the defendants and the judges, who adjourned the trial. The United States and United Kingdom refused to endorse this proposal, citing the failure of war crimes prosecutions after World War I. Today, he carries on his World War II and Korean War heritage in various veterans organizations. Considered by some as the most intelligent and talented prisoner, he was the quintessential gentleman. [90][91] The bringing of conspiracy charges also slowed the trial, as the same evidence ended up being read out multiple times, when it was relevant to both substantive and conspiracy charges. [95] None of the defendants tried to assert that the Nazis' crimes had not occurred; instead, they attempted to divert blame from their own actions. [38], In early 1946, there were a thousand employees from the four countries' delegations in Nuremberg, of which about two-thirds were from the United States. The United States delegation outlined the overall Nazi conspiracy and criminality of Nazi organizations. He argued that Germans needed Lebensraum (living space) and that they were looking only for land expansion. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded many countries across Europe, inflicting 27 million deaths in the Soviet Union alone. [151], In order to appease concerns about fair process, the defendants were allowed a free hand with their witnesses and a great deal of irrelevant testimony was heard. [187] Pursuant to this law, United States forces had arrested almost 100,000 Germans as war criminals. This brass pot held the holy water that an attending priest sprinkled on the condemned immediately before their execution. My Dad was murdered, hanged, when I was 5 years old in 1965. [203], In all, 249 journalists were accredited to cover the IMT[40] and 61,854 visitor tickets were issued. Ten of them Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Alfred Rosenberg, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Keitel, and Arthur Seyss-Inquart were hanged on October 16, 1946. While he was held at Nuremberg, he portrayed himself in a quiet, unassuming demeanor. William L Shierer "the Rise and Fall of the third Reich", part IV, Nuremberg-chapter, the United States committed the same breach, Last and Near-Last Words of the Famous, Infamous and Those In-Between, "The International Military Tribunal for Germany", The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_defendants_at_the_International_Military_Tribunal&oldid=1114903079, Successor to Hess as Nazi Party Secretary. Upon arriving in the European Theater, Prestianni, a replacement, found himself in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division. Nuremberg was first and foremost theater to lay bare the crimes of the Nazi regime for the general public, and symbolically prosecute one leading member of the regime for a particular segment (the Army, the Navy, the SS, the Ministry of Propaganda etc). 3 Feb 1946. Throughout the trial, he steadfastly maintained his innocence, saying they had arrested and charged the wrong person. She kept a scrapbook which had photos of her group and many signatures of court officials and army officers commending them for their service. He was largely overlooked in prison, Prestianni said of von Papen. Guards occasionally retaliated against unpopular, troublesome prisoners by rapping on the cell doors with their night sticks to disturb the occupants sleep. The Nuernberg trial records include transcripts of proceedings . After 216 court sessions, on October 1, 1946, the verdict on 22 of the original 24 defendants was handed down. [58], The charge of conspiracy was spearheaded by the United States prosecution and was less popular with the other Allies. [100], On 21 November, Jackson gave the opening speech for the prosecution. [41][42], The United States' chief prosecutor was Supreme Court justice Robert H. [116] In contrast to the other prosecution teams, the French prosecution emphasized how Nazi ideology and pan-Germanism had led to the Nazis' crimes, and delved into the Sonderweg theory of Germany's development in the nineteenth century. I look forward to hearing from him. Among those brought to trial were. I inherited all of it. Three days on and three days off with shifts of four hours on, four hours off each day was the standard work assignment for guards. He thought a mature, Lutheran, German-speaking chaplain who had worked in prisons . New Patient Forms; Sentenced to death, Reich Law Leader 193345 and Governor-General of the, Hitler's Minister of the Interior 193343 and. Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. [2] They were indicted for: [200] The case law of the trials fleshed out the skeleton provided by the Nuremberg charter and the IMT verdict. Some smiled while others snarled at each other or harshly criticized other individuals. [228] The most controversial charge was crimes against peace. For example, Baldur von Schirach, former head of the Hitler Youth, was known only as Number 1. After encountering a you tube video by accident I have a different answer. Later 19 other nations accepted the provisions of this agreement. [108][109], On 12 December, Shawcross gave the opening speech for the British. The Nuremberg Trials were 13 trials held in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II. However, one thread of similarity was woven among them. After being rotated home in 1949, he reenlisted and soon found himself on Okinawa prior to deployment to Korea. 08-12-2007, 10:07 PM. Soviet prosecutors in Nrnberg, Germany brought out Friedrich Paulus and Erich Buschenhagen by surprise as witnesses in the war crimes trials. On the night he was to be hanged, Streicher gave Prestianni a signed, handwritten note after supper. [153] Midway through the trial, Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech denouncing the Soviet threat delighted the defense. The names were -- Wippern, Hahnefeld and myself carried out the checking. [205] Where the prosecution was disappointed by some of the verdicts, the defense could take satisfaction. [169][170] The judges did not agree that the conspiracy extended to anyone who participated in the affairs of the Nazi government, only taking being present at the high-level meetings discussing war plans in 1937 and 1939 as evidence of belonging to the conspiracy. These women prisoners constantly did anything they could to get a guard in trouble or disciplined.. Per newspaper accounts of the scene, when the inmates heard the news they "shouted with joy" and "chattering excitedly, hastily shed the red . [85] The prosecution examined 110,000 captured German documents[40] and entered 4,600 into evidence,[87] along with 30 kilometres (19mi) of film and 25,000 photographs. His daily diary notes culminated in a book after his release. Prestianni said that during his guard duties he tried to adhere to his fathers advice. [68] Most of the defendants had surrendered to the United States or United Kingdom. It was only sometime later that I realized in retrospect that I had become part of history, Prestianni said. National Archives Collection of World War II War Crimes Records (Record Groups 153, 238 and 549) The United States conducted war crimes trials in Europe under three jurisdictions: the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuernberg (RG 238), U.S. military tribunals at Nuernberg (RG 238) and U.S. Army courts (RG 153 & RG 549). Somewhat regularly, cellblock guards also pulled duty patrolling the parapet-style walls 50 feet above the cellblock and the courtyard, where observation of strolling prisoners below could be maintained. Still others displayed docile and taciturn mannerisms and personalities. The food, prepared in an American-staffed kitchen, offered identical German menus for each prisoner. Number 3 was Konstantin von Neurath, a former high-ranking politician. The following is a brief . He was released in 1966. [20][21] The offenses that would be prosecuted were crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. End of the trial: Guardian report on the executions, 16 October 1946 Hermann Gring last night died by his own hand. Nuremberg was chosen as the location for the trials because of its symbolic value. Dads birthday. The Nrnberg trials were a series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 1945 and 1946 following the end of World War II. Hans Frank, known as the Slayer of Poles, was small, outwardly arrogant, and had a cruel face, Prestianni revealed. The culmination of the unprecedented War Crimes trials in the German city of Nuremberg, where the Nazis had staged their infamous pre-war rallies. [24][25] Although a novel construct, "crimes against humanity" covered acts that were already prohibited by the laws of most countries. Attitudes toward certain prisoners were determined by the prisoners themselves, their demeanor in captivity, and their personality traits and attitudes toward their American, British, or French guards. [168], The judgment found that there was a premeditated conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, the goals of the conspiracy being "the disruption of the European order as it had existed since the Treaty of Versailles" and "the creation of a Greater Germany beyond the frontiers of 1914". On that date, representatives from the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the provisional government of France signed an agreement that included a charter for an international military tribunal to conduct trials of major Axis war criminals whose offenses had no particular geographic location. [173] The war crimes and crimes-against-humanity charges held up the best, with only two defendants who were charged being acquitted on those charges. Asked whether the 60-year myth about Streicher struggling for 20 minutes at the end of the hangmans rope was true, Prestianni said guards never witnessed the hanging and he had not heard any such rumors at the time, but guessed it could have happened. Without fanfare or advance warning, on July 18, 1947, the remaining prisoners at Nuremberg were told to assemble their meager belongings. [50][51] Because the Soviet Union expected a show trial, its appointees were familiar with this form. The indictment lodged against them contained four counts: (1) crimes against peace (i.e., the planning, initiating, and waging of wars of aggression in violation of international treaties and agreements), (2) crimes against humanity (i.e., exterminations, deportations, and genocide), (3) war crimes (i.e., violations of the laws of war), and (4) a common plan or conspiracy to commit the criminal acts listed in the first three counts. Three of those accused were acquitted and upon their release soon faded into obscurity. Came back to the States in Jun 46. Despite being accused of the same crimes, Sauckel was sentenced to death, while Speer was given a prison sentence because the judges considered that he could reform. [48] The French judges were Henri Donnedieu de Vabres, a professor of criminal law, and alternate Robert Falco, who had represented France at the London Conference. Some passively resigned themselves to their futures while others fought it off and never fully accepted their fates. (Robert Ley committed suicide while in prison, and Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbachs mental and physical condition prevented his being tried.) You can contact me via email at RebeccaLeuchter@aol.com. The trials were not fair, though not in the way you are suggesting. He was totally indifferent to the world around him and to world affairs. With the possible exception of Speer, none of them could rationalize that they, as individuals, had ever done anything morally wrong for the Fatherland. Gring enjoyed baiting his guards. I could never beat him in checkers. He was physically one tough guy, Prestianni offered. During his three-month tour of duty at Nuremberg prison, Prestianni was assigned to 16 different prisoners. Whether the prisoners availed themselves of this privilege was by individual choice. The material which the Library possesses on this topic can be loosely divided into the following sections: Nuremberg Trial. He considered himself the senior member of the prison military fraternity., Former president of the Reichsbank Hjalmar Schacht was one of three war crimes defendants who were found innocent of all charges against them. Let me have that again, please. These were people, Neurath reasoned, of whom Germany was cleansing the world.. [22][23] War crimes already existed in international law as criminal violations of the laws and customs of war. Those men who liberated the camps of the Holocau. [133], Inspired by the films shown by the American prosecution, the Soviet Union commissioned three films for the trial: The German Fascist Destruction of the Cultural Treasures of the Peoples of the USSR, Atrocities Committed by the German Fascist Invaders in the USSR, and The German Fascist Destruction of Soviet Cities, using footage from Soviet filmmakers as well as shots from German newsreels. He has little or no memory of the six remaining defendants, Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach, Labor Front head Robert Ley, Minister of Economics Walther Funk, Plenipotentiary for Labor Deployment Fritz Sauckel, propagandist Hans Fritzsche, or Artur Seys-Inquart, the administrator of the occupied Netherlands. He always was respectful, always the consummate gentleman. Speer was convicted and served 20 years in prison. [43] The United States prosecution believed that Nazism was the product of a German deviation from Western history (the Sonderweg thesis) and sought to correct this deviation with a trial that would serve both retributive and educational purposes. Surviving members of the company marked the 56th anniversary of its founding , which took place, according to Toronto's Tommy Tomson, on December 26, 1946. [234][235] Further developments in international criminal law in the aftermath of the trials included the Genocide Convention (1948) and the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949). Another favorite was Alfred Jodl, former chief of the operations staff of the Army high command, who was found guilty and executed. Prominent banker and economist. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Other prisoners were outspoken in their condemnation of Hess as a traitor to the Fatherland when he flew to England in May 1941, ostensibly to arrange a peace between Hitlers Germany and Great Britain. That was enough. , That used to shut him up but usually only for a few minutes, and then he would start up again with the jokes. [10] The declaration also stated that those high-ranking Nazis who had committed crimes in several countries would be dealt with jointly. Your Moms birthday and maiden name. [27] Especially the United States wanted to avoid countenancing any rule that would give an international court jurisdiction over a government's treatment of its own citizens. However, fraternization did occur on a regular basis and, for the most part, went unpunished by the prison administration. The whole focus was on keeping the prisoners under surveillance through the opening in the cell doors, Prestianni said. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment. Had been imprisoned since then. The trial started in November 1945. Batya. [64] The division of labor, and the haste with which the indictment was prepared, resulted in duplication, imprecise language, and lack of attribution of specific charges to individual defendants. They just never admitted to it. On Wednesday, January 31 1951, a curious bit of revelry took place in Landsberg prison as 10 war criminals condemned to death by the Nuremberg military tribunals learned they would live after all. He did mention seeing the prisoners in their cells. We jokingly told him the girls coveted the gifts American soldiers could offer and they had all forgotten his (Schirachs) Nazi National Socialism propaganda indoctrination. I dont remember the name of the game after all these years. The Federal Research Division (FRD) is a fee-based research and analysis unit within the Library of Congress that produces world-renowned and nonpartisan products to support research-informed policy- and decision-making. Give me information about your Dad and I will help you research about your fathers deployment to Germany. List of defendants at the International Military Tribunal, William L. Shierer "The Rise and Fall of the third reich", Nuremberg-chapter of part IV. Prestianni said of von Neurath, He looked like the movie version of a Prussian general with his mop of white hair and erect bearing. For added security outside the prison, three American Sherman tanks, manned by MPs, were positioned at the front, side, and rear entries to the prison. Dnitz, who was named successor to Hitler during the waning days of the war and served 10 years in prison, remained aloof. The most frequently offered scenario, after intensive investigations, has been that the capsule was retrieved from Grings luggage in a storage room and was given to him by an American, Lieutenant Jack Tex Wheelis. [121], On 8 February, the Soviet prosecution opened its case with a speech by Rudenko that covered all four prosecution charges, highlighting both aggressive war and the devastation of Eastern Europe[122] and listing many crimes committed by the German occupiers against the Soviet people. [231], The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trial) borrowed many of its ideas from the IMT, including all four charges. One passing recollection I have of Schirach, said Prestianni, was teasing him about how much the prison guards were enjoying his former girls and how pretty we considered them. The prisons concrete walls, most of which were more than three feet thick, encased the solitary cell window that offered the prisoners no view of the outside world. [61], The problem of translating the indictment and evidence into the three official languages of the tribunal, as well as German, was severe due to the scale of the task and difficulty in recruiting interpreters, especially in the Soviet Union. Im always looking for pictures of the guards and hoping one day I will see him as a young soldier. The first attempt to punish the perpetrators was conducted by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in the German city of Nuremberg, beginning on November . On 17 September, the various delegations met to discuss the indictment. Twelve further trials were conducted by the United States against lower-level perpetrators, which focused more on the Holocaust. [3] War losses in the Soviet Union alone included 27 million dead, mostly civilians, which was .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}17th of the prewar population. [159] During the closing statements, most defendants disappointed the judges by their lies and denial. [30] Article 7 prevented the defendants from claiming immunity for their actions under the act of state doctrine,[31] and the plea of acting under superior orders was left for the judges to decide. After trial, incarcerated at. When Hess exercised or sat on a bench in the courtyard it was always alone, a single, disheveled old man staring at the courtyard bricks. Pre-war president of the. It was an appointment that, when coupled with his Baltic origin, brought him into sharp conflict with most of those in Hitlers entourage. All guards were forced to stand practically motionless at parade rest behind their assigned prisoner seated before them in the dock. Between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 21 of the most important surviving leaders of Nazi Germany in the political, military, and economic spheres, as well as six German organizations. An avid reader, he availed himself of a well-stocked library with a steady supply of books. [124] Paulus incriminated his former associates, pointing to Keitel, Jodl, and Gring as the defendants most responsible for the war. Stahmer fought hard for his clie. The 3rd Battalion of the 26th Infantry Reg., "Blue Spaders," of the 1st Infantry Division were chosen to secure the historic Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. [17] On 8 May, Germany surrendered unconditionally. Nrnberg trials, Nrnberg also spelled Nuremberg, series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 194546, in which former Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal. Besides Speer, Ribbentrop, Kaltenbrunner, and Jodl, Prestianni also guarded Luftwaffe Reichsmarshal Hermann Gring, Grand Admiral Dnitz, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Reich financier Hjalmar Schacht, Governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Konstantin von Neurath, Nazi philosopher Alfred Rosenberg, virulent anti-Semite Julius Streicher, diplomat Franz von Papen, Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick, Grand Admiral Raeder, Hess, and Hans Frank, the governor general of occupied Poland. [55], The work of drafting the indictment was divided up by the national delegations. The duty roster for guards was revised daily in an attempt to prevent the development of unauthorized relationships with prisoners.

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list of guards at nuremberg trials

list of guards at nuremberg trialstorrington police blotter january 2021

Streicher, sentenced to death, was perhaps the most despised prisoner of all due to his complete obsession with sex. Today these sketches are highly prized. Soldiers in tank stand guard in front of the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg where the International Military Tribunal . That was until he took his own life by biting down on a cyanide capsule a few hours before he was scheduled to be hanged., Prestianni remembered vividly the night of the executions and Grings suicide. One was sentenced in absentia. [202] All four powers later fought independence movements using methods that had been ruled illegal at Nuremberg. Speer managed to distinguish himself from other defendants, giving the impression of apologizing, although without assuming personal guilt or naming any victims other than the German people. By early 1946, Western prosecutors were uneasy about the Katyn charge, although they never publicly rejected it for fear of casting the entire proceedings into question. Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi Germanys foreign minister beginning in 1938, was amiable, Prestianni said. I wish I would have ask more questions about his experience there. During our conversations, he often asked questions about the United States, a subject in which he appeared to be quite interested, Prestianni added. [235] In the 1990s, a revival of international criminal law included the establishment of ad hoc international criminal tribunals for Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR), which were widely seen as part of the legacy of the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials. [102] Jackson's focus was on the aggressive war charge, which he described as the root of the crimes against humanity and of war crimes. For the subsequent trials held by the United States, see, "International Military Tribunal" redirects here. Most of the time the prison was dank, uncomfortably cold, and forbidding, especially during the winter months. Epidemic jaundice experiments High . Strict attention was always paid to the prisoners. Prompt medical attention was readily available to all prisoners. Other absent and dead men including Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Adolf Eichmann, and Bormann were also blamed. [120] Ultimately, the French prosecution was unable to convince the court that Germanization was a crime against humanity, and incidents such as the German annexation of AlsaceLorraine went unmentioned in the final verdict. The verdict was drafted by British alternate judge Norman Birkett. I rather liked him for the way he acted toward us. [183][184] The judges proved their independence from the governments that appointed them, the defendants were seen as receiving due process, and the evidence of guilt amassed by the prosecution was overwhelming. He served in that capacity for three months, bringing him in daily contact with 16 of the 22 accused war criminals. Raeder was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released for poor health on September 26, 1955. Many of the worst offenders were not prosecuted, for logistical or financial reasons. Most of the defendants had surrendered to the United States Army, but the Soviet Union also held a few top Nazis who were extradited for trial at Nuremberg. Patrolling the wall was cold, cold, cold, Prestianni remembered. [99] According to historian Kim Christian Priemel, the conspiracy charge "invited apologetic interpretations: narratives of absolute, totalitarian dictatorship, run by society's lunatic fringe, of which the Germans had been the first victims rather than agents, collaborators, and fellow travellers". we went to Germany with and my younger brother was born there, dad remained un the Army until 1960, when he retired after 32 years service. [154] The United States controlled the prison where the defendants and some of the witnesses were held, and tried its best to shut the Soviets out of the proceedings. [95][96] As Jackson made clear, the purpose of the trial was not just to convict the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi crimes, establish individual responsibility and the crime of aggression in international law, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, delegitimize the traditional German elite,[97] and allow the Allies to distance themselves from appeasement. Noticeable dislike existed between the prisoners and most of their Soviet guards. [14][15] The exact form that retribution would take was left unresolved at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. Prestianni and another guard handcuffed Streicher and walked him silently to the gallows chamber, where they rapped on the door with their truncheons. [132] The inclusion of Katyn in the charges undermined the credibility of Soviet evidence in general. The Nrnberg trials began on November 20, 1945. Hess was eccentric. A. Alfred Rosenberg was considered by Hitler the philosopher of National Socialism. [182] Nikichenko released a dissent approved by Moscow that rejected all the acquittals, called for a death sentence for Hess, and convicted all the organizations. He died about five years ago and I wished I would have asked questions. jkeller, Aug 11, 2010 #16. macrusk Proud Daughter of a Canadian WWII Veteran. Hess, former deputy fhrer of the Nazi party and Hitlers private secretary during the early years of the National Socialist movement, was sentenced to life imprisonment and served every day of it to the age of 92 when he died in 1987 under mysterious circumstances in Berlins Spandau Prison. Prestianni also favorably related to Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the notorious chief of Germanys security police and a behind-the-scenes prime mover at the January 1942 Wannsee Conference where the proposed extermination of Jewry in central Europe was discussed by top Nazis. Of course he was amongst other guards to his left and right. Minister of Foreign Affairs 193845. [47] Although the chief British judge, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence (Lord Justice of Appeal), was the nominal president of the tribunal, in practice Biddle exercised more authority. All the prisoners smoked pipes, and they all tried to wheedle cigarettes from us.. (November 1945) Sources: All photos copyright and courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum [94] All defendants pleaded not guilty. [67] Former Nazis were allowed to serve as counsel[45] and by mid-November all defendants had lawyers. The defendants' lawyers jointly appealed to the court, claiming it did not have jurisdiction against the accused; but this motion was rejected. Goring had been given a list of approved lawyers by the US authorities, but rejected every name on it. After the first trial ended in October 1946, the United States held 12 other trials at Nuremberg under the authority of the International Military Tribunal. Hitler's friend, favorite architect, and Minister of Armaments from 1942 until the end of the war. I did nothing to be here, he stated. [87], Initially, it was planned to hold a second international tribunal for German industrialists, but this was never held because of differences between the Allies. Four were convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years. Koch ordered skin emblazoned with tattoos to be stripped from the cadavers of prisoners and made into lampshades. [229] Some defenders of the trial argued that the legal principle of nullum crimen sine lege (no crime without law) was not binding in international proceedings. Today I found out that most of the soldiers who guarded the high ranking Nazi prisoners during the Nuremberg trials were in fact former members of Baltic SS . I only patrolled there once. April 22, 2020. The tribunal was given the authority to find any individual guilty of the commission of war crimes (counts 13 listed above) and to declare any group or organization to be criminal in character. He argued that he was being persecuted.. The film, compiled from footage of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, shocked both the defendants and the judges, who adjourned the trial. The United States and United Kingdom refused to endorse this proposal, citing the failure of war crimes prosecutions after World War I. Today, he carries on his World War II and Korean War heritage in various veterans organizations. Considered by some as the most intelligent and talented prisoner, he was the quintessential gentleman. [90][91] The bringing of conspiracy charges also slowed the trial, as the same evidence ended up being read out multiple times, when it was relevant to both substantive and conspiracy charges. [95] None of the defendants tried to assert that the Nazis' crimes had not occurred; instead, they attempted to divert blame from their own actions. [38], In early 1946, there were a thousand employees from the four countries' delegations in Nuremberg, of which about two-thirds were from the United States. The United States delegation outlined the overall Nazi conspiracy and criminality of Nazi organizations. He argued that Germans needed Lebensraum (living space) and that they were looking only for land expansion. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded many countries across Europe, inflicting 27 million deaths in the Soviet Union alone. [151], In order to appease concerns about fair process, the defendants were allowed a free hand with their witnesses and a great deal of irrelevant testimony was heard. [187] Pursuant to this law, United States forces had arrested almost 100,000 Germans as war criminals. This brass pot held the holy water that an attending priest sprinkled on the condemned immediately before their execution. My Dad was murdered, hanged, when I was 5 years old in 1965. [203], In all, 249 journalists were accredited to cover the IMT[40] and 61,854 visitor tickets were issued. Ten of them Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Alfred Rosenberg, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Keitel, and Arthur Seyss-Inquart were hanged on October 16, 1946. While he was held at Nuremberg, he portrayed himself in a quiet, unassuming demeanor. William L Shierer "the Rise and Fall of the third Reich", part IV, Nuremberg-chapter, the United States committed the same breach, Last and Near-Last Words of the Famous, Infamous and Those In-Between, "The International Military Tribunal for Germany", The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_defendants_at_the_International_Military_Tribunal&oldid=1114903079, Successor to Hess as Nazi Party Secretary. Upon arriving in the European Theater, Prestianni, a replacement, found himself in the U.S. 1st Infantry Division. Nuremberg was first and foremost theater to lay bare the crimes of the Nazi regime for the general public, and symbolically prosecute one leading member of the regime for a particular segment (the Army, the Navy, the SS, the Ministry of Propaganda etc). 3 Feb 1946. Throughout the trial, he steadfastly maintained his innocence, saying they had arrested and charged the wrong person. She kept a scrapbook which had photos of her group and many signatures of court officials and army officers commending them for their service. He was largely overlooked in prison, Prestianni said of von Papen. Guards occasionally retaliated against unpopular, troublesome prisoners by rapping on the cell doors with their night sticks to disturb the occupants sleep. The Nuernberg trial records include transcripts of proceedings . After 216 court sessions, on October 1, 1946, the verdict on 22 of the original 24 defendants was handed down. [58], The charge of conspiracy was spearheaded by the United States prosecution and was less popular with the other Allies. [100], On 21 November, Jackson gave the opening speech for the prosecution. [41][42], The United States' chief prosecutor was Supreme Court justice Robert H. [116] In contrast to the other prosecution teams, the French prosecution emphasized how Nazi ideology and pan-Germanism had led to the Nazis' crimes, and delved into the Sonderweg theory of Germany's development in the nineteenth century. I look forward to hearing from him. Among those brought to trial were. I inherited all of it. Three days on and three days off with shifts of four hours on, four hours off each day was the standard work assignment for guards. He thought a mature, Lutheran, German-speaking chaplain who had worked in prisons . New Patient Forms; Sentenced to death, Reich Law Leader 193345 and Governor-General of the, Hitler's Minister of the Interior 193343 and. Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. [2] They were indicted for: [200] The case law of the trials fleshed out the skeleton provided by the Nuremberg charter and the IMT verdict. Some smiled while others snarled at each other or harshly criticized other individuals. [228] The most controversial charge was crimes against peace. For example, Baldur von Schirach, former head of the Hitler Youth, was known only as Number 1. After encountering a you tube video by accident I have a different answer. Later 19 other nations accepted the provisions of this agreement. [108][109], On 12 December, Shawcross gave the opening speech for the British. The Nuremberg Trials were 13 trials held in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II. However, one thread of similarity was woven among them. After being rotated home in 1949, he reenlisted and soon found himself on Okinawa prior to deployment to Korea. 08-12-2007, 10:07 PM. Soviet prosecutors in Nrnberg, Germany brought out Friedrich Paulus and Erich Buschenhagen by surprise as witnesses in the war crimes trials. On the night he was to be hanged, Streicher gave Prestianni a signed, handwritten note after supper. [153] Midway through the trial, Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech denouncing the Soviet threat delighted the defense. The names were -- Wippern, Hahnefeld and myself carried out the checking. [205] Where the prosecution was disappointed by some of the verdicts, the defense could take satisfaction. [169][170] The judges did not agree that the conspiracy extended to anyone who participated in the affairs of the Nazi government, only taking being present at the high-level meetings discussing war plans in 1937 and 1939 as evidence of belonging to the conspiracy. These women prisoners constantly did anything they could to get a guard in trouble or disciplined.. Per newspaper accounts of the scene, when the inmates heard the news they "shouted with joy" and "chattering excitedly, hastily shed the red . [85] The prosecution examined 110,000 captured German documents[40] and entered 4,600 into evidence,[87] along with 30 kilometres (19mi) of film and 25,000 photographs. His daily diary notes culminated in a book after his release. Prestianni said that during his guard duties he tried to adhere to his fathers advice. [68] Most of the defendants had surrendered to the United States or United Kingdom. It was only sometime later that I realized in retrospect that I had become part of history, Prestianni said. National Archives Collection of World War II War Crimes Records (Record Groups 153, 238 and 549) The United States conducted war crimes trials in Europe under three jurisdictions: the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuernberg (RG 238), U.S. military tribunals at Nuernberg (RG 238) and U.S. Army courts (RG 153 & RG 549). Somewhat regularly, cellblock guards also pulled duty patrolling the parapet-style walls 50 feet above the cellblock and the courtyard, where observation of strolling prisoners below could be maintained. Still others displayed docile and taciturn mannerisms and personalities. The food, prepared in an American-staffed kitchen, offered identical German menus for each prisoner. Number 3 was Konstantin von Neurath, a former high-ranking politician. The following is a brief . He was released in 1966. [20][21] The offenses that would be prosecuted were crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. End of the trial: Guardian report on the executions, 16 October 1946 Hermann Gring last night died by his own hand. Nuremberg was chosen as the location for the trials because of its symbolic value. Dads birthday. The Nrnberg trials were a series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 1945 and 1946 following the end of World War II. Hans Frank, known as the Slayer of Poles, was small, outwardly arrogant, and had a cruel face, Prestianni revealed. The culmination of the unprecedented War Crimes trials in the German city of Nuremberg, where the Nazis had staged their infamous pre-war rallies. [24][25] Although a novel construct, "crimes against humanity" covered acts that were already prohibited by the laws of most countries. Attitudes toward certain prisoners were determined by the prisoners themselves, their demeanor in captivity, and their personality traits and attitudes toward their American, British, or French guards. [168], The judgment found that there was a premeditated conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, the goals of the conspiracy being "the disruption of the European order as it had existed since the Treaty of Versailles" and "the creation of a Greater Germany beyond the frontiers of 1914". On that date, representatives from the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the provisional government of France signed an agreement that included a charter for an international military tribunal to conduct trials of major Axis war criminals whose offenses had no particular geographic location. [173] The war crimes and crimes-against-humanity charges held up the best, with only two defendants who were charged being acquitted on those charges. Asked whether the 60-year myth about Streicher struggling for 20 minutes at the end of the hangmans rope was true, Prestianni said guards never witnessed the hanging and he had not heard any such rumors at the time, but guessed it could have happened. Without fanfare or advance warning, on July 18, 1947, the remaining prisoners at Nuremberg were told to assemble their meager belongings. [50][51] Because the Soviet Union expected a show trial, its appointees were familiar with this form. The indictment lodged against them contained four counts: (1) crimes against peace (i.e., the planning, initiating, and waging of wars of aggression in violation of international treaties and agreements), (2) crimes against humanity (i.e., exterminations, deportations, and genocide), (3) war crimes (i.e., violations of the laws of war), and (4) a common plan or conspiracy to commit the criminal acts listed in the first three counts. Three of those accused were acquitted and upon their release soon faded into obscurity. Came back to the States in Jun 46. Despite being accused of the same crimes, Sauckel was sentenced to death, while Speer was given a prison sentence because the judges considered that he could reform. [48] The French judges were Henri Donnedieu de Vabres, a professor of criminal law, and alternate Robert Falco, who had represented France at the London Conference. Some passively resigned themselves to their futures while others fought it off and never fully accepted their fates. (Robert Ley committed suicide while in prison, and Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbachs mental and physical condition prevented his being tried.) You can contact me via email at RebeccaLeuchter@aol.com. The trials were not fair, though not in the way you are suggesting. He was totally indifferent to the world around him and to world affairs. With the possible exception of Speer, none of them could rationalize that they, as individuals, had ever done anything morally wrong for the Fatherland. Gring enjoyed baiting his guards. I could never beat him in checkers. He was physically one tough guy, Prestianni offered. During his three-month tour of duty at Nuremberg prison, Prestianni was assigned to 16 different prisoners. Whether the prisoners availed themselves of this privilege was by individual choice. The material which the Library possesses on this topic can be loosely divided into the following sections: Nuremberg Trial. He considered himself the senior member of the prison military fraternity., Former president of the Reichsbank Hjalmar Schacht was one of three war crimes defendants who were found innocent of all charges against them. Let me have that again, please. These were people, Neurath reasoned, of whom Germany was cleansing the world.. [22][23] War crimes already existed in international law as criminal violations of the laws and customs of war. Those men who liberated the camps of the Holocau. [133], Inspired by the films shown by the American prosecution, the Soviet Union commissioned three films for the trial: The German Fascist Destruction of the Cultural Treasures of the Peoples of the USSR, Atrocities Committed by the German Fascist Invaders in the USSR, and The German Fascist Destruction of Soviet Cities, using footage from Soviet filmmakers as well as shots from German newsreels. He has little or no memory of the six remaining defendants, Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach, Labor Front head Robert Ley, Minister of Economics Walther Funk, Plenipotentiary for Labor Deployment Fritz Sauckel, propagandist Hans Fritzsche, or Artur Seys-Inquart, the administrator of the occupied Netherlands. He always was respectful, always the consummate gentleman. Speer was convicted and served 20 years in prison. [43] The United States prosecution believed that Nazism was the product of a German deviation from Western history (the Sonderweg thesis) and sought to correct this deviation with a trial that would serve both retributive and educational purposes. Surviving members of the company marked the 56th anniversary of its founding , which took place, according to Toronto's Tommy Tomson, on December 26, 1946. [234][235] Further developments in international criminal law in the aftermath of the trials included the Genocide Convention (1948) and the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949). Another favorite was Alfred Jodl, former chief of the operations staff of the Army high command, who was found guilty and executed. Prominent banker and economist. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Other prisoners were outspoken in their condemnation of Hess as a traitor to the Fatherland when he flew to England in May 1941, ostensibly to arrange a peace between Hitlers Germany and Great Britain. That was enough. , That used to shut him up but usually only for a few minutes, and then he would start up again with the jokes. [10] The declaration also stated that those high-ranking Nazis who had committed crimes in several countries would be dealt with jointly. Your Moms birthday and maiden name. [27] Especially the United States wanted to avoid countenancing any rule that would give an international court jurisdiction over a government's treatment of its own citizens. However, fraternization did occur on a regular basis and, for the most part, went unpunished by the prison administration. The whole focus was on keeping the prisoners under surveillance through the opening in the cell doors, Prestianni said. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment. Had been imprisoned since then. The trial started in November 1945. Batya. [64] The division of labor, and the haste with which the indictment was prepared, resulted in duplication, imprecise language, and lack of attribution of specific charges to individual defendants. They just never admitted to it. On Wednesday, January 31 1951, a curious bit of revelry took place in Landsberg prison as 10 war criminals condemned to death by the Nuremberg military tribunals learned they would live after all. He did mention seeing the prisoners in their cells. We jokingly told him the girls coveted the gifts American soldiers could offer and they had all forgotten his (Schirachs) Nazi National Socialism propaganda indoctrination. I dont remember the name of the game after all these years. The Federal Research Division (FRD) is a fee-based research and analysis unit within the Library of Congress that produces world-renowned and nonpartisan products to support research-informed policy- and decision-making. Give me information about your Dad and I will help you research about your fathers deployment to Germany. List of defendants at the International Military Tribunal, William L. Shierer "The Rise and Fall of the third reich", Nuremberg-chapter of part IV. Prestianni said of von Neurath, He looked like the movie version of a Prussian general with his mop of white hair and erect bearing. For added security outside the prison, three American Sherman tanks, manned by MPs, were positioned at the front, side, and rear entries to the prison. Dnitz, who was named successor to Hitler during the waning days of the war and served 10 years in prison, remained aloof. The most frequently offered scenario, after intensive investigations, has been that the capsule was retrieved from Grings luggage in a storage room and was given to him by an American, Lieutenant Jack Tex Wheelis. [121], On 8 February, the Soviet prosecution opened its case with a speech by Rudenko that covered all four prosecution charges, highlighting both aggressive war and the devastation of Eastern Europe[122] and listing many crimes committed by the German occupiers against the Soviet people. [231], The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trial) borrowed many of its ideas from the IMT, including all four charges. One passing recollection I have of Schirach, said Prestianni, was teasing him about how much the prison guards were enjoying his former girls and how pretty we considered them. The prisons concrete walls, most of which were more than three feet thick, encased the solitary cell window that offered the prisoners no view of the outside world. [61], The problem of translating the indictment and evidence into the three official languages of the tribunal, as well as German, was severe due to the scale of the task and difficulty in recruiting interpreters, especially in the Soviet Union. Im always looking for pictures of the guards and hoping one day I will see him as a young soldier. The first attempt to punish the perpetrators was conducted by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in the German city of Nuremberg, beginning on November . On 17 September, the various delegations met to discuss the indictment. Twelve further trials were conducted by the United States against lower-level perpetrators, which focused more on the Holocaust. [3] War losses in the Soviet Union alone included 27 million dead, mostly civilians, which was .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}17th of the prewar population. [159] During the closing statements, most defendants disappointed the judges by their lies and denial. [30] Article 7 prevented the defendants from claiming immunity for their actions under the act of state doctrine,[31] and the plea of acting under superior orders was left for the judges to decide. After trial, incarcerated at. When Hess exercised or sat on a bench in the courtyard it was always alone, a single, disheveled old man staring at the courtyard bricks. Pre-war president of the. It was an appointment that, when coupled with his Baltic origin, brought him into sharp conflict with most of those in Hitlers entourage. All guards were forced to stand practically motionless at parade rest behind their assigned prisoner seated before them in the dock. Between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 21 of the most important surviving leaders of Nazi Germany in the political, military, and economic spheres, as well as six German organizations. An avid reader, he availed himself of a well-stocked library with a steady supply of books. [124] Paulus incriminated his former associates, pointing to Keitel, Jodl, and Gring as the defendants most responsible for the war. Stahmer fought hard for his clie. The 3rd Battalion of the 26th Infantry Reg., "Blue Spaders," of the 1st Infantry Division were chosen to secure the historic Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. [17] On 8 May, Germany surrendered unconditionally. Nrnberg trials, Nrnberg also spelled Nuremberg, series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 194546, in which former Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal. Besides Speer, Ribbentrop, Kaltenbrunner, and Jodl, Prestianni also guarded Luftwaffe Reichsmarshal Hermann Gring, Grand Admiral Dnitz, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Reich financier Hjalmar Schacht, Governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Konstantin von Neurath, Nazi philosopher Alfred Rosenberg, virulent anti-Semite Julius Streicher, diplomat Franz von Papen, Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick, Grand Admiral Raeder, Hess, and Hans Frank, the governor general of occupied Poland. [55], The work of drafting the indictment was divided up by the national delegations. The duty roster for guards was revised daily in an attempt to prevent the development of unauthorized relationships with prisoners. 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