Major War Criminal Trials

The Major War Criminal Trials served justice to those who held major roles in maintaining Nazi agenda. The trials took place in Nuremberg, Germany. Unlike traditional courts, the Nuremberg trials had a tribunal or a council of judges oversee the trial. The four major superpowers- France, The United States, Russia, and Great Britain- had one judge in the tribunal. Moreover, as all four countries had different legislative, the tribunal decided that the defendants could hire their own lawyer and determining sentences would be a joint task. The Major War Criminal Trials began on November 20, 1945 and concluded on October 1, 1946. “Some 5,000 Nazi’s were charged with war crimes. However, the Nuremberg trials were designed specifically to prosecute

The following charges are not to be taken lightly as the actions of these figures lead to the subsequent death of millions. Clearly, justice had to be served to these criminals as ignoring their actions would be similar to neglecting that these millions did not die. In addition, after the mass casualties that ensued in World War II, justice could only be morally achieved in a court of law rather than senseless killing. The severity of their sentences weighed on how many charges they were guilty of. After the span of 9 months and 216 trials, a consensus was reached. The verdicts included 12 sentenced to death by hanging, 3 sentenced to life in prison, 4 receiving prison sentences ranging from 10-20 years, and 3 being acquitted(History.com “Nuremberg Trials”). However, the dictating figure behind WWII was not present. Adolf Hitler committed suicide prior to being caught and charged in court(History.com Nuremberg trials). Unfortunately, the atrocities that have been committed by these individuals cannot be reversed, but by

These trials dealt with judges who enforced eugenics laws, doctors who commited inhumane experiments on war prisoners, and SS officers who were violent against concentration camp inmates among other atrocities(Ushmm, “Subsequent Nuremberg Proceeding”). In addition, these 12 trials differed to the War Criminal Trials because rather than the trials being judged by an international council of judges, the trials were reviewed by a U.S military tribunal. One hundred eighty-three defendants were indicted and 12 trials took place. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum states that ¨The 12 subsequent trials were: Case #1, The Medical Case; Case #2, The Milch Case; Case #3, The Justice Case; Case #4, The Pohl Case; Case #5, The Flick Case; Case #6, The I.G. Farben Case; Case #7, The Hostage Case; Case #8, The RuSHA Case; Case #9, The Einsatzgruppen Case; Case #10, The Krupp Case; Case #11, The Ministries Case; Case #12, The High Command Case.¨(Ushmm, ¨Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings¨). In order to serve complete justice, all who contributed to German crime had to face retribution. Moreover, the crimes committed by these people were quite inhumane as in some cases, industrialists were charged for slave labor and doctors were charged for performing inhumane experiments on prisoners. The number of defendants in the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials were far greater than the Major War Criminal Trial. “In total the