Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury...trying the Nazi bastard hierarchy....

Every time I think about WW2, and its' aftermath, I think of this song by Dylan:

Dylan lends gravitas to just about anything.  And the sixties, when the song was written, were hard times, during which the 'hard rain' fell in the aftermath of World War II.

And now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast, the Nurenberg trials.

Now, let us further imagine that we have a chance to punish some of the schmucks responsible for the horrors seen at the concentration camps as they were liberated by the Allies, which brings us to

Nuremberg.  

What were the Nuremberg trials? For historians, they were a valiant attempt to do the impossible:  hold those Nazis left accountable (among a myriad of other things) for the Holocaust--as well as about a billion was crimes. 

From the perspective of history, this was a crucial moment where 'some justice' might be meted out for unimaginable crimes against humanity.  For the first time in the history of warfare, a new legal concept was created:  crimes against humanity, as well as promoting aggressive war (meaning against the civilian population.  These were only some of the charges, but they were enough to.indicate (particularly to historians) the brutality of war--war crimes.

To give you an idea of what I am saying, take a gander at Spielberg's vision of D-Day:

Ghastly, right?

The trials began primarily as an international endeavour--Russians wanted the pretence of a trial, whereas Churchill wanted an immediate firing squad. But, the consensus was that a longer trial was needed--it would afford the opportunity to perform a kind of mass reveal (ie. presenting a slew of damning documents supporting the "final solution to the Jewish question").  Frankly,  I'm here to tell you, that the Nazis wrote just about every f*&^ing thing down.

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The person put in charge of this legal parade, was Associate Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson--who had been appointed by FDR. He was a dyed-in-the-wool New Deal Democrat (meaning that he thought Roosevelt was a pretty great man).   It was Jackson's express task to create a spectacle whereby the entire National Socialist network of crazies/boneheads/evil bastards would be put on trial for the loony tunes they were.  So, was it a show trial? Perhaps.  Was it even necessary? Well Dear Reader, I certainly think so.  If a story is violent enough, scary enough, and horrific enough it demands to be aired in a public forum in the hope that such events will not reoccur.

Now back to Bob's mandate.  Jackson had his work cut out--getting the trial organised, including a complete makeover of the bomb ravaged Nuremberg courthouse, which took time.  I must also include  thousands of pages of documents -- Nazis were incredibly insecure.  I still find it interesting (horrifying) how German troops were told to destroy grave pits, crematoria, and gas chambers, as the Allied troops advanced into their area. Also, they were used to reconstruct the courthouse.

But, I digress.

We were taking a look at the trials.  I'll tackle the horrors of the Holoaust at another time. For now,  here is a cheesy but pretty good movie called "Nuremberg" starring Alec Baldwin (I know) that takes a look at the beginning days of the trial:

The legend surrounding the Nazi party is filled with what can only be called evil. Yes, I use this descriptor deliberately. How else can you describe a regime that takes children who are challenged by the fact that they do not fit the norm, and killing them under what was called the T4 program. One Nazi with witnessing the “ euthanasia“ of these children said that they were hung on the wall like pictures

But I think the one story that sticks with me is how a father actually wrote the asshole known as Hitler, asking that his baby son be euthanized, because he had been born less than the Aryan standard – whatever the hell that means. I don’t think I really need to tell you what happened to that poor child do I?

These were the men and women who were going to be tried in Nurenberg in the years, following the end of the war. Truthfully, dear reader, any punishment that was going to be meted out against these people would not be enough in my opinion it isn’t often that we get to talk about or write about people that are Truly malevolent, but the Nazis….

Enough said.

And now back to our regularly scheduled broadcast, the Nurenberg trials.

When we left Robert Jackson, he was constructing his case against these Nazi defendants. It was his intention to create a legal form in which not only could these defendants be tried for crimes against humanity and an aggressive war, but also to leave a legacy for future generations.

Now, let us further imagine that we have a chance to punish some of the schmucks responsible for the horrors seen at the concentration camps as they were liberated by the Allies, which brings us to....

What were the Nuremberg trials? For historians, they were a valiant attempt to do the impossible:  hold those Nazis left accountable (among a myriad of other things) for the Holocaust--as well as about a billion was crimes. 

From the perspective of history, this was a crucial moment where 'some justice' might be meted out for unimaginable crimes against humanity.  For the first time in the history of warfare, a new legal concept was created:  crimes against humanity, as well as promoting aggressive war (meaning against the civilian population.  These were only some of the charges, but they were enough to indicate, particularly to historians, the brutality of WW2.

To give you an idea of what I am saying, take a gander at Spielberg's vision of D-Day:

Ghastly, right?

The trials began primarily as an American endeavour--Russians wanted the pretence of a trial, whereas Churchill wanted an immediate firing squad. But, the consensus was that a longer trial was needed--it would afford the opportunity to perform a kind of mass reveal (ie. presenting a slew of damning documents supporting the "final solution to the Jewish question").  Frankly,  I'm here to tell you, that the Nazis wrote just about every f*&^ing thing down.  I don't know why, perhaps it was some type of cultural insecurity.

-

The person put in charge of this legal parade, was Associate Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson--who had been appointed by FDR. He was a dyed-in-the-wool New Deal Democrat (meaning that he thought Roosevelt was a pretty great man).   It was Jackson's express task to create a spectacle whereby the entire National Socialist network of crazies/boneheads/evil bastards would be put on trial for the loony tunes they were.  So, was it a show trial? Perhaps.  Was it even necessary? Well Dear Reader, I certainly think so.  If a story is violent enough, scary enough, and horrific enough it demands to be aired in a public forum in the hope that such events will not reoccur.

Now back to Bob's mandate.  Jackson had his work cut out--getting the trial organised, including a complete makeover of the bomb ravaged Nuremberg courthouse which took time.  I must also include  thousands of pages of documents -- Nazis were incredibly insecure.  I still find it interesting (horrifying) how German troops were told to destroy grave pits, crematoria, and gas chambers, as the Allied troops advanced into their area. 

But, I digress.

We were taking a look at the trials.  I'll tackle the horrors of the Holoaust at another time (I found out recently that the Nazi concentration camps. For now,  here is a cheesy but pretty good movie called "Nuremberg" starring Alec Baldwin (I know) that takes a look at the beginning days of the trial:

So, who were indicted?

Here is a lists of these a holes (I got this list from Wikipedia).: