My father Gordon Fitzgerald also spent several months as a guard there. [66][67] The prosecutors wanted to try representative leaders of German politics, economy, and military; and the Americans had a list of 70 names at the London Conference. Jodl, one of 10 prisoners hanged, was another who never admitted to any personal guilt. [153] Midway through the trial, Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech denouncing the Soviet threat delighted the defense. The Nrnberg trials began on November 20, 1945. Today these sketches are highly prized. John C. Woods, hangman at Nuremberg Anyone else might have been embarrassed about botching such a high-level execution. Seven defendants (Hess, Funk, Raeder, Dnitz, Schirach, Speer, and Neurath) were sent to Spandau Prison to serve their sentences. I wish I would have ask more questions about his experience there. Other absent and dead men including Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich, Adolf Eichmann, and Bormann were also blamed. [202] All four powers later fought independence movements using methods that had been ruled illegal at Nuremberg. [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. [223], The International Military Tribunal, and the drafters of its charter, invented international criminal law essentially from nothing. He just celebrated his 93 birthday, and is smart and caring as he has always been. [224][225][226] During the two decades after the trial, opinions were predominantly negative. [160] On 2 September, the court recessed; and the judges retreated into seclusion to decide the verdict and sentences, which had been under discussion since June. My father Paul Davis Smith served at a guard at Nuremberg though he never really talked much about it so I dont know in what capacity. Twelve further trials were conducted by the United States against lower-level perpetrators, which focused more on the Holocaust. I do have a photo of my Dad standing behind the German prisoners. Prestianni and another guard handcuffed Streicher and walked him silently to the gallows chamber, where they rapped on the door with their truncheons. All the prisoners smoked pipes, and they all tried to wheedle cigarettes from us.. 1 Feb 1946. Efficiency Report for Henry F. Gerecke, 7/1/1945, NAID 6016856. [117] The French prosecutors, more than their British or American counterparts, emphasized the guilt of the German people;[118] they barely mentioned the charge of aggressive war and instead focused on forced labor, economic plunder, massacres, and Germanization. Prestianni does not recall Raeder maintaining even a limited friendship with the other prisoners. [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. In mid-1945, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States agreed to convene a joint tribunal in Nuremberg, with the Nuremberg Charter as its legal instrument. [16] On 2 May, at the San Francisco Conference, the United States' new president Harry S. Truman announced the formation of an international military tribunal. 3 Feb 1946. [145], Despite the fact that the charter did not recognize a tu quoque defense, such arguments were repeatedly raised during the trial. Ribbentrop, Prestianni related, was a man without humor. These women prisoners constantly did anything they could to get a guard in trouble or disciplined.. Hitler's Minister of Economics; succeeded Schacht as head of the, Hitler's Deputy Fhrer until he flew to Scotland in 1941 in an attempt to broker peace with the United Kingdom. The guards at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials The guards at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials Accession Number 72-850 7.25x9.5 inches Black & White Printer-Friendly Version Order This Image Keywords Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946 Soldiers HST Keywords Nurnberg Trials; Germany - Nurnberg The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949 to try those accused of Nazi war crimes. On 17 September, the various delegations met to discuss the indictment. [127] Evidence was presented on the murder of children, attempts to cover up atrocities,[128] systematic plunder of occupied territories, and confiscation or destruction of cultural heritage. Other prisoners shuffled past him without even glancing in his direction or outwardly acknowledging that he existed. He was sent to Nuremburg and stood guard at the Judges quarters. I did nothing to be here, he stated. The crew (left to right) Private (1st Class) Carl E McCray (Salem, Va.) and Sergeant E Wilson (Texas.)'. [39] Besides legal professionals, there were many social-science researchers, psychologists, translators and interpreters, and graphic designers, the latter to make the many charts used during the trial. [80][81] The aim was to have these organizations declared criminal, so that their members could be tried expeditiously for membership in a criminal organization. Her last name was Marsico (cant recall her first name} and she was from Montgomery, WV. [73] Also on trial were propagandists Julius Streicher and Hans Fritzsche; Rudolf Hess, Hitler's deputy who had flown to Britain in 1941; Hans Frank, governor-general of the General Governorate of Poland; Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach; Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands; and Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the leader of Himmler's Reich Main Security Office. Number 4 was assigned to Erich Raeder, the Navys former grand admiral before being replaced by Dnitz. Cell doors were never opened when food was distributed. [63] Jackson also rewrote the indictment with the intent of keeping the proceedings under American control by separating out an overall conspiracy charge from the other three charges. [141] The defendants tried to blame their crimes on Hitler, who was mentioned 1,200 times during the trialmore than the top five defendants combined. Michael R. Prestianni of Framingham, Massachusetts, who later survived months of combat in Korea. Number 6 was Walther Funk, former minister of economics, and Number 7 was Rudolf Hess, once Hitlers private secretary and deputy fhrer. Answer (1 of 5): None of the footage I have seen of the trials revealed anyone but American MPs. Mark Felton Productions. Your Moms birthday and maiden name. We were given strict orders to have no contact whatsoever with these women, no conversation, no nothing and to stay well away from them, noted Prestianni. The intentionally weakened table and chair, Prestianni said, prevented possible suicide attempts by hanging. I sure would like to find out more about his service. All eight judges participated in the deliberations, but the alternates could not cast a vote. Alfred Rosenberg was considered by Hitler the philosopher of National Socialism. Soviet prosecutors in Nrnberg, Germany brought out Friedrich Paulus and Erich Buschenhagen by surprise as witnesses in the war crimes trials. At the time, it was just a job we were told to do. (Robert Ley committed suicide while in prison, and Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbachs mental and physical condition prevented his being tried.) Number 5 was Albert Speer, Hitlers personal architect and confidant. All of those with whom I came in contact spoke flawless English, he remembered. Gifts, usually clothing, soap, tobacco, and family photos, could be given to prisoners after inspection by a guard. The two men were deep in the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, Germany, venue for the Nuremberg War Crimes trials of Germany's Nazi leaders. Of course he was amongst other guards to his left and right. Only Speer occasionally tried to befriend him or penetrate his deep solitude with a few words of encouragement. Nuremberg Trials On November 20, 1945, six months after the surrender of Nazi Germany to allied forces, twenty-one military, political, media, and business leaders of the Third Reich filed into the dock of the Palace of Justice in the devastated and occupied German city of Nuremberg. Dads birthday. 18008 Bothell Everett Hwy SE # F, Bothell, WA 98012. They wanted to run the whole show. In return, he often was rewarded with cigarettes, pipe tobacco, or other small items he coveted. He was proud of his physique, saying he was strong like Germany.. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded many countries across Europe, inflicting 27 million deaths in the Soviet Union alone. The food, prepared in an American-staffed kitchen, offered identical German menus for each prisoner. [52][46] The Soviet personnel's lack of knowledge of English, lack of interpreters, and unfamiliarity with diplomacy and international institutions also limited their influence. Did guards favor some prisoners over others? Proposals for how to punish the defeated Nazi leaders ranged from a show trial (the Soviet Union) to summary executions (the United Kingdom). Expressed repentance. [13] Planners in the United States Department of War were drawing up plans for an international tribunal in late 1944 and early 1945. This brass pot held the holy water that an attending priest sprinkled on the condemned immediately before their execution. jkeller, Aug 11, 2010 #16. macrusk Proud Daughter of a Canadian WWII Veteran. [204] In the United Kingdom, although a variety of responses were reported, it was difficult to sustain interest in a long trial. [197] The trials heard 1,300 witnesses, entered more than 30,000 documents into evidence, and generated 132,855 pages of transcripts, with the judgements themselves totaling 3,828 pages. But Woods, an almost charmingly hapless man with a checkered. After his release from prison in Nuremberg, a Stuttgart court sentenced him to eight years in a work camp. Q. I need your: 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. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death by hanging. [161][162], The International Military Tribunal agreed with the prosecution that aggression was the gravest charge against the accused, stating in its judgement that because war in general is evil, "To initiate a war of aggression, therefore, is not only an international crime; it is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole. [59] The conspiracy charge was used to charge the top Nazi leaders, as well as bureaucrats who had never killed anyone or perhaps even directly ordered killing. The International Military Tribunal (IMT) delivered its judgment against the Nazi leaders on September 30 and October 1, 1946. [136][137] The Soviet prosecution case was generally well received and presented compelling evidence about the suffering of the Soviet people and the Soviet contribution to victory. Minister of Foreign Affairs 193238, succeeded by Ribbentrop. (November 1945) Sources: All photos copyright and courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum By special arrangement with a guard or prison official, he gave his handwritten notes to be mimeographed and returned to him. He was a physical fitness fanatic who threw his cell window open in mid-winter and splashed toilet water over his bare chest and then did pushups, before meals, after meals, most any time, over and over. Joined: Oct 14, 2007 Messages: 2,804 Where they lived. Frick was rather taciturn, not given to talking. Prestianni never served in the trial courtroom, only in the cellblock. Proposals for how to punish the defeated Nazi leaders ranged from a . Some were gassed. [46], The French prosecutor, Franois de Menthon, had just overseen trials of the leaders of Vichy France;[37] he resigned in January 1946 and was replaced by Auguste Champetier de Ribes. If he is American it will be easier to find some kind of information about him. On the night he was to be hanged, Streicher gave Prestianni a signed, handwritten note after supper. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials that occurred in post-World War II Germany to provide a platform for justice against accused Nazi war criminals. 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. The IMT focused on the crime of aggressionplotting and waging aggressive war, which the verdict declared "the supreme international crime" because "it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole". They even accused guards of watching them undress. Neurath, after serving eight years of his 15-year sentence, was spirited away in clandestine fashion, without fanfare, and mysteriously set free in the dead of night on November 6, 1954, because of an alleged eye ailment. A huge crowd of soldiers stands at . 23rd September 2021 at 5:18pm. 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. Guards gradually learned through everyday observation, however, that the prisoners collective makeup truly spanned a psychologically intricate cross-section of those who had served Hitler. I tried to treat each prisoner without rancor.. Emilio "Leo" DiPalma, a World War II veteran and a guard for some of the most notorious Nazi prisoners during the Nuremberg trials, died Wednesday along with several other veterans who. It was always a battle of authority. 08-12-2007, 10:07 PM. Alfried was tried in a separate Nuremberg trial (the Krupp Trial) for the use of slave labor, thereby escaping worse charges and possible execution; found guilty in 1948, pardoned and all property returned 1951. [129] The Soviet prosecution also attempted to fabricate German responsibility for the Katyn massacre, which had in fact been committed by the Soviet Union. [94] All defendants pleaded not guilty. He promoted an intentionalist view of the Nazi state and its overall conspiracy to commit all of the crimes mentioned in the indictment. [79] Initially, the Americans had planned to try fourteen organizations and their leaders, but this was narrowed to six: the Reich Cabinet, the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party, the Gestapo, the SA, the SS and the SD, and the General Staff and High Command of the Wehrmacht. Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi Germanys foreign minister beginning in 1938, was amiable, Prestianni said. SS members were generally frowned upon and can't imagine them having anything to do with the trials except sit in the dock. So the court then allowed him to choose any lawyer he wanted and Stahmer was his pick. The tribunal consisted of a member plus an alternate selected by each of the four signatory countries. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany waged war across Europe, invading Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Low Countries, France, Denmark, Norway, Yugoslavia, Greece, and the Soviet Union, among others. Public to Get Access to Nuremberg Trials Digital Recordings It was only sometime later that I realized in retrospect that I had become part of history, Prestianni said. [119] Unlike the British and American prosecution strategy, which focused on using German documents to make their case, the French prosecutors took the perspective of the victims, submitting postwar police reports and calling eleven witnesses. [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. Some passively resigned themselves to their futures while others fought it off and never fully accepted their fates. 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. Prisoners and guards were forced to wear heavy scarves to ward off the penetrating cold. Neurath, Konstantin von. Martin Bormann was tried and condemned to death in absentia, and Hermann Gring committed suicide before he could be executed. And when he spoke, it was to lash out violently at anyone close to him at the time, even the guards.. Generally, I would describe the food, as I recall, quite good, Prestianni remembers. [84][85] The American prosecution drew on reports of the Office of Strategic Services and information provided by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and the American Jewish Committee. The Rome Statute establishing a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC), which had been proposed in 1953, was finally agreed to in 1998. Once the IMT established the criminality of aggressive war, war . The trial, which had lasted nearly 10. He was strictly military during the three months I observed him. Former Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals for their conduct by the International Military Tribunal. Their voices speak directly to the reader and reflect upon the meaning of justice in the post . [56][57] After this division of formulating the charges, the British and American delegations decided to work jointly in drafting the charges of conspiracy to wage aggressive war. Soldiers in tank stand guard in front of the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg where the International Military Tribunal . [180][172] On 16 October, ten were hanged, with Gring committing suicide the day before. [32] The trial was held under modified common law. Hello everybody, this morning ended an auction on ebay of a Nuremberg Trials Guard uniform and I would hear your thoughts about the patch - especially of the scale on the patch because the right bowl has three strings and the left one has two strings.The Nuremberg Trial patches were German made ( Bullions) and all of . In the prison cellblock, each single-occupant cell had two parallel heating pipes beneath a single, heavily scratched, plastic-covered window, the top half of which could be tilted open for limited ventilation. I look forward to hearing from him. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death, three to life imprisonment, four to imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years, and three were acquitted. When I once asked him why he had done what he was convicted of doing, he replied that he only did what the Fatherland [Germany] instructed him to do. [20][21] The offenses that would be prosecuted were crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. None outwardly felt they had done anything to warrant being in prison.. Several were militaristically aloof and looked down upon those they considered to be the mere political element. They just never admitted to it. 10 issued by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. [22][23] War crimes already existed in international law as criminal violations of the laws and customs of war. Martin Bormann was tried and condemned to death in absentia, and Hermann Gring committed suicide before he could be executed. In addition to this brass pot I have three skeleton keys to the cells that held the Nazi war criminals, as well as a pair of wooden spoons used by them. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death (Gring, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, Seyss-Inquart, and Bormann). A defendant was entitled to receive a copy of the indictment, to offer any relevant explanation to the charges brought against him, and to be represented by counsel and confront and cross-examine the witnesses. Subsequent Nuremberg Trials (December 1946 - April 1949) 1,148 Nuremberg Trials Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images Images Creative Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO 1,148 Nuremberg Trials Premium High Res Photos Browse 1,148 nuremberg trials stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. [190][191] Also on trial were industrialistsin the Flick trial, the IG Farben trial, and the Krupp trialfor using forced labor, looting property from Nazi victims, and funding SS atrocities. Afterwards, during the Berlin Blockade, they took part in securing Allied facilities involved in the Berlin Airlift and later also were guarding USA Army headquarters. How Gring obtained the lethal capsule has never been firmly established. Updates? For the subsequent trials held by the United States, see, "International Military Tribunal" redirects here. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Examine the Nrnberg (Nuremberg) trials of formerleaders of Nazi Germany for war crimes, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Nurnberg-trials, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Holocaust Encyclopedia - The Nuremberg Trials, Famous Trials - Nuremberg Trials (1945-49), Nuremberg Trials - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Nuremberg trials - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Konstantin von Neurath at the Nrnberg trials, Ernst Kaltenbrunner at the Nrnberg trials. He often went for hours without speaking to anyone. It would be so greatly appreciated. An accomplished horseman, Streicher continued to wear high leather boots and riding britches during his confinement. He was totally indifferent to the world around him and to world affairs. For example, Baldur von Schirach, former head of the Hitler Youth, was known only as Number 1. Boy I wish I asked more questions of the trials. Everyone within hearing distance knew what the hammering signified. [219][220] The German public took the early releases as confirmation of what they saw as the illegitimacy of the trials. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. Jobs People Learning . During numerous argumentative discussions, Neurath referred to the Polish population and others that were slaughtered by German troops as untermenschen, the German expression for inferior beings. events, and resources, Michael Prestianni: Guarding the War Criminals at Nuremberg. They, as a group, had no problem with their guilt. The . He held the rank of seargent when he was discharged in 1945. [83] The American and British prosecutors focused on documentary evidence and affidavits rather than testimony from survivors, as the latter was considered less reliable and more liable to accusations of bias, but at the expense of reducing public interest in the proceedings. [55], The work of drafting the indictment was divided up by the national delegations. His remembrance of duty at Nuremberg remains vivid. Prompt medical attention was readily available to all prisoners. Trial issues are criminal activities or subjects at issue in a trial that are addressed by a document. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Prestianni, the guard contingent, and supervisors under the command of Colonel B.C. [69][37], The defendants, who were largely unrepentant,[70] included former cabinet ministers: Franz von Papen (who had brought Hitler to power); Joachim von Ribbentrop (foreign minister), Wilhelm Frick (interior minister), and Alfred Rosenberg, minister for the occupied eastern territories. 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. The first attempt to punish the perpetrators was conducted by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in the German city of Nuremberg, beginning on November . Ten of themHans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Alfred Rosenberg, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Keitel, and Arthur Seyss-Inquartwere hanged on October 16, 1946. [172] All 22 defendants were charged with crimes against peace, and 12 were convicted. [65], Some of the most prominent NazisAdolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbelshad committed suicide and therefore could not be tried. Hess was eccentric. It was also a way to indirectly charge crimes committed before the beginning of World War II, which the charter placed outside the court's jurisdiction. The United States delegation outlined the overall Nazi conspiracy and criminality of Nazi organizations. The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.. Waffen-SS Soldiers Guarded the Nuremberg Trials Mark Felton Productions 1.82M subscribers Subscribe 81K 4.3M views 2 years ago Unbelievable but true - an entire unit of former Waffen-SS. They merely brushed the guilt away with self-serving claims that they were following orders from superiors or perhaps even from Hitler himself in an atmosphere where failure to do so often meant banishment to a concentration camp, Gestapo torture, or even a summary execution. He didnt really talk to me very much. Adam Weishaupt, Abraham: The World's First Psychopath. Despite this precaution, such limited, semiamicable relationships did exist. importance of responding within an appropriate timescale, over the past decades, the turnout of minority voters has:,

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