The Second World War was one of the most difficult wars to ever be fought. The atrocities towards the Jews by Adolf Hitler were crimes against the basic human rights.
Mass murders were being carried out at concentration
camps and almost 6 million Jews lost their lives while several others were
physically, mentally and emotionally tortured for several years.
After the end of the War, the Nazi Soldiers tried to flee
the concentration camps and transport a few of the prisoners deeper into
Germany via train and some even on foot.
A few chose to hide and when the Red Cross workers arrived,
all they could see were survivors who were malnourished, starved and numb to
pain.
These survivors were now the responsibility of the State and
it was made sure that justice was served to them.
What Happened to the Nazi Soldiers?
After the news that Germany had lost the Second World War, the Nazi soldiers began to rapidly
escape the concentration camps assigned to them.
When the Nazi soldiers escaped from the concentration camps, they transported those prisoners to sub-camps for forced labour.
However, by
then the Allied forces were aware about the existence of the crimes committed
by the Nazi’s.
They tried to erase all evidence of mass murder but parts of
the camp like the the gas chambers and the crematorium were left standing.
This was enough proof for the State to take action against
those involved and leading the heinous crimes and killing of several Jews.
Nuremberg Trials
While Adolf Hitler and several high ranked Nazi officials
committed suicide, many of the military leaders, politicians and those responsible for the crimes against
humanity were to be punished.
The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allied forces in
Nuremberg, Germany to serve justice to all those innocent Jews and non-Jews who
were ruthlessly murdered and tortured by the Nazi’s.
It was a series of 13 trials conducted between 1945 and 1949.
High ranked military officers, Nazi officials, German
lawyers, industrialists and doctors were charged for crimes against peace and
humanity.
Nuremberg was chosen for the trails since it was one of the
few places that was not disturbed by the war and high- profile criminal cases
were dealt with in their Palace of Justice.
Joseph Stalin, the leader of the Soviet Union and WinstonChurchill, the British Prime Minister were of the opinion that these officials
should be executed without a trial.
However, upon the advice of the American leaders, they
decided to carry out a criminal trial where the crimes would be documented as
further evidence against the Nazi’s.
Nuremberg Trial
Verdicts and Outcome
The final verdict was passed on October 1, 1946. It convicted
12 defendants to death, 3 were acquitted and the remaining officials were to
face a life sentence ranging from 10 years and more.
The Nazi Party Secretary, Martin Bormann’s death sentence
could not be carried out since he was absent. It was later found through a DNA
test in 1998 that he had died in Berlin during the end of the war.
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring,
a German politician and military leader, committed suicide the night before he
was scheduled to be executed.
This left only 10 of the war
criminals to be executed.
American Master, Sergeant John C.
Woods, executed the criminals on October 16, 1946.
As mentioned in the history books,
the criminals faced a fair trial and were given all the judicial facilities
including translation services to make sure that justice was served to all.
Limitations of the
trial
Since this was one of the first international trials to be conducted, there was no such precedent to follow for the war criminals.
It was different from previous trials which were carried out based on the laws of one nation.
However, since the crimes committed by the Nazi's were considered as international crimes, it involved four different powers: France, Britain, Soviet Union and the U.S. (The Allied Forces)
The Allied forces then framed the laws and established the
procedure of the trials with the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal
(IMT)
This Charter distinguished the crimes in three categories:
Crimes against peace - This included planning and preparing for an international war
War crimes - Breaching the laws of war and improper treatment of Prisoners of war
- Crimes against humanity - It included murders, enslavement and deportation of people.
Were the Nuremberg Trials Successful?
The legality and procedure for the Nuremberg trials were
highly controversial since many of them were being newly formed and executed.
However, this was essential in establishing a landmark in
world history to condemn future war crimes, genocides and crimes against humanity.
The trials were widely criticised and the
prosecution was questioned. For several years the controversial trials were
spoken about by the world.
However, it was proved to be successful since it
would bring about important changes in the future of wars.
It would help to curb future aggression, prevent genocides and teach the extremists that all actions have grave consequences.
Written by Jerusha Patel
.JPG)
0 Comments