On February 7^th, 1946, the French concluded their segment in the prosecution case,

and were succeeded by the British who were eager to present evidence concerning Rudolph Hess and his journey to England. On the following day, the Russians took the floor in order to present their opening statement delivered by General Rudenko. He spoke for an immense portion of the day as the Russians made their presentation of their evidence. Continue reading →

The intense pace of the trials continued through early February as the prosecution teams presented their cases before the Tribunal.  Edgar Faure (France) began the month with the documentation of Germanization and subsequent persecution of occupied territories, as well as a presentation on propaganda later in the week. Faure’s presentation on Germanization compared the legal maneuvers undertaken by Germany to annex towns outside its pre-war geographic boundaries, specifically in Belgium and France (Alsace-Lorraine):  Continue reading →

January 17th, 1946 marked the thirty-sixth day of the Nürnberg trials. The next few days would belong to the French, as François de Methon and Edgar Faure present their country’s case in front of the Court. De Methon began with an explosive opening statement, “The conscience of the peoples, who only yesterday were enslaved and tortured both in soul and body, calls upon you to judge and to condemn the most monstrous attempt at domination and barbarism of all times, both in the persons of some of those who bear the chief responsibility and in the collective groups and organizations which were the essential instruments of their crimes” [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/01-17-46.asp accessed 1/05/2016]. Continue reading →

Throughout the week of 11-16 January 1946, the British and U.S. prosecution teams introduced their cases against Defendants Funk, Doenitz, Schirach, Raeder, Bormann and Frick. The prosecutors took pains to introduce evidence that had come to light illustrating who knew what and when, what orders were given and how they were executed throughout era of the Nazi government and across Germany and occupied territories. The documents introduced in these presentations frequently represented the best examples Continue reading →

On January 9th, 1946, the prosecution of individuals continued as Mr. Roberts presented his case against Keitel and Jodl. Interrogated months earlier by Thomas Dodd, the prosecution attempted to elicit new knowledge.  In his presentation, Roberts outlined Keitel’s actions of encouraging military preparations and war as described in “the Common Plan”. Mr. Robert demonstrated his detailed knowledge of the Common Plan (The conspiracy produced by the Führer that Germans were a superior race, and that war was a necessary and honorable act) Continue reading →

On the afternoon of December 20th, Robert Storey began his presentation to the Tribunal outlining the Case against the Gestapo. “The presentation of evidence on the criminality of the Geheime Staatspolizei (Gestapo) includes evidence on the criminality of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) and of the Schutzstaffeln (SS), Continue reading →

On December 19, 1945, Warren Farr began his presentation on the Case against the SS before the Tribunal at Nuremberg. Major Farr, Assistant Trial Counsel for the United States, began with a brief background of the organization, “When Nazi Party activity was again resumed in 1925, the SA remained outlawed. To fill its place and to play the part of Hitler’s own personal police, small mobile groups known as protective squadrons (Schutzstaffeln) were created. This was the origin of the SS in 1925. With the reinstatement of the SA in 1926, the SS for the next few years ceased to play a major role. But it continued to exist as an organization within the SA, under its own leader, however, the Reichsfuehrer SS.” [http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/12-19-45.asp#ss accessed 12/17/2015] Continue reading →

Courtesy of guest blogger Lawrence Douglas.

One of the most astonishing and iconic photographs from the Nuremberg trial shows Thomas Dodd gazing at a shrunken head, which he holds before him, like Hamlet contemplating the skull of Yorick.  Earlier, Dodd had all but apologized for submitting the unusual piece of evidence to the court: “We do not wish to dwell on th[e] pathological phase of the Nazi culture; but we do feel compelled to offer one additional exhibit, which we offer as Exhibit Number USA-254.”  Displayed on a table in the center of the crowded Nuremberg courtroom was, as Dodd explained, the head of a former Polish inmate at Buchenwald, “with the skull bone removed, shrunken, stuffed, and preserved.” Continue reading →

The early days of December 1945 saw a series of opening statements outlining the major counts of the indictment as well as those being brought against organizations such as the SS and Gestapo.  Although not necessarily exciting, the presentations served to outline the case and evidence to support the indictments against the Nazis and the Third Reich, as well as their allies, collaborators and specific actions leading up to and throughout the years of World War II.  Continue reading →

On the 15th of November, Dodd and his colleagues visited the courtroom to test the interpretation system in which “We all wear headphones in the courtroom–and by turning a dial we can hear anything that is said in English, in French, in Russian or in German” [pg. 194, 11/15/1945]. The final U.S. Trial Committee was constituted and included General Donovan, Colonel Storey, Sidney Alderman, and Thomas Dodd. The case was to be ready for November 20th and all Dodd could say was,”… we simply are not ready. But I do believe we can improvise along and somehow make a good presentation”. [pg. 196, 11/17/1945] Continue reading →