list of guards at nuremberg trials

list of guards at nuremberg trials

Give me information about your Dad and I will help you research about your fathers deployment to Germany. Hess, former deputy fhrer of the Nazi party and Hitlers private secretary during the early years of the National Socialist movement, was sentenced to life imprisonment and served every day of it to the age of 92 when he died in 1987 under mysterious circumstances in Berlins Spandau Prison. He recently passed in January of 2020 at the age of 91. 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. By. [87] Over the course of the trial, Western judges allowed the defendants additional leeway to denounce the Soviet Union, which was ultimately revealed to be a co-conspirator in the outbreak of World War II. Designated as protector of Bohemia and Moravia in August 1943, he played a major role in developing the concentration- and labor-camp network for the slaughter of millions. Outside the cellblock complex, a small courtyard with a few scraggly pear trees allowed each prisoner the opportunity to walk for 20 minutes each day. [77] Gring, the most famous surviving Nazi, headlined the trial. Ten of those men would be hung 16 days later. My mother gave the journal to my oldest brother who died in 1998. He rarely talked, but when he did his speech was rambling. Conversation between guards was extremely limited or nonexistent. 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. Staff Sgt. 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. [45] At Jackson's recommendation, the United States appointed judges Francis Biddle and John Parker. While he was held at Nuremberg, he portrayed himself in a quiet, unassuming demeanor. . Proposals for how to punish the defeated Nazi leaders ranged from a . Prestianni said of von Neurath, He looked like the movie version of a Prussian general with his mop of white hair and erect bearing. Master Sgt. Prestiannis assignment was over, and he was transferred to guard duty at a POW compound at Bamberg, Germany. He was good, real sharp, Prestianni related. Gring was one of the surviving leaders of the Third Reich and the highest-ranking Nazi to be tried at the Nuremberg Trials where he was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death. The defendants included some of the most famous Nazis, including Hermann Gring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Wilhelm Keitel. [188] The Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes identified 2,500 major war criminals, of whom 177 were tried. The defense lawyers saw themselves as acting on behalf of their clients, but also the German nation;[78] they prioritized the Wehrmacht's reputation over the lives of the generals on trial. He, like the others, was always bumming cigarettes or cans of Prince Albert tobacco for his pipe. I never really got to know him very well during the few months before he was released, commented Prestianni, but at one time he tried to teach me an intricate German card game, but I never could catch on to it. [241][242], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}492716N 110254E / 49.45444N 11.04833E / 49.45444; 11.04833. My mother had pointed his photo out to me on several occasions but I was too young to remember. [33], The negotiators decided that the tribunal's permanent seat would be in Berlin, while the trial would be held at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. [27] Especially the United States wanted to avoid countenancing any rule that would give an international court jurisdiction over a government's treatment of its own citizens. [92], The International Military Tribunal began trial on 20 November 1945,[93] after postponement requests from the Soviet prosecution, who wanted more time to prepare its case, were rejected. This is a good documentary on the Nuremberg Trials that occurred after the end of the war. Today these sketches are highly prized. [163] Contrary to the prosecution, the verdict dated the planning of aggression to the 1937 Hossbach Memorandum and not to the founding of the Nazi Party. [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. [81] Senior American officials believed that convicting organizations was a good way of showing that not just the top German leaders were responsible for crimes, without condemning the entire German people. 3 Feb 1946. [8][9] On 1 November 1943, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and United States issued the Moscow Declaration to "give full warning" to the Nazi leadership of the Allies' intent to "pursue them to the uttermost ends of the earthin order that justice may be done". The Nuremberg Trials were 13 trials held in Nuremberg, Germany, after World War II. Dads birthday. The Nrnberg trials began on November 20, 1945. If anyone knows how I can verify that he was a guard, please let me know. 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. Again, without a word being spoken, the door was slammed shut. Friedrich Jeckeln was found guilty and was executed in Riga, Latvia. [129] The Soviet prosecution also attempted to fabricate German responsibility for the Katyn massacre, which had in fact been committed by the Soviet Union. Tags International Military TribunalNurembergGermanywar crimes trialstrials National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD Three of those accused were acquitted and upon their release soon faded into obscurity. I asked him why that necessitated the killing of people to achieve this so-called needed land, especially the people of Poland. 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. Streicher, sentenced to death, was perhaps the most despised prisoner of all due to his complete obsession with sex. My Dad was a guard at the Nuremberg trials. [151], In order to appease concerns about fair process, the defendants were allowed a free hand with their witnesses and a great deal of irrelevant testimony was heard. Institutional rivalries hampered the search. The Nuremberg Trials: Complete Tribunal Proceedings (V. 4): Trial Proceedings From 17th December 1945 to 8th January 1946 by International Military Tribunal (shelved 1 time as nuremberg-trial) avg rating 0.0 0 ratings published Want to Read Rate this book 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars Guards were randomly assigned to prisoners, and the assignments were generally not known by the guards until the duty roster was posted or announced each morning during roll call. He was another of Prestiannis favorite checker-playing opponents. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded many countries across Europe, inflicting 27 million deaths in the Soviet Union alone. Other than that, Hess had no social interaction with the other prisoners. [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. He did mention seeing the prisoners in their cells. For example, Baldur von Schirach, former head of the Hitler Youth, was known only as Number 1. . The trials were not fair, though not in the way you are suggesting. On occasion, guards assigned to courtroom duty asked for reassignment as they became emotionally and physically sickened by the film evidence of war crimes that was presented. [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. He could never understand why he had been tried for war crimes. [212], The German churches, both Catholic and Protestant, were vociferous proponents of amnesty,[213] which had cross-party support in West Germany, which was established in 1949. Dnitz remained an unrepentant Nazi until his death in 1980. [132][169] Through a compromise among the judges, the charge of conspiracy was narrowed to a conspiracy to wage aggressive war. He promoted an intentionalist view of the Nazi state and its overall conspiracy to commit all of the crimes mentioned in the indictment. ;"God protect Germany. . [186] These trials were held under Law No. 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. After trial, incarcerated at. 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. They had a profound affect on my dad, who always said, I would never want to be killed by hanging. Yet, the constables who allegedly murdered my Dad did just that. All sessions of the tribunal were held in Nrnberg, Germany, under the presidency of Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence. He told multiple stories of his time there. My final wish is that Germany should recover her unity and that, for the sake of peace, there should be an understanding between East and West. Expressed repentance. Boy I wish I asked more questions of the trials. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. These were 60 year old Emma Zimmer, nee Mezel, and 36 year old . The judgement argued that aggressive war had already been illegal, even if no one had been punished for it, and therefore the German leaders could not count on immunity from prosecution. Guards, for the most part, were not allowed to talk to each other or to prisoners while on security duty. Number 5 was Albert Speer, Hitlers personal architect and confidant. With the change of command by rotating countries every month, each of the countries altered the previous countrys rules. [61], The problem of translating the indictment and evidence into the three official languages of the tribunal, as well as German, was severe due to the scale of the task and difficulty in recruiting interpreters, especially in the Soviet Union. An accomplished horseman, Streicher continued to wear high leather boots and riding britches during his confinement. Bragging of his ability to mass murder millions of Jews, Frank never admitted to his brutal inhumanity during the war crimes trial but was sentenced nonetheless to hang. Soviet prosecutors in Nrnberg, Germany brought out Friedrich Paulus and Erich Buschenhagen by surprise as witnesses in the war crimes trials. All the prisoners smoked pipes, and they all tried to wheedle cigarettes from us.. Courtesy Emily Aho Around Memorial Day of 2000, Emily Aho took her then 75-year-old father, Emilio "Leo". tags: abraham , abrahamism , child-sacrifice , christianity , god , isaac , nazi . [132] The inclusion of Katyn in the charges undermined the credibility of Soviet evidence in general. [180][172] On 16 October, ten were hanged, with Gring committing suicide the day before. 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. It was an appointment that, when coupled with his Baltic origin, brought him into sharp conflict with most of those in Hitlers entourage. After Ley hanged himself, this strict suicide watch was instituted, Prestianni explained. Prestianni also favorably related to Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the notorious chief of Germanys security police and a behind-the-scenes prime mover at the January 1942 Wannsee Conference where the proposed extermination of Jewry in central Europe was discussed by top Nazis. Minister of Foreign Affairs 193845. No favoritism was shown nor was a selection offered. The Rome Statute establishing a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC), which had been proposed in 1953, was finally agreed to in 1998. Because of his moral corruption, the other prisoners shunned him. Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library. [58], The charge of conspiracy was spearheaded by the United States prosecution and was less popular with the other Allies. They saw the horrible films the NAZIs took and heard the case the prosecution presented with all the evidence and saw the brutal photos, It was very hard on these young women, but they did their job they were asked to do. To some, he was demeaned as the foreigner., I didnt like his looks at all. Answer (1 of 5): None of the footage I have seen of the trials revealed anyone but American MPs. They, as a group, had no problem with their guilt. Text Size:thredup ambassador program how to dress more masculine for a woman. Her guards were repulsed, and some requested reassignment to another cellblock. [34][35] Located in the American occupation zone, Nuremberg was a symbolic location as the site of Nazi rallies. [55], The work of drafting the indictment was divided up by the national delegations. They just never admitted to it. [22][23] War crimes already existed in international law as criminal violations of the laws and customs of war. Most of the defendants had surrendered to the United States Army, but the Soviet Union also held a few top Nazis who were extradited for trial at Nuremberg. 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. He was totally indifferent to the world around him and to world affairs. The Ugly Truth About the Nuremberg Tribunals. These citations refer to documents at "The International Military Tribunal for Germany". The International Military Tribunal set up by the . The Nuremberg Trials: Table of Contents | Indictments | Defendants & Verdicts Click Left/Right to Scroll American guards maintain constant surveillance over Nazi war criminals in the Nuremberg prison. [143] Although a few defense lawyers inverted the arguments of the prosecution to assert that the Germans' authoritarian mindset and obedience to the state exonerated them from any personal guilt, most rejected such arguments. He died about five years ago and I wished I would have asked questions. Most of the time the prison was dank, uncomfortably cold, and forbidding, especially during the winter months. [153] Midway through the trial, Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech denouncing the Soviet threat delighted the defense. He reportedly carried a whip during liaisons with numerous women. I would like any information that would lead me to a more detailed understanding of what my father did while part of this undertaking. A mother of three small children, she would eventually serve as a guard at Auschwitz, Ravensbruck and Majdanek concentration camps. Hitler's friend, favorite architect, and Minister of Armaments from 1942 until the end of the war. These compelling first-person accounts of the Nuremberg trials were recorded by professional historians who interviewed 11 Americans participants, including prosecutors, journalists, security guards, and even the architect who designed the courtroom. In rendering these decisions, the tribunal rejected the major defenses offered by the defendants. Surviving members of the company marked the 56th anniversary of its founding , which took place, according to Toronto's Tommy Tomson, on December 26, 1946. He greeted me in the morning and that was about it. There was also a picture of him guarding Hitler. [95] None of the defendants tried to assert that the Nazis' crimes had not occurred; instead, they attempted to divert blame from their own actions. By special arrangement with a guard or prison official, he gave his handwritten notes to be mimeographed and returned to him. He argued that he was being persecuted.. [123] The next week, the Soviet prosecution suddenly produced former field marshal Friedrich von Paulus, captured after the Battle of Stalingrad, as a witness and questioned him about the preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union. Seven others, over time, were reduced by lengthy prison sentences to hollow, shuffling shadows of their former selves.

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list of guards at nuremberg trials