Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
the pros of the nuremberg trials
essays about nuremberg trials
the nuremberg trialsessay
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: the pros of the nuremberg trials
It is without a doubt that the Holocaust will forever go down in history as one of the most heinous crimes against humanity. Even years after the Nazi leadership, effects of the war still haunt the streets of Germany and the memories of the few survivors still alive today. Hitler and his Nazi regime held power in Germany from 1939 until 1945, when they were defeated by the Allied forces (Davenport 10). Within that time, Hitler was responsible for the death of six million Jewish people, and millions of other non-Jews. (Davenport 10) However, when the war ended, it was a big question as to who to blame for these horrendous crimes. Several of Hitler’s head leaders, and Hitler himself, either committed suicide or went into hiding before they could be captured (Austin 2000). In Hitler’s last testament, he was quoted to have said, “I do not wish to fall into the hands of enemies who will need a spectacle arranged by Jews” (Davenport 18). However, Hitler left behind several of his top officers and commanders, who were rounded up and taken to Nuremberg for trial (Davenport 16). Along with the Nazi soldiers and generals, between 100,000 and 250,000 Germans directly played a part in the killings and persecution of Jewish citizens in Nazi Germany (Davenport 13). Some believe that it was necessary to hold all German citizens responsible for their involvement in these crimes against humanity; however the Nuremberg trials were the best solution for justice, as they showed ignorance and duty were no longer viable excuses for crimes, and they set a precedent for future trials by demonstrating a strong intolerance for genocide.
Before the trials began, the Allied forces debated on whether it was necessary to try these men, or if it would be bes...
... middle of paper ...
...courts (fix citation).
The Nuremberg trials are still heavily debated today, in regards to their effectiveness and whether or not it put the blame on the correct people. However, the trials were highly successful. Several of the men were hung for their crimes, and others were sentenced to strenuous prison terms with conditioning therapy afterwards. The Nuremberg Trials has had lasting effect on the world. After these trials, the United Nations began to adopt the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which established that there were such things as crimes against humanity, and that they could be tried any in the world (UMKC).The Nuremberg trials were truly the best solution for justice, showed ignorance and duty were no longer viable excuses for crimes, and it set a precedent for future trials by a strong intolerance for genocide.
If you have been in a History class you have probably heard of an event that happened after World War Two called the Nuremberg Trials. These trials were conducted by the United States. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson was appointed to lead the trials (Berenbaum). During these trials they charged with Crimes against the Peace, War crimes and Crimes against Humanity (Berenbaum). Many major Nazi leaders committed suicide before officials could hang them or before even being caught. The famous Doctor Goebbels killed his children then him and his wife committed suicide (Berenbaum). Only twelve out of the twenty-two who stood trial were hanged, twelve, while the rest just got prison time. Besides major Nazi officials, Physicians were put on trial, the people who were part of the mobile killing squads, Concentration camp officials, Judges and Executives who sold concentration camps Zyklon B. You can expect that they had many excuses, but m...
In 1943, under Soviet leadership the first war crime trials were conducted, however the first trial to involve the Allied powers was the Nuremburg International Military Tribunal in 1945 . The International Military Tribunal (IMT), set out to prosecute 22 defendants comprising largely of the administration arm of the Third Reich . The American's initially wished to indict whole Nazi organisations for their crimes. This focus was soon altered to determine the accountability of particular individuals. The accused were tried under at least two of the following four headings devised for indictment. The first count was the "formulation of a common plan or conspiracy"; two, "crimes against peace (planning and waging a war of aggression
Despite the judgments that were responsible for compensating the international community in terms of done damages to humanity on behalf of the Holocaust, the leading role of certain members who actively participated in the national Socialist movement led by Adolf Hitler is seen with suspicion even among academics and history buffs due to the new ways of torture and murder ever recorded throughout history up to that time.
The Milgram experiment was designed and performed by Yale University social psychologist Stanley Milgram in 1961. Milgram created this experiment predominately to determine what would have motivated Germans to so readily conform to the demands put forth by the Nazi party. Milgram wished to answer his question, “Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?” (McLeod). At the time of these experiments, debates about the Nuremberg trials, particularly the trial of Adolf Eichmann, one of the major perpetrators in the Holocaust, were still ongoing. At these trials, many Nazi party officials and military officers were put on trial for committing “crimes against humanity.” Although some defendants pleaded guilty, others claimed that they were innocent and only following orders that were given to them by a higher authority, Adolf Hitler. In the end, twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death, three to life in prison, four to approximately fifteen year prison terms, and three were acquitted (“The Nuremberg Trials”)....
...h to relieve them from their sinister actions committed inside camps throughout Poland. The final act that sentenced Hitler and his followers as guilty men occurred in the war crimes trials where they accidentally revealed their sin of exterminating not thousand but millions of innocent Jews. When all the evidence is put together, it reveals the Nazis committing sinister murders inside concentration camps, like Auschwitz, that were not meant for the public eye.
Bloxham, Donald. Genocide on Trial: War Crimes Trials and the Formation of Holocaust History and Memory: War Crimes Trials and the Formation of Holocaust History and Memory. Oxford University Press, 2001.
Prosecutors have been slacking on the prosecution of Nazi affiliates for long enough, and it’s time for justice to be served. German laws concerning war crimes have recently taken a change for the better. According to Spiegel, a well respected international source for news world wide, stated that a prior conviction of a Nazi concentration camp guard for the murders of thousands of Jews sparked hope in the search for justice. “Demjanjuk was found guilty by a Munich court and sentenced to five years in jail for being an accessory to the murder of 28,060 Jews while he was a guard at Sobibor in occupied Poland.” According to Kurt Schrimm, a German prosecutor, “the Demjanjuk conviction represented a new interpretation of the law.” Because of Demjanjuk’s conviction, prosecutors no longer need to establish culpability in specific murders to secure a conviction. Being an accomplice to the murders that took place in the Holocaust is now enough to find Oskar Gröning guilty for the countless charges he is being charged with. Therefore, under the German legal system, Gröning is guilty for the act of supporting the Nazi regime’s efforts to extinct the Jews and conquer the European
The Holocaust All throughout history, Jews have been persecuted. The Jews were blamed for killing Jesus and the idea of anti- Semitism has been around centuries before Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Adolf Hitler led the Nazis to power in 1933 promising to make Germany powerful and respected by the rest of the world. He promised to fight Communism, to find jobs for the six million unemployed workers in Germany, to restore law and order, and to get rid of the “Jewish influence” in Germany. Hitler’s speeches were full of hatred for the Jews and this encouraged his followers to attack Jewish people.
Much of Europe was destroyed in the war. Survivors of the camps were in terrible condition, both physically and psychologically. Trials were held in Nuremberg in 1945 at which top surviving Nazi leaders were tried for war crimes. Similar trials followed, but thousands of war criminals eluded justice, and some even remain at large today. The State of Israel opened its doors to all Jews and is a positive legacy of the Holocaust. Neo-Nazi groups today continue to spout hatred for Jews and other minorities, and insist that the Holocaust never occurred.
The Holocaust was the murder and persecution of approximately 6 million Jews and many others by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. The Nazis came to power in Germany in January of 1933. The Nazis thought that the “inferior” Jews were a threat to the “racially superior” German racial community. The death camps were operated from 1941 to 1945, and many people lost their lives or were forced to work in concentration camps during these years. The story leading up to the Holocaust, how the terrible event affected people’s lives, and how it came to and end are all topics that make this historic event worth learning about.
Genocide is one of the most frightening terms one could hear, sending shivers down your spine just to hear the word. Genocide is the intent of extermination of a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. One of the best known Genocide’s to the world is known as the Holocaust. Germans exterminated over 6 million Jews in just a couple of years. Families were torn apart, and some of the worst things you could ever do to a human being were done in these times. After the Holocaust everyone said Never Again, but it has happened over and over. If we follow the steps to preventing genocides, we can stop history from repeating itself and keep the people of the world safe.
It was in December 1948, when it was approved unanimous the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide at France which became the 260th resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations. What made the leaders of the 41 States create and sign this document in which the term Genocide was legally defined? This document serves as a permanent reminder of the actions made by the Nazis and their leader Adolf Hitler during the Holocaust where more than five million of European Jews were killed. In summary I will explain what were the events that leaded the ordinary Germans kill more than six million Jews in less than five years. To achieve this goal, I will base my arguments on the Double Spiral Degeneration Model provided by Doctor Olson during the spring semester of the Comparative Genocide class.
The deaths of 5-6 million Jews within the Holocaust left a major impact in the world we live in today, all effects ranging from International protection of human rights growing, to the law that states if government officials who commit crimes against humanity could be held accountable by international tribunals, and nations pledging to prevent and punish the crime of genocide.
What was the legacy of the Nuremberg trials? It was meant to change how wars are fought forever, but did not complete that goal of a permanent tribunal with only one other human rights tribunal since then. The trial is a successes in it self but it's legacy is a failure. Robert Jackson said what the Nuremberg trial was about best in his closing argument "They have been given the kind of trial which they in the days of their pomp and power, never gave any man…" Fairness and a more civilized society.
On July 7, 1937, the imperial Japanese army marched into Manchuria, China, and began to commit horrendous acts against the Chinese and other Asian countries alike. These war crimes included, rape, mass murder, human experimentation, biological warfare, torture, cannibalism, forced labor, and more. After the war, these crimes were to be judged by what is known as the “Tokyo Trials”. The Tokyo trials were very similar to the Nuremburg trials as they were both done to judge the crimes of the losers of the war. These trails were held to make sure the losers recognized that what they had done, was in fact, wrong. However, the conclusion to the Tokyo Trials had seemingly no effect on Japan as Japan has yet, to issue any “formal” apologies to China