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NUREMBERG

Its Lesson for Today

Including authentic film material

compiled by U.S. Military Government

It was 1945.

The war was over.

Slowly, painfully, life came back to the ruins of Europe.

The war was over, but there was no peace.

Despair crouched over the continent.

Hopelessness circled Europe like a bird of prey.

Why?

What were the forces?

What were the issues in a war that turned nations into rubble heaps

and populations into beggars?

The people wanted the answers.

They wanted to know what happened, and why.

They wanted to know what happened, and why.

In the palace of justice in Nuremberg,

the people of the world came together.

For there sat the International Military Tribunal

to judge the chief Nazi war criminals.

Hermann Göring

Rudolf Hess

Joachim von Ribbentrop

Wilhelm Keitel

Ernst Kaltenbrunner

Alfred Rosenberg

Hans Frank

Wilhelm Frick

Julius Streicher

Walter Funk

Hjalmar Schacht

Karl Dönitz

Erich Raeder

Baldur von Schirach

Fritz Sauckel

Alfred Jodl

Martin Bormann

Franz von Papen

Arthur Seyss-Inquart

Albert Speer

Constantin von Neurath

Hans Fritzsche

As individuals, and as members of the political leadership of the German Reich

and National Socialist Workers Party,

including the Intelligence Service,

Gestapo, Storm Troopers,

General Staff & High Command of the German wehrmacht.

Justice Robert H. Jackson, the chief American prosecutor,

makes the opening statement for the prosecution.

The privilege of opening the first trial in history

for crimes against the peace of the world

imposes a grave responsibility.

The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish,

have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating,

that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored,

because it cannot survive their being repeated.

That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury,

stay the hand of vengeance

and voluntarily submit their captive enemies

to the judgment of the law

is one of the most significant tributes

that power has ever paid to reason.

This inquest represents the practical effort

of four of the most mighty of nations,

with the support of fifteen more, to utilize international law

to meet the greatest menace of our times:

aggressive war.

The common sense of mankind demands that law

shall not stop with the punishment of petty crimes by little people.

It must also reach men who possess themselves of great power,

and make deliberate and concerted use of it

to set in motion evils which leave no home in the world untouched.

In the prisoner's dock

sit twenty-odd broken men.

Reproached by the humiliation of those they have led,

almost as bitterly as by the desolation of those they have attacked,

their personal capacity for evil is forever past.

Merely as individuals,

their fate is of little consequence to the world.

What makes this inquest significant

is that these prisoners represent sinister influences

that will lurk in the world long after their bodies have returned to dust.

They are living symbols of the arrogance and cruelty of power,

of racial hatreds,

terrorism

and of violence.

Symbols of fierce nationalism, and militarism,

of intrigue and war-making, which have embroiled Europe

generation after generation,

crushing its manhood,

destroying its home, and impoverishing its life.

They have so identified themselves with the philosophies they conceived,

and with the forces they directed,

that any tenderness to them is a victory and an encouragement to all the evils

which are attached to their names.

What these men stand for we will patiently

and temperately disclose.

We will give you undeniable proof of incredible events.

The catalogue of crimes will omit nothing.

It may be that these men of troubled conscience

do not regard a trial as a favor,

but they do have a fair opportunity to defend themselves,

a favor which when in power they rarely extended even to their fellow countrymen.

We will not ask you to convict these men on the testimony of their foes.

There is no count in the indictment

that cannot be proved by books and records.

We will show you their own films.

You will see their own conduct, and hear their own voices

as these defendants reenact for you

some of the events in the course of the conspiracy.

Their acts as we shall recount them before you

have bathed the world in blood,

and set civilization back a century.

They have subjected their European neighbors

to every spoliation and deprivation.

They have brought the German people to the lowest pitch of wretchedness.

They have stirred hatred and incited domestic violence on every continent.

These are the things that stand in the dock,

shoulder to shoulder, with these prisoners.

The real complaining party at your bar is civilization.

Count One. That all the defendants participated

as organizers or accomplices

in a common plan or conspiracy

to commit crimes against peace, war crimes,

and crimes against humanity.

The aims of this conspiracy were open, notorious,

and far different from any conspiracy ever unfolded before a court of justice.

It traced its roots to Hitler's 1925 manifesto, "Mein Kampf."

"Pistol shots, and then wild firing.

"The heart leapt as old war experiences were re-lived."

Its history is the history of the Nazi party,

which grew from the brawling streets of Munich in the 20s.

And from the beginning, Adolf Hitler and his followers

were committed to using any means,

whether or not they were legal or honorable.

Their aim was the highest degree of control over the German community.

Their intentions were blatantly put forth in "Mein Kampf"

and the Nazi party program.

And they preached their favorite doctrines up and down the land.

They said that persons of so-called German blood were a master race,

entitled to subjugate or even exterminate other races.

They said that the Germans should be ruled under the "Führer Prinzip,"

or leadership principle,

by which each subordinate owed unconditional obedience to his superior,

and so on right up to Adolf Hitler.

They said that war was a noble and necessary activity of Germans.

And they said that the Nazi party alone had the right to rule Germany,

and the right to destroy the party's enemies.

Their rise to power was based on fraud, deceit,

intimidation and coercion...

culminating finally in terror and flame.

Into that flame went the democratic constitution of the Weimar Republic

and the freedom of the German people.

For the fires set by the Nazis extended to the very Reichstag,

the national Congress.

Hans Gisevius, a witness who formerly

held a high position in the Berlin police administration,

tells of his investigation of the Reichstag fire.

To briefly state the facts,

it became clear that Hitler wanted to launch a major propaganda coup.

Goebbels developed several proposals,

and it was he who first thought of setting the Reichstag on fire.

Ten dependable storm troopers were put on standby,

and then the details of the plan were conveyed to Goering.

Goering agreed to play his part,

which was to make sure, while everyone was still in shock,

that the police were given false leads to follow.

Using the Reichstag fire as a pretext for seizing power,

the Nazi conspirators lost no time

in tearing Germany away from a policy of peace.

Late in 1933,

they led their nation out of the Disarmament Conference,

quit the League of Nations,

and embarked on a course of secret rearmament.

By 1934, the new armaments program,

designed by defendants Goering, Schacht and Funk

was going full blast.

German industry was again turning out the tools of war.

The Krupp plants hummed, and one year later,

Goering could announce:

"Today, from the strong foundation of our national socialist world view,

"the German army rises once again."

A few days later, General von Blomberg

announced the new law for compulsory military service.

The law was signed by defendants Goering, Hess, Frank,

Frick, Schacht and von Neurath.

The training began.

Finally, in spring of 1936,

the Nazis sent their new troops marching into the Rhineland.

"Mein Führer!

"On March 7, 1936, soldiers of your newly-raised army

"crossed the sacred river of German history

"and occupied their former garrisons.

"They pledge their unbreakable trust and allegiance to the Führer,

"and vow to follow him as proof of their undying love for Germany."

The columns grew longer.

The sound of boots grew louder on the streets of Nuremberg.

But Hitler said,

"The German people do not want war

"today, tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow.

"War is not in the German character.

"The German is by nature peaceful and peace-loving,

"and, above all, tolerant.

"He wants to work.

"Germany has millions of farmers.

"They want to till their fields

"and bring in their harvests.

"Germany has millions of workers.

"They want to do their work.

"We have millions of wives and mothers

"who hold their sons and daughters dear."

The Nazi conspirators, in the name of "Lebensraum,"

continued to plot new aggressions against peace.

In November 1937,

Hitler called a special meeting, with defendants Goering,

von Neurath, Raeder, and Generals von Blomberg and von Fritsch.

The meeting was secret,

but Lieutenant Colonel Hossbach, Hitler's personal adjutant,

faithfully recorded Hitler's words:

"Germany’s dilemma can only be solved by force,

"which is never without risk.

"To improve our military and political position,

"we have no choice but to conquer Czechoslovakia and Austria

"simultaneously.

"The annexation of these two states will provide considerable relief."

This meeting set the stage for Nazi expansion,

and Act One came only three months later, at Berchtesgaden,

where defendant von Papen finally engineered a meeting

between Schuschnigg, the Austrian chancellor,

Hitler, and defendants Keitel and von Ribbentrop.

Guido Schmidt, who was Austrian foreign minister at the time,

also attended the meeting.

Schmidt was asked on the witness stand,

Did Hitler demand that Seyss-Inquart be made minister of security?

That was one of the demands.

Question: Were there also demands made with regards

to currency exchange and customs?

Economic demands of every type were debated.

Question: Hitler told you that you had until February 15

to accept his terms, didn't he?

And he told you that if you didn't do so, he would use force?

Yes, it was an ultimatum.

Hitler made clear he planned to invade Austria in February,

and was not willing to postpone the invasion any longer.

Faced by these threats, the Austrians carried out all Hitler's demands.

But the Nazi conspirators weren't satisfied.

A month later, when Schuschnigg announced

a plebiscite on Austrian independence,

Hitler and defendant Goering demanded that the plebiscite be cancelled.

Another ultimatum demanded Schuschnigg resign within three hours.

Fearing invasion, Schuschnigg resigned,

and finally, defendant Seyss-Inquart

was appointed the new chancellor of Austria.

That same day, Goering in Berlin called Keppler

at the German embassy in Vienna.

The conversation was transcribed.

Keppler spoke first:

"We now represent the government of Austria."

Goering: "That's right. You are the government.

"Listen carefully.

"Seyss-Inquart should send us the following telegram:

"Take this down.

"'The provisional Austrian government

"'urgently requests the help and support of the German government

"'to prevent bloodshed.

"'Please send German troops as soon as possible.'"

Keppler: "SA and SS men are marching through the streets.

"The civil government has broken down.

"Seyss-Inquart is the only one who holds power in Austria now."

Goering: "Then our troops will cross the border today."

The act joining Austria to Germany was signed by defendants Seyss-Inquart,

Goering, Frick, von Ribbentrop and Hess.

Hitler, of course, had said:

"Germany neither wishes nor plans to meddle in the internal affairs of Austria,

"nor does it wish to annex Austria."

May 21, 1935. Adolf Hitler

The curtain fell on Act One,

but already the Nazi conspirators prepared for Act Two,

with this 1938 memorandum

from Hitler to his high command:

"It is my unalterable decision

"to smash Czechoslovakia by military force in the near future.

"It is the job of the political leaders

"to choose the politically and militarily suitable moment."

Konrad Henlein was the local Nazi political leader.

The plan was labeled Operation Green.

Defendant Jodl recorded in his diary:

"Operation Green will be launched by means of an incident in Czechoslovakia

"that will provoke the need for German military intervention.

"Determining the exact day and hour of this incident

"is of the utmost importance."

A few months later, Germany signed the Munich Pact

with England, France and Italy.

This pact involved the transfer of the Sudetenland to Germany.

The conspirators called it their last territorial demand.

But before the ink was dry, they were making other plans,

for Hitler's goal was the complete absorption of Czechoslovakia.

And now the Czech president, Emil Hácha,

was called to a meeting with Hitler and defendants

Goering, von Ribbentrop and Keitel.

They gave Hácha an ultimatum:

Bohemia and Moravia would be ceded to Germany immediately,

or Czechoslovakia would be invaded, and Prague destroyed from the air.

Hácha was helpless.

Defendants von Ribbentrop and Frick

signed the decree making Bohemia and Moravia a German protectorate.

Prague

Speaking some months earlier about the Sudetenland,

Hitler had said: "I have given assurances, and reiterate them now,

"that Germany has no more territorial problems in Europe.

"I am no longer interested in the Czech state. I guarantee Lt."

September 26, 1938. Adolf Hitler

Now, according to more of his adjutant's notes,

Hitler reviewed the Nazi plan of violence and treachery

from 1934 to 1939.

The notes read: "First of all, rearmament.

"In 1935, the introduction of compulsory military service.

"After that, militarization of the Rhineland.

"One year later, annexation of Austria.

"This greatly reinforced the Reich.

"The next step, Bohemia and Moravia...

"Then the Czech Protectorate established.

"Thus the foundation for the conquest of Poland.

"Basically, I did not organize the armed forces in order not to strike.

"The decision to strike was always in me."

In the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,

Sir Hartley Shawcross presents Count Two,

crimes against peace,

charging that all the defendants participated

in the planning and waging of wars of aggression,

wars in violation of international treaties, agreements and assurances.

The first step was the Rhineland, and the next step was Austria.

The Rhineland is occupied.

Austria and Czechoslovakia have been seized by Germany,

and now the Nazi conspirators turn to the next problem:

the conquest of Poland.

Again, an adjutant, Lt. Colonel Schmundt, transcribed Hitler's words:

"The solution to the problem demands courage.

"Invasion of foreign states and attacks on foreign property cannot be avoided.

"There can be no question of sparing Poland.

"We must simply decide on the first suitable opportunity for attack.

"We cannot expect to repeat the Czech strategy.

"This time, there will be war."

Meanwhile, according to their well-established practice,

the conspirators stirred up the Danzig issue,

to create frontier incidents that could justify an attack on Poland.

Then, on August 23,

the Nazis signed their Non-Aggression Pact with Russia.

Hitler told his High Command:

"Now Poland is where I want her.

"My only fear is that some Schweinhund will propose mediation."

Appeals were made, twice by the Pope,

and by President Roosevelt.

Mr. Roosevelt has lately been asking for assurances

that German forces will not attack

and, above all, not invade

the territory or possessions

of the following independent nations:

Finland,

Latvia,

Lithuania,

Estonia,

Norway,

Sweden,

Denmark,

Netherlands,

Belgium,

Great Britain,

Ireland,

France,

Portugal,

Spain,

Switzerland,

Liechtenstein,

Luxembourg,

Poland.

My answer...

On September 1, 1939,

the Nazis sent the Wehrmacht smashing into Poland,

and into a new world war.

France and England, faithful to their mutual assistance pact with Poland,

immediately declared war on Germany.

The German Air Force, the Luftwaffe,

launched mass attacks on Polish towns and cities.

Hitler, as recorded in the notes of Colonel Schmundt, said:

"Destruction of Poland in the foreground.

"I will give a propagandistic reason for the outbreak of war.

"It doesn't matter if it's plausible or not.

"Have no pity. Be ruthless."

But as usual, before the attack on Poland, Hitler had told the world:

"During the difficult months of the past year,

"the friendship between Poland and Germany

"has been one of the most promising in the political life of Europe."

January 30, 1939. Adolf Hitler

The path of destruction started in Poland,

but soon it led north and south across all Europe.

And each new aggression was based on Hitler's principle

that in war, victory, not right, was what mattered.

Non-Aggression Pact: "No matter what the circumstances,

"we are firmly resolved to maintain the peace

"between Denmark and Germany."

May 31, 1939. Signed: Ribbentrop

But on April 9, 1940,

German troops invaded Denmark.

"In view of the friendly relations between Norway and Germany,

"the German government guarantees to respect the inviolability

"and integrity of the Norwegian state,

"and not to undermine it under any circumstances."

September 2, 1939. The German Reich

But on 9 April, 1940, German troops invaded Norway.

"I assure the governments of Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg

"that Germany will not violate their neutrality."

October 6, 1939. Adolf Hitler

But on May 10, 1940,

German troops invaded Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg.

"The firmly-established and trustworthy relationship

"between Germany and Yugoslavia

"will bring an element of calm to our nervous continent.

"This peace is the goal of all who are disposed

"to perform truly constructive work."

June 1, 1939. Adolf Hitler

But on April 6, 1941,

German troops invaded Yugoslavia.

These criminal methods of the Nazi conspirators

brought them early success,

and by 1941, they had most of Europe under their heel.

Now an evil ambition for power and more power drove them on.

But two of the world's mightiest nations,

the United States and Soviet Russia,

remained to block the Nazi drive for world supremacy.

They had to be dealt with, firmly, immediately.

So now Germany asked for cooperation from Japan,

her full partner in aggression to the East,

and from Italy, her junior partner to the south.

In Berlin, they drew up the Axis Pact,

the blueprint for a new order,

and parceled out the continents of the world for Axis domination.

Italy was to get the Mediterranean sphere.

Japan was to get the Orient.

And to Germany would go the rest of the world.

In June 1941,

in violation of their Non-Aggression Pact,

the Nazis sent their armies deep into Soviet territory,

according to military plans long made.

As usual, there was no declaration of war.

Hitler had said: "Today Germany, tomorrow the world."

And this was "tomorrow."

Ground warfare in the East,

air warfare in the West.

For now, defendant Goering's Luftwaffe was hurled with full force

against the peoples and cities of Britain.

Hitler, after all, had told the Reichstag:

"I will blot out their cities."

And then on December 7, 1941,

keeping her end of an infamous bargain,

Japan struck at the United States.

Also without declaration of war.

Japanese bombs rained on Pearl Harbor,

spreading war finally to the Pacific.

The new order was on the march.

World war II flamed around the globe.

In the name of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,

General Roman Rudenko presents Counts 3 and 4,

charging that all the defendants committed war crimes in Germany

and in all those countries occupied by Germany.

The Nazi conspirators committed crimes against enemy armies,

against prisoners of war,

against the civilians of occupied lands.

They believed in the barbaric doctrine of "total war,"

and considered themselves free from the restraints of international law

or the established customs of war.

Their ruthless policies were ordered in directives like this one,

from General Reinecke of the Wehrmacht's High Command:

"The Bolshevist soldier has lost all claim to treatment

"as an honorable enemy combatant.

"Ruthless and drastic measures are to be taken at the least sign of resistance.

"Active or passive resistance

"must be broken immediately by force of arms.

"Prisoners attempting to escape are to be shot without warning.

"No warning shots are to be fired."

More proof of this savage Nazi policy

comes from the affidavit of Kurt Lindow, former Gestapo officer:

"There existed in the prisoner of war camps

"on the Eastern Front small screening teams,

"headed by lower-ranking members of the Gestapo.

"It was the duty of these teams to segregate the prisoners of war

"who were candidates for execution,

"and to report them to the office of the Gestapo."

And a letter from defendant Rosenberg to defendant Keitel

in 1942 stated clearly:

"A large number of Soviet prisoners of war starved or died

"due to the harsh weather conditions.

"In many cases, prisoners on the march could not keep up

"due to hunger and exhaustion.

"In numerous camps, no shelter for the prisoners was provided at all.

"Nor were they given any sort of tools

"with which to dig holes or caves."

Yet when some objected that this treatment violated

the Geneva Convention,

defendant Keitel answered with this memorandum:

"We are dealing with the destruction of a worldview.

"Therefore, I approve these measures and back them."

The criminal treatment of prisoners of war was also practiced

against civilian populations.

This is proved by the testimony of General von Lahousen,

who worked under Admiral Canaris, in Military Intelligence.

General Lahousen attended conferences where crimes against whole populations

were plotted in advance by the Nazi conspirators.

The prosecution asked Lahousen

about one such conference on the Führer's train.

First of all, Canaris had a short talk with Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop,

given that von Ribbentrop was responsible

for furthering political objectives in the Polish territory.

Second, Canaris spoke out vehemently against the measures

of which he was aware,

namely, the systematic shooting and extermination

of the Polish intelligentsia, nobility and clergy,

as well as others who might be, or might appear to be,

supporters of the Polish national resistance movement.

Canaris said at the time, more or less verbatim:

"The world will one day also hold the Armed Forces responsible

"for the things that took place under their eyes."

Another of the conspirators charged with directing mass murder

was defendant Frank,

Nazi governor of Poland.

In his diary, he speaks of "the opportunity,

"while the focus of attention was on the Western Front,

"to carry out the wholesale liquidation of thousands of Poles."

These atrocities were not restricted to the East.

Here is the proof in the village of Oradour-sur-Glane, France.

Here is the proof in the town of Bande, Belgium.

Here is the proof in the San Callisto caves, Italy,

where 350 hostages were carefully listed...

and systematically murdered.

And here is Lidice, in Czechoslovakia.

In blind retaliation for the assassination of SS man Reinhard Heydrich,

the Nazis murdered all of Lidice's men,

and sent their women and children into slavery in Germany.

But this was not enough.

Boys of the Arbeitsdienst were moved into the ruins of Lidice,

and ordered to level the village to the ground.

Lidice was to be the Nazis' example to all occupied peoples.

But more terrible still were the concentration camps,

which from the beginning had been the conspirators' chief weapon

against opposition of every kind.

German anti-Nazis were the first victims, but with the war advancing,

their numbers swelled to include citizens of all the nations of Europe.

Their fate is described by witness Rudolf Hoess.

"I was in command at Auschwitz until December 1,1943,

"and estimate that at least 2 ½ million victims

"were exterminated there by gassing and burning.

"At least another half million died due to starvation and disease,

"making a total of about 3 million dead.

"These included approximately 20,000 Soviet prisoners of war.

"The rest of the victims were approximately 100,000 German Jews,

"and a great many citizens, mostly Jews,

"from Holland,

"France,

"Belgium,

"Poland,

"Hungary,

"Czechoslovakia,

"Greece, and other countries."

Medical experiments too were standard procedure at many concentration camps.

These included lowering the body temperature to 28 degrees centigrade,

high altitude tests and pressure chambers,

experiments with poisoned bullets and contagious diseases,

and even sterilization.

In the name of the French Republic,

chief prosecutor François de Menthon

closes Counts 3 and 4, the final charges of the indictment.

All the defendants committed crimes against humanity,

including the murder and persecution of all people opposed to the Nazi party

and the enslavement, exploitation and deportation of civilian populations.

The slave labor policy was the responsibility of defendant Sauckel,

who admitted in 1944:

"Of the 5 million workers who arrived in Germany,

"fewer than 200,000 came voluntarily."

Forced labor often meant brutal and degrading treatment.

As Sauckel himself suggested:

"All these people must be fed, lodged and treated

"so as to get the greatest possible use out of them

"at the lowest possible cost."

And in the words of defendant Martin Bormann,

being tried in absentia:

"The Slavs should work for us.

"When we no longer need them, let them die."

Slavery was only one aspect of Nazi exploitation.

Defendant Goering, in a talk with German occupation authorities in 1942,

discussed another:

Plunder.

"God knows, you are not sent out to safeguard

"the welfare of the people under your supervision,

"but rather to get the most out of them,

"so that the German people can survive.

"This incessant worry about other people must stop,

"once and for all.

"I have in front of me reports on what you must deliver.

"It makes absolutely no difference to me

"if you say that your people will starve."

But Nazi crimes against humanity were not limited to foreign peoples.

Defendant Frick, as Minister of Interior,

directed a program aimed at aged, insane, or incurable Germans

the so-called "useless eaters."

Thousands were committed to special institutions.

Few ever returned.

Evidence proves they were murdered because

they were useless to the plans of the Nazi conspirators.

But perhaps the greatest crime against humanity

the Nazis committed against the Jews.

A campaign of hate and murder

that goes to the heart of the Nazi movement.

Germans, don't buy from the Jews!

Don't buy from the Jews!

Free yourselves from Jewry!

Germans! Free yourselves from Jewry!

Germans, defend yourselves! Don't buy from the Jews!

"Citizens of the German Reich

"are defined as those who are of pure German blood

"or kindred stock,

"who are willing to serve the German Reich

"and the German people.

"Marriages between Jews and Germans or those of kindred stock

"are forbidden."

SS Major-General Stroop, in charge of the warsaw Ghetto in 1943,

had learned his Nazi lessons well.

In a secret report, he said:

"On April 23, 1943,

"SS chief Himmler ordered the complete liquidation

"of the ghetto with the use of utmost force.

"Therefore, I decided to destroy the entire Jewish ghetto.

"The Jews nearly always left their hideouts,

"but quite a few remained in the burning buildings,

"and jumped out of the windows only when the heat became unbearable.

"Life in the sewers was intolerable after the first week.

"Tear gas canisters were thrown into the manholes

"and the Jews were driven out and captured.

"Countless numbers of Jews were liquidated

"in sewers and bunkers through blasting.

"The longer the resistance continued,

"the tougher the Waffen-SS, police and Wehrmacht became.

"They always discharged their duties in a tireless and exemplary manner."

Little by little, the Nazis were reaching what they called the "Final Solution,"

the total extermination of the Jews of Europe.

Hoess described the process well:

"We had two SS doctors on duty at Auschwitz

"to examine incoming transports of prisoners.

"The prisoners would be marched past one of the doctors

"who would make spot decisions as they walked by.

"Those who were fit for work were sent into the camp.

"Others were sent immediately to the extermination chambers.

"Children of tender years were invariably exterminated,

"since by reason of their youth, they were unfit for work.

"We endeavored to fool them into thinking

"they were to go through a de-lousing process.

"It took from 3 to 15 minutes to kill people in the death chamber,

"depending upon climatic conditions.

"We knew the people were dead when their shrieking stopped.

"We usually waited about a 1/2 hour

"before we opened the doors and removed the bodies.

"After the bodies were removed, our special commandos took off the rings

"and extracted the gold from the teeth of the corpses."

Much of this loot was then transferred to secret vaults of the Reichsbank

at Frankfurt am Main, the bank of defendant Funk.

Labor chief Robert Ley knew that six million Jews

died in the Nazis' "Final Solution."

In his final words, he wrote:

"With our anti-Semitism, we violated a basic commandment of God's creation.

"It is hard to admit mistakes,

"but the existence of our entire nation is at stake.

"We must have the courage to rid ourselves of anti-Semitism.

"God has taught me that in my cell in Nuremberg."

And defendant Frank said himself, before this court:

"For years, we have fought against Jewry,

"and have allowed ourselves to say terrible things.

"A thousand years may pass,

"but the guilt of Germany will not have been erased."

The prosecution rests.

The defense begins.

They call 61 witnesses

and introduce 38,000 affidavits on the defendants' behalf.

They submit 136,000 more affidavits on behalf of the SS,

10,000 on behalf of the SA,

7,000 on behalf of the SD,

3,000 on behalf of the general staff and High Command,

2,000 on behalf of the Gestapo.

These attorneys were personally selected by the defendants.

Many are well-known German lawyers,

and each now rises to plead acquittal for his client.

Some make blanket denials of all guilt.

Some of the defendants had, without doubt, great power

in their own spheres, areas which did not interest Hitler.

In the big decisions concerning war and peace,

ceasefires, peace negotiations, and so on,

they had no say whatsoever.

Other attorneys lead their clients through a carefully-prepared defense.

Here, Streicher is examined.

The prosecution has stated that Himmler and Kaltenbrunner

would have had no one to carry out their orders to kill

without your propaganda,

and without your teaching the German people to think in this way.

I don't believe those who were given the Führer's order to kill,

or to order killings,

could have been made to do so by my periodical.

Hitler's book, "Mein Kampf," existed,

and the contents of that book were the authority.

Next comes Kaltenbrunner.

You are accused of establishing the Mauthausen concentration camp,

and of visiting this camp regularly.

The witness Hoellriegel testified to seeing you in this camp, and

to seeing you inspect the gas chambers

while they were in operation.

The testimony is wrong.

Every concentration camp in the Reich, and I know this quite precisely,

was established by Himmler through Pohl.

Later the prosecution is allowed to cross-examine the defendants.

Rosenberg is questioned.

With respect to this forced labor matter,

would you say that your ministry was responsible

for forcing people from their homes into Germany?

It is true that force was used,

and it cannot be denied that there were abuses.

In fact, some terrible abuses.

Now Raeder takes the stand.

When you came to the 23rd of May

and went to the Reich's Chancellery,

and Hitler said that he'd give you an indoctrination

on the political situation,

and his indoctrination was that we are left with the decision

to attack Poland at the first opportunity.

Did you still think that he had no aggressive intention?

I believed this for much longer.

Just as General Jodl said,

after Hitler solved the Czech problem by purely political means,

there was hope he would solve the issue of Poland without bloodshed.

And I believed that up until the last moment, the 22nd of August.

Keitel is cross-examined.

Yesterday your attorney showed you this order,

dated September 16, 1941.

It said that immediate, cruel measures were necessary,

and that human life in the East is absolutely worthless.

Do you remember the basic idea behind this order

that human life is worthless?

Please answer the question.

You signed this order with this statement?

Yes!

Next, Jodl.

Do you remember any other reason for such a high mortality rate

among Soviet prisoners of war?

I knew nothing about the reasons for the massive death rates,

but the figures are totally incorrect. That I do know.

Now, von Ribbentrop.

Question: Are you telling the Tribunal on your oath

that you knew nothing of the effect of military pressure on Austria?

I wish to stress again I knew nothing about the military measures,

and I see no reason, had I known,

why I would not have said something.

But, in the days before the meeting

between the Führer and Schuschnigg,

and in the days after, I was so occupied

with all the work of taking over the Foreign Ministry

that I could pay only scant attention to the Austrian problem.

Then Goering is cross-examined.

Question: At the end of the meeting, you used the following words, didn't you?

"German Jewry must as a penalty forfeit one billion marks.

"Then the pigs won't commit any more crimes."

Yes!

Question: Do you still say that neither Hitler nor you

knew of the policy to exterminate the Jews?

As concerns my role, as I have already stated,

I had not the slightest idea this thing would take on such proportions.

Question: You did not know to what degree,

but you knew there was a policy

that aimed at the liquidation of the Jews?

No, of the emigration of the Jews, not of their eradication.

I knew only of cases where certain excesses had occurred.

Speer takes the stand.

Question: You were present on April 23, 1945,

when Hitler received the telegram from Goering,

suggesting that he take over power.

What did Hitler say on that occasion?

Hitler was quite upset about the content of this telegram,

and expressed himself in very clear terms about Goering.

He said he had known for a long time that Goering had failed,

that he was corrupt, and a morphine addict.

But in a telling illustration of Hitler's entire attitude,

he finally said:

"But Goering can negotiate the surrender anyway."

He added in an offhand manner:

"It really doesn't matter who does Lt."

The way he said this indicated

his disregard for the German nation.

After months of examination and cross-examination,

several defendants make final statements to the Tribunal.

Frank is first.

Speaking from my deepest feelings,

and from the experience of five months of this trial,

I wish to emphasize that,

having gained a final insight into the dreadful atrocities that took place,

I have the feeling of a deep guilt inside of me.

Funk declares:

As I was accused of these measures of terror and violence against the Jews,

I suffered a psychological breakdown.

Because in that moment, I came to the realization

that these measures led to horrendous and terrible acts

of which we have been hearing,

and of which I knew only a little at the time of my imprisonment.

I felt a deep shame and a terrible guilt,

and I still feel this now.

Now von Schirach speaks.

My guilt is that I trained German youth

to serve a man who committed millions of murders.

Schacht is next.

He broke all the promises he made to the German people, and thus to me.

He upheld nothing. He promised equal rights for all citizens,

but he put his followers, regardless of their qualifications,

above all the other citizens.

He promised to fight against political lies,

but he, himself, and his minister, Goebbels,

did nothing but spread political lies and political swindles.

He promised the German people he would honor Christianity,

but he shamed and betrayed the institution of the Church.

He freed criminals and took them into his service.

He did everything to avoid keeping his promises.

He deceived the world, Germany and me.

Speer, once more.

The terrible danger of the authoritarian system

only became clear as we got closer to the end.

In this moment, we could see the implication of

what it means to follow orders blindly.

Everything that has come out here at the trial...

about our system of orders,

carried out without question,

turned out, in the end, to be a mistake.

That is why this trial must contribute to the prevention

of such destructive wars in the future

and to the establishment of principles for human cooperation.

And Keitel, again.

I erred.

I was not able to prevent that which should have been prevented.

That is my guilt.

May a clear acknowledgement

of the unholy methods and frightful consequences of this war

awaken in the German people a new hope

for a better future in the community of nations.

Now, Frank.

We call on the German people, whose representatives we were,

to abandon this path, which by God's will and judgment,

was doomed to failure,

and which will damn anyone who tries to follow it,

anywhere in the world.

The last defendant to speak is Fritzsche.

You did not expect anything good from Hitler

and you are dismayed by the extent of what really happened.

So try to understand the indignation of those

who did expect something good from Hitler,

who have seen how their good faith, their good will,

and their idealism were betrayed.

I am one of these betrayed, along with many, many other Germans.

Finally, the summations are delivered to the Tribunal.

First, the defense.

An aggressor can be branded only by the world's conscience.

This supreme organ of humanity must have, not only actual,

but also moral authority.

Its impartial judgment must be trusted by all.

Then, in the name of the United States of America,

Justice Jackson delivers his summation.

In the testimony of each defendant,

these men saw no evil, spoke none,

and none was uttered in their presence.

If we combine only the stories of the front bench,

this is the ridiculous composite picture of Hitler's government that emerges:

It was composed of a Number 2 man

who never suspected the Jewish extermination program,

although he was the signer of over a score of decrees,

which instituted the persecutions of that race.

A Number 3 man who was merely an innocent middle man,

transmitting Hitler's orders without even reading them,

like a postman or a delivery boy.

A foreign minister who knew little of foreign affairs,

and nothing of foreign policy.

A field marshal who issued orders to the armed forces,

but had no idea of the results they would have in practice.

A security chief who was of the impression that the policing functions

of his Gestapo and SD were somewhat on the order of directing traffic.

A Party philosopher who had no idea

of the violence which his philosophy was inciting in the 20th Century.

A governor general of Poland who reigned but did not rule.

A Gauleiter of Franconia

whose occupation was to pour forth filthy writings about the Jews,

but who had no idea that anybody would read them.

A minister of the interior

who knew not even what went on in the interior of his own office,

much less the interior of his department,

and nothing at all about the interior of Germany.

A Reichsbank president

who was totally ignorant of what went in and out of the vaults of his bank.

If you were to say of these men that they are not guilty,

it would be as true to say that there has been no war,

that there are no slain,

that there has been no crime.

This trial must form a milestone in the history of civilization,

not only marking that right shall in the end triumph over evil,

but also that the ordinary people of the world,

and I make no distinction now between friend and foe,

are now determined that the individual must transcend the state.

The state and the law are made for man,

that through them, he may achieve a fuller life,

a higher purpose, a greater dignity.

In the name of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,

General Rudenko delivers his summation.

We now ask,

Were the charges against the defendants proved before the Court?

Has their guilt been proved?

There is only one answer to this question.

These crimes have been proved.

They cannot be refuted, either by the defendants' testimony

or by the arguments of the defense.

They are irrefutable because it is impossible to refute the truth,

and truth is the durable result of this trial,

the consequence of our long and persistent efforts.

In the name of the French Republic,

Monsieur Antoine de Ribes delivers his summation.

Tomorrow...

with this international tribunal concluded,

and these principal war criminals condemned,

we will return to our countries.

The fate of these men depends entirely on your conscience.

This goes beyond us.

Our task is finished.

Now it is time for you to hear, in the silence of your deliberations,

the blood of the innocents crying for justice.

Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence, Great Britain,

Mr. Francis Biddle, United States,

Monsieur Henri de Vabres, France,

Major General Iona Nikitchenko, USSR,

and their alternates prepare the verdict.

It will be based on the opinion of the majority.

On October 1, 1946, the verdict is delivered by Lord Justice Lawrence,

president of the Tribunal.

Of the organizations, the SS, SD, Gestapo

and Leadership Corps are found guilty.

The High Command, SA, and Reich Cabinet: Not guilty.

As for the individuals,

Hermann Goering:

guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace,

war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Rudolf Hess:

guilty of conspiracy and crimes against peace.

Life imprisonment.

Joachim von Ribbentrop:

guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace,

war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Wilhelm Keitel:

guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace,

war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Ernst Kaltenbrunner:

guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Alfred Rosenberg:

guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace,

war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Hans Frank:

guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Wilhelm Frick:

guilty of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Julius Streicher:

guilty of crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Walter Funk:

guilty of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Life imprisonment.

Hjalmar Schacht:

not guilty on this indictment. Released.

Karl Doenitz:

guilty of crimes against peace, and war crimes.

10 years imprisonment.

Erich Raeder:

guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace, and war crimes.

Life imprisonment.

Baldur von Schirach:

guilty of crimes against humanity.

20 years imprisonment.

Fritz Sauckel:

guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Alfred Jodl:

guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace,

war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Franz von Papen:

not guilty on this indictment. Released.

Albert Speer:

guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

20 years imprisonment.

Konstantin von Neurath:

guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace,

war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

15 years imprisonment.

Arthur Seyss-Inquart:

crimes against peace,

war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Hans Fritzsche:

not guilty on this indictment. Released.

Martin Bormann,

tried in absentia:

guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

The trial is over.

Seven begin their prison sentences.

Goering chooses to die by his own hand.

The other ten wait for the gallows.

In Nuremberg, the people of the world found out what happened and why.

But Nuremberg is more than an answer to a question.

As Justice Jackson said:

This trial is part of the great effort to make the peace more secure.

It constitutes juridical action of a kind to ensure

that those who start a war will pay for it personally.

Nuremberg stands as a warning

to all those who plan and wage aggressive war.