War Crimes

War Crimes

Introduction

The term war crimes gained prominence in 1945 during the Nuremberg Trial. This trial, named for the German city in which it was held, was the first of its kind. It was an international criminal case against the top 24 Nazi leaders who were seen as living symbols of terrorism, racial hatred and violence, and the arrogance of cruelty and power. The purpose of the trial was not only prosecution, but also to warn national leaders who might act in such a manner that they would be criminally accountable. Prior to World War II, atrocities against civilian populations were rare. In contrast, Germany's political policy was to annihilate targeted civilian groups by using genocidal tactics. Systematic and repeated acts of violence directed at a non-combatant population as governmental policy became labeled and tried as a crime against humanity.

The Uniqueness of the Nuremberg Trial

The Nuremberg Trial, beginning on November 20, 1945, established unique jurisprudence and trial procedures. The world became the jurisdiction for war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was ironic and well suited that the trial was held in the city where the Nuremberg Laws had been promulgated in 1935. These laws denied civil rights to Jewish persons and gave the  state of Germany the right to seize all assets, properties, and belongings of Jews. Ten years after the Nuremberg Laws, the Allied leaders charged the 24 defendants as war criminals. Of the group, one hanged himself in his prison cell, one was tried in absentia, and a third was too sick to appear in court. The remaining defendants were charged with conspiracy to wage an aggressive war, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Evidence presented to support these criminal allegations included captured Nazi propaganda films; documents of the Third Reich; evidence gathered by General George S. Patton's Fourth Armored Division at the Ohrdruf Concentration Camp; and evidence gathered from the Buchenwald, Nordhausen, Hannover, and Dachau concentration camps.

The first count of the indictment was prosecuted by Justice Robert Jackson, who had taken leave from the U.S. Supreme Court to present evidence against the Nazis. The second count, handled by the British prosecutor Sir Hartley Shawcross, focused on the treaties broken by the German government in their foreign invasions. The third and fourth counts of the indictment were dealt with by representatives from France and the Soviet Union. The Russian prosecutors used films found in a Nazi officer's home in Stuttgart, Germany, as evidence of the four million people murdered in the Auschwitz concentration camp. All counts in the indictment stressed humanitarian obligations during war. Based upon international treaties such as the Law of the Hague, signed in 1899 and 1907, and the Geneva Convention of 1929, military action can only be instigated against combatants capable of taking part in hostilities. Those who are injured, sick, or prisoners of war cannot be targeted for violent action. In all counts against the Nazis, these conditions of war were found to have been ...