After WWII came to an end in 1945, some of the German Nazi's responsible for crimes committed during the Holocaust were called to trial. This set of trials is referred to as the Nuremberg trials, as Nuremberg, Germany was the location where these trials took place. Between the years 1945 and 1949, 22 of the accused Nazis were brought to trial and faced judges from the Allied powers of Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union. The people called to trial consisted of military officers, Nazi Party officials, doctors and even lawyers were being charged with crimes against humanity. However, the leader of the Nazi party, Adolf Hitler committed suicide shortly after the war ended and was never called to trial.
Within the set of the Nuremberg trials, there was the widely-known trial called the Trial of Major War Criminals which was held between 1945 and 1946. In this set of trials, Nazi organizations such as the Gestapo were indicted. As a result of the verdict, 12 Nazis were sentenced to death. Most of the Nazis admitted to the crimes of which they were accused, but there was many excuses. Many blamed their actions on the orders that they were given. Aside from the Nazis sentenced to death, the Nazis who were executives, ran concentration camps as labor camps, and high level officials were faced with short sentences, or no penalty at all.
This set of trials was a very important landmark for history, as it was the first time Genocide was brought up in trial, even though it had been a tragedy people were faced with in years prior. This set of trials is now looked at as the bedrock for international court and is important when dealing with future genocides.
I think that the trying of high status Nazis was particularly interesting because there always existed one argument in which the Nazis could give: all they were doing was following orders. Some of those who were tried would argue that they personally did nothing wrong. This raises a question: is every member of the German army responsible for their actions, or can it all be traced back to Adolf Hitler?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you in the aspect that many try to justify their actions by stating they were following orders. I think that people in general are weak minded, many give in to pressure from authority. But could this type of behavior be avoided? How can we teach people to think for themselves in a society where we are taught to follow others? In stories told by Nazis they describe how horrible they felt about what they did while in concentration camps. Although their superiors were giving them orders ultimately they had the last say. They could make the decision to refuse their orders. And if they really cared about the well being of others then why did they still follow through with orders? If they truly believed something they would risk their own lives for that cause.
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