FREE ESSAY ON NUREMBERG TRIALS

NUREMBERG TRIALS

After World War II, numerous war-crimes trials tried and convicted many Axis leaders.
Judges from Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States tried
twenty-two Nazi leaders for: crimes against humanity (mostly about the Holocaust),
violating long-established rules of war, and waging aggressive war. This was known as the
"Nuremberg Trials."
Late in 1946, the German defendants were indicted and charged before a war crimes
tribunal at Nuremberg(Shairo, 4). Twenty of the defendants were physicians who stood at
or near the top of the medical authority of the Third Reich, as governmental, military,
or SS officials. The others had executive positions, which brought them close to
connections with medical affairs. 
It all started when people heard about the Nazi's in human acts, just about four months
after World War II started. No one would believe that such a thing would happen. While
the people were thinking like that the Jews were being shipped out of the country, some
Jews were being put in working camps or farms. This was the beginning of the Final
Solution of the Holocaust. On August 8 the London Agreement was signed. They later named
it the International Military Tribunal (IMT), having 8 judges. This was made so that they
would try to stop the Nazi crimes. They had additional Nuremberg hearings that were
broken down into twelve trials. In connection with these trials, the U.S. military
tribunals had thirty-five defendants and released nineteen of them because they could
find anything to get them on.
They made Nuremberg Laws because of Hitler's concentration camps and his other inhuman
acts(Gutman, 142_). He didn't go by the lead system, he made himself the Supreme Judge.
Hitler could imprison or execute anyone he wanted to. He made laws keeping Jews out of
certain public places or jobs. He wouldn't let Jews have German citizenship. The
Nuremberg Laws stated that there would be no more inhumane acts or segregation of Jews.
One of the positive sides of the Nuremberg incident was the trials documented Nazi crimes
for future generations. Many citizens of the world remember hearing about the Nazi's
brutalities and inhuman acts. Hundreds of official Nazi documents entered into evidence
at Nuremberg telling the horrible tale of the Third Reich in the Nazi's own words. Six
million Jews, and others not liked by the Nazis were killed. Not one convicted Nazi
denied that the mass killing had occurred. Each denied only personal knowledge and
responsibility. 
The negative things that happened at Nuremberg were the establishment of the
International Military Tribunal to lead to a permanent counterpart before which crimes
against humanity can be tried. Within Twenty-four wars between nations and ninety-three
civil wars between 1945 and 1992, no international body had been gathered to try
aggressor nations or individuals accused of war crimes(Conot). Despite the reluctance of
nations to unite in common cause and move swiftly toward a lasting road to aggression,
hope yes abides for the best of Nuremberg's brightest promise. 
The world had a problem of what to do about the Nazi regime that had presided over the
extermination of some six million Jews and deaths of millions of others with no basis in
military necessity. Never before in history had the victors tried the vanquished for
crimes committed during a war. Though, never in history had they commit crimes of such
inhumanity. The International Military Tribunal held to the principle that persons
committing a criminal violation of international law are responsible for violation, on
the grounds that crimes of this nature are the result of their own acts. The tribunal
thought for crimes carried out on orders from above, since many of the crimes had been
committed in one with the Reich policy. 
The International Military Tribunal found it appropriate to single out the persecution of
the Jews. The testimony given at the Nuremberg Trial, the document presented by the
prosecution, and the entire record of its proceedings establish an exceptional source for
the study of the Holocaust. The Nuremberg debates may continue for decades due to the
tribunal's rulings at Nuremberg(West, 93).
The Nuremberg Trials have been put down as acts of vengence(Conot). Some observers
considered a number of sentence as being too harsh. Others have pointed out that the
nations were charged with some of the same actions for which the Nazis were tried. The
Nazis on trial were not allowed to use this argument in their defense. The Nuremberg
Trials emphasized the idea that soldiers and citizens have a moral duty to disobey cruel
orders or laws.