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My mother had pointed his photo out to me on several occasions but I was too young to remember. Several were militaristically aloof and looked down upon those they considered to be the mere political element. [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. Speer was a favorite of the guards. [159] During the closing statements, most defendants disappointed the judges by their lies and denial. Master Sgt. [240] The IMT is one of the most well-studied trials in history, and it has also been the subject of an abundance of books and scholarly publications, along with motion pictures such as Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and The Memory of Justice (1976). [146][148] Six defendants were charged with the German invasion of Norway, and their lawyers argued that this invasion was undertaken to prevent a British invasion; a cover-up prevented the defense from capitalizing on this argument. Text Size:thredup ambassador program how to dress more masculine for a woman. The Nuremberg Trials After the war, the top surviving German leaders were tried for Nazi Germany's crimes, including the crimes of the Holocaust. Nuremberg Guards | WWII Forums End of the trial: Guardian report on the executions, 16 October 1946 Hermann Gring last night died by his own hand. He often went for hours without speaking to anyone. The Nuremberg Trials ended on October 1, 1946. These were 60 year old Emma Zimmer, nee Mezel, and 36 year old . Through these openings, aluminum food trays could be placed within reach of the prisoners. Number 3 was Konstantin von Neurath, a former high-ranking politician. [67] Former Nazis were allowed to serve as counsel[45] and by mid-November all defendants had lawyers. He, like the others, was always bumming cigarettes or cans of Prince Albert tobacco for his pipe. My Dad was murdered, hanged, when I was 5 years old in 1965. The United States and United Kingdom refused to endorse this proposal, citing the failure of war crimes prosecutions after World War I. However, some Russian guards who had perhaps the best reason to want to harshly punish the former German leaders in retaliation for previous atrocities and other crimes committed in the Soviet Union, were friendly and, even in some cases, considerate of the prisoners and American personnel.. 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. He never repented for anything he ever did. [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. Four were convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years. An anti-Semite to the end, and proclaiming that his death was a victory for world Jewry, Streichers final shouted words as he dropped through the trap door to his death were, This is the Purim Festival for 1946. What was the name of that individual? He was released in 1966. Joachim von Ribbentrop's body after his execution. Prestianni never served in the trial courtroom, only in the cellblock. The indictment lodged against them contained four counts: (1) crimes against peace (i.e., the planning, initiating, and waging of wars of aggression in violation of international treaties and agreements), (2) crimes against humanity (i.e., exterminations, deportations, and genocide), (3) war crimes (i.e., violations of the laws of war), and (4) a common plan or conspiracy to commit the criminal acts listed in the first three counts. [228] The most controversial charge was crimes against peace. Prestianni, the guard contingent, and supervisors under the command of Colonel B.C. All guards were forced to stand practically motionless at parade rest behind their assigned prisoner seated before them in the dock. They were told they would be part of history. He is in several pictures standing at Hans Franks left. By early 1946, Western prosecutors were uneasy about the Katyn charge, although they never publicly rejected it for fear of casting the entire proceedings into question. star wars fanfiction terran alliance; when a girl says i'll keep that in mind; hillsborough disaster who was to blame; how to get into stanford with a low gpa 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. How Gring obtained the lethal capsule has never been firmly established. Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death (Gring, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, Seyss-Inquart, and Bormann). [1] Most of the defendants were also charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. The BOTCHED Executions Of The Nuremberg Trials - YouTube On October 1, 1946, the verdicts on 22 of the original 24 defendants were handed down for the Nrnberg trials. Guides: German Legal Research Guide: Nuremberg Trials Materials It was in my family until the early 2000s. Postal Service. Gifts, usually clothing, soap, tobacco, and family photos, could be given to prisoners after inspection by a guard. His remembrance of duty at Nuremberg remains vivid. 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. 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 note said, To a good man in remembrance of my going forth to death., Prestianni said, I have no idea why he gave it to me. The trial, which had lasted nearly 10. However, one thread of similarity was woven among them. At least Im out here and you are in there, said the former guard. While on duty, guards carried no weapons, only wooden truncheons. [180][172] On 16 October, ten were hanged, with Gring committing suicide the day before. I have been searching for evidence that my Dad was a guard, so that the stories I have been told since I was a child could be documented. Ribbentrop was held in low esteem by others close to Hitler due to his perceived ineptness in many areas. [129] The Soviet prosecution also attempted to fabricate German responsibility for the Katyn massacre, which had in fact been committed by the Soviet Union. [48] The French judges were Henri Donnedieu de Vabres, a professor of criminal law, and alternate Robert Falco, who had represented France at the London Conference. He was the first of 10 hanged on October 16, 1946. Prestiannis assignment was over, and he was transferred to guard duty at a POW compound at Bamberg, Germany. Some were gassed. Jackson. Others were deemed "unfit" for Nazi society: Jews, lesbians, sex workers or homeless women. [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. Following the Second World War, many concentration camps such as Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz were liberated. The Nuremberg Trials - ThoughtCo American guards ate in separate, enlisted mess halls and slept in segregated, barracks-like rooms, six to a room. StoryCorps: Nuremberg Trials Guard Dies Of COVID-19 : NPR Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 125. [40] Each state appointed a prosecution team and two judges, one being an alternate. Another favorite was Alfred Jodl, former chief of the operations staff of the Army high command, who was found guilty and executed. . Between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 24 of the most important political and military leaders of Nazi Germany. On November 20, 1945, several months after the end of World War II, a series of military tribunals began in the German city of Nuremberg. Nazi, Alfred Rosenberg, lies dead on a casket following his execution after the Nuremberg Trials. When he failed to respond to the periodic shouted challenges from the sergeant-of-the-guard, Prestianni was taken to a hospital in Nuremberg where he remained for two weeks before returning to duty. Today I found out that most of the soldiers who guarded the high ranking Nazi prisoners during the Nuremberg trials were in fact former members of Baltic SS . 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.. Conversation between guards was extremely limited or nonexistent. Also represented were some leaders of the German economy, such as Gustav Krupp (of the conglomerate Krupp AG) and former Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht. Ribbentrop, Prestianni related, was a man without humor. Nrnberg trials | Facts, Definition, & Prominent Defendants Hildegard Lchert (AKA "Bloody Brigette" or "Beast") Hildegard Lchert was conscripted to join the Nazi women in 1942, at the age of 22. After two years he was released and promptly reestablished himself in a successful career as a financial consultant for developing nations. Per newspaper accounts of the scene, when the inmates heard the news they "shouted with joy" and "chattering excitedly, hastily shed the red . These were people, Neurath reasoned, of whom Germany was cleansing the world.. Prestianni said of von Neurath, He looked like the movie version of a Prussian general with his mop of white hair and erect bearing. Had been imprisoned since then. I look forward to hearing from him. [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. [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. These were the intellectuals; the ramrod-stiff military officers; the cunning politicians; the world's most vicious, depraved, notorious mass murderers; an architect; a filthy-minded and sex-obsessed anti-Semitic newspaper publisher; a gentle writer of poetry; the bombastic bullies; an unrepentant, ghost-like figure; the subservient military [146] The Nuremberg Laws were compared to discriminatory laws in the United States. Nuremberg Trials: What Happened When Nazis Faced Justice? - Forces Network 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. We needled him by saying his girls wanted to abandon the Fatherland, marry Americans, and emigrate to the United States.. He told multiple stories of his time there. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment. 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. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded many countries across Europe, inflicting 27 million deaths in the Soviet Union alone. [36][35] On 8 August, the Nuremberg Charter was signed in London. 1 They were convened under the authority of Control Council Law No.. we went to Germany with and my younger brother was born there, dad remained un the Army until 1960, when he retired after 32 years service. [238][239] The Palace of Justice houses a museum on the trial and the courtroom became a tourist attraction, drawing 13,138 visitors in 2005. [223], The International Military Tribunal, and the drafters of its charter, invented international criminal law essentially from nothing. When asked how the individual personalities, habits, and mannerisms differed, Prestianni responded that they were varied. [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. 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". . Obeying Orders | Facing History and Ourselves The Estonian Guard Co. 4221 was formed to answer the need to guard the Nuremberg courthouse and the prison where accused Nazi War Criminals were held. Alfred Rosenberg was considered by Hitler the philosopher of National Socialism. 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 purpose of the trial was not just to convict the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi crimes, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, and delegitimize the traditional German elite. The International Military Tribunal (IMT) delivered its judgment against the Nazi leaders on September 30 and October 1, 1946. This wasnt authorized, but it was done on occasion, Prestianni smiled. 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. By. He rarely talked, but when he did his speech was rambling. 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. [195][196], These trials emphasized the crimes committed during the Holocaust. In one report i read, it mentioned that "K" Company of the 26th Inf., 1st Div. [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. [171] Only eight defendants were convicted on that charge; all of whom were also found guilty of crimes against peace. I rather liked him for the way he acted toward us. Pre-war president of the. I had no idea of the magnitude of what they had done. After 216 court sessions, on October 1, 1946, the verdict on 22 of the original 24 defendants was handed down. Public to Get Access to Nuremberg Trials Digital Recordings 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. Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. Tags International Military TribunalNurembergGermanywar crimes trialstrials National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD Corrections? Other than that, Hess had no social interaction with the other prisoners. [236][237], The trials were the first use of simultaneous interpretation, which stimulated technical advances in translation methods. The defendants' lawyers jointly appealed to the court, claiming it did not have jurisdiction against the accused; but this motion was rejected. Also represented were some leaders of the German economy, such as Gustav Krupp (of the conglomerate Krupp AG) and former Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht.[2]. Prestianni said that during his guard duties he tried to adhere to his fathers advice. You can contact me via email at RebeccaLeuchter@aol.com. Perhaps the most feared group of accused criminals in the annals of history was a potpourri of personalities who had been associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Why Were Sunglasses Worn at the Nuremberg Trials? All of those with whom I came in contact spoke flawless English, he remembered. [30] Article 7 prevented the defendants from claiming immunity for their actions under the act of state doctrine,[31] and the plea of acting under superior orders was left for the judges to decide. Former field marshal Keitel, another prisoner who was eventually executed, gradually alienated himself from the other prisoners. Known as the Jew Baiter, even in the United States, he was rabidly anti-Semitic. The night Gring pulled that off on October 16, 1946, now that was quite a night, he recalled. Expressed repentance. The Nrnberg trials were a series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 1945 and 1946 following the end of World War II. Besides Speer, Ribbentrop, Kaltenbrunner, and Jodl, Prestianni also guarded Luftwaffe Reichsmarshal Hermann Gring, Grand Admiral Dnitz, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Reich financier Hjalmar Schacht, Governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Konstantin von Neurath, Nazi philosopher Alfred Rosenberg, virulent anti-Semite Julius Streicher, diplomat Franz von Papen, Minister of the Interior Wilhelm Frick, Grand Admiral Raeder, Hess, and Hans Frank, the governor general of occupied Poland. 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. There was a constant, steady flow of rules and regulations, many of them meaningless, while others tended to be more punitive, he said. If an organization was found to be criminal, the prosecution could bring individuals to trial for having been members, and the criminal nature of the group or organization could no longer be questioned. To some, he was demeaned as the foreigner., I didnt like his looks at all. My father was an MP at The Nuremberg Trails. The seventh series of Ravensbrck trials was held between July 2nd and July 21st, 1948 to hear the cases of Aufseherin accused of maltreatment of prisoners and making selections for the gas chambers. One can only imagine the effect the pounding had on the condemned prisoners, now with only one more day to live. They even accused guards of watching them undress. The Nuremberg Trials - The Washington Post He thought a mature, Lutheran, German-speaking chaplain who had worked in prisons . They [the prisoners] were to always be considered innocent until proven guilty. Beginning on November 20, 1945, all sessions of the tribunal were held in Nrnberg under the presidency of Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence (later Baron Trevethin and Oaksey), the British member. [38], In early 1946, there were a thousand employees from the four countries' delegations in Nuremberg, of which about two-thirds were from the United States. It was always a battle of authority. During his service in Korea, Prestianni was wounded twice and decorated for valor numerous times. Twelve of the defendants would be sentenced to death. Once the IMT established the criminality of aggressive war, war . Prestianni particularly liked Speer, Hitlers architect and the designer of many of Berlins most spectacular buildings and later minister of armament and munitions. The Nuremberg Trials - Home | The National WWII Museum | New Orleans Postwar trials and denazification - The Holocaust Explained Many were resistance fighters or political opponents. Three days on and three days off with shifts of four hours on, four hours off each day was the standard work assignment for guards. My father was also a guard, but he said he always was on the outside guarding. Nuremberg Trials | Encyclopedia.com By creating an Aryan nation, the world would look up to and envy Germany for its racial purity.. But, he gave us no problem and I found him engaging to talk to and an excellent checkers player.. 23rd September 2021 at 5:18pm. The Nuremberg prison was a Bastille-like affair. Nazi Women: 10 Monstrous Female Nazi War Criminals - EnkiVillage Posted September 22, 2014. Schacht had been imprisoned in July 1944, under suspicion of being part of an assassination conspiracy against Hitler. His name was David C. Porter from Pennsylvania. [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. Hans Frank, known as the Slayer of Poles, was small, outwardly arrogant, and had a cruel face, Prestianni revealed. The purpose of the armored reinforcement was to prevent any possibility of attack by groups of still-fanatic Nazis. [4], In early 1942, representatives of eight governments-in-exile in the United Kingdom issued a declaration on Punishment for War Crimes, which demanded an international court to try the Axis crimes committed in occupied countries. [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. My Dad was a guard at the Nuremberg trials. Goring had been given a list of approved lawyers by the US authorities, but rejected every name on it. I only patrolled there once. [230] The selectivity in trying Germans but not the Allies has garnered the most persistent criticism. He was a man of some stature with flowing white hair, but he would still never be noticed much in a crowd. [85] After the American prosecution flooded the trial with untranslated evidence, the judges insisted that all of the evidence be read into the record, which slowed the trial. But Woods, an almost charmingly hapless man with a checkered. [125], More so than other delegations, Soviet prosecutors showed the gruesome details of German mistreatment of prisoners of war and forced laborers, as well as the systematic murder of Jews in eastern Europe. As a good military officer I was only following orders, he steadfastly maintained with quiet military bearing.