Pre-war president of the. I need your: 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. A. At the time, it was just a job we were told to do. Somewhat regularly, cellblock guards also pulled duty patrolling the parapet-style walls 50 feet above the cellblock and the courtyard, where observation of strolling prisoners below could be maintained. To maintain the steady flow of Speer pencil sketches, guards always provided him with an adequate supply of paper and sharpened pencils. Number 4 was assigned to Erich Raeder, the Navys former grand admiral before being replaced by Dnitz. 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. With the change of command by rotating countries every month, each of the countries altered the previous countrys rules. Did guards favor some prisoners over others? Keitel was one of ten defendants hanged in the Palace of Justice in the early morning hours of October 16, 1946. Also represented were some leaders of the German economy, such as Gustav Krupp (of the conglomerate Krupp AG) and former Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht. [47] Although the chief British judge, Sir Geoffrey Lawrence (Lord Justice of Appeal), was the nominal president of the tribunal, in practice Biddle exercised more authority. At the wars end, he was assigned to the guard detail at Nuremburg. Movement was extremely restricted and closely monitored, even for the guards. Colonels from all four countries were running around trying to determine how it happened.. On 1 October 1946, 12 death sentences were passed down by the judges of the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg on some of the most high-ranking and influential members of Nazi Germany. Joined: Oct 14, 2007 Messages: 2,804 The indictment lodged against them contained four counts: (1) crimes against peace (i.e., the planning, initiating, and waging of wars of aggression in violation of international treaties and agreements), (2) crimes against humanity (i.e., exterminations, deportations, and genocide), (3) war crimes (i.e., violations of the laws of war), and (4) a common plan or conspiracy to commit the criminal acts listed in the first three counts. Other generals were tried in the High Command Trial for plotting wars of aggression, issuing criminal orders, deporting civilians, using slave labor, and looting in the Soviet Union. [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 thought a mature, Lutheran, German-speaking chaplain who had worked in prisons . [108][109], On 12 December, Shawcross gave the opening speech for the British. It was only sometime later that I realized in retrospect that I had become part of history, Prestianni said. He greeted me in the morning and that was about it. In one report i read, it mentioned that "K" Company of the 26th Inf., 1st Div. Immediately following the end of the IMT, the American military government held twelve more war crimes trials in Nuremberg. Prestianni, the guard contingent, and supervisors under the command of Colonel B.C. American chow was prepared for the guards and other Army personnel. [146][147] Defense lawyer Alfred Seidl[de] repeatedly tried to disclose the secret protocols of the GermanSoviet pact. There was a constant, steady flow of rules and regulations, many of them meaningless, while others tended to be more punitive, he said. The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II.. Sykes supervised guards, including the iconic. Because of the tragic manner in which my father died, we did not often speak of the trials. The Nuremberg Trials ended on October 1, 1946. I sure would like to find out more about his service. When I once asked him why he had done what he was convicted of doing, he replied that he only did what the Fatherland [Germany] instructed him to do. [77] Gring, the most famous surviving Nazi, headlined the trial. Where they lived. U.S. veteran Gerald M. Boe, the guard for Hermann Gring during the Nuremberg Trials, shares his memories of that time. He always was respectful, always the consummate gentleman. Speer was convicted and served 20 years in prison. They were told they would be part of history. 1 Feb 1946. View full size Courtesy, U.S. Army The Military Tribunal proceedings in Nuremberg, Germany, Herman Goering sits between two guards, the left one being Andrew Wendland of Bay City. [3] War losses in the Soviet Union alone included 27 million dead, mostly civilians, which was .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}17th of the prewar population. Asked whether the 60-year myth about Streicher struggling for 20 minutes at the end of the hangmans rope was true, Prestianni said guards never witnessed the hanging and he had not heard any such rumors at the time, but guessed it could have happened. These women prisoners constantly did anything they could to get a guard in trouble or disciplined.. Proposals for how to punish the defeated Nazi leaders ranged from a show trial (the Soviet Union) to summary executions (the United Kingdom). The whole focus was on keeping the prisoners under surveillance through the opening in the cell doors, Prestianni said. Joachim von Ribbentrop's body after his execution. Generally, I would describe the food, as I recall, quite good, Prestianni remembers. Michael Prestianni served as a guard at Nuremberg as high-ranking Nazis stood trial for their lives. 08-12-2007, 10:07 PM. In some cases, this arrogance lingered into their years of incarceration. My father was an MP at The Nuremberg Trails. An enduring mystery of the 1946 Nuremberg trials was apparently solved yesterday when an American former prison guard claimed it was he who, as an unwitting accomplice, passed to Hermann. Today I found out that most of the soldiers who guarded the high ranking Nazi prisoners during the Nuremberg trials were in fact former members of Baltic SS . Until the end of the negotiations, it was not clear that any trial would be held at all, due to acrimonious disputes over fundamental matters; the American delegation threatened to walk out. Prompt medical attention was readily available to all prisoners. [169][170] The judges did not agree that the conspiracy extended to anyone who participated in the affairs of the Nazi government, only taking being present at the high-level meetings discussing war plans in 1937 and 1939 as evidence of belonging to the conspiracy. Patrolling the wall was cold, cold, cold, Prestianni remembered. [188] The Office of Chief Counsel for War Crimes identified 2,500 major war criminals, of whom 177 were tried. These were 60 year old Emma Zimmer, nee Mezel, and 36 year old . Answer (1 of 5): None of the footage I have seen of the trials revealed anyone but American MPs. Call us at (425) 485-6059. Usually these are prosecution chargeslike crimes against humanityor a defense response. [82], Over the summer, all of the national delegations struggled to gather evidence for the upcoming trial. All war crimes prisoners ate from a single German menu. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Updates? Emilio DiPalma (right) stands on guard at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945. [153] Midway through the trial, Winston Churchill's Iron Curtain speech denouncing the Soviet threat delighted the defense. He had been instrumental in establishing a totalitarian state. The guards at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials The guards at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials Accession Number 72-850 7.25x9.5 inches Black & White Printer-Friendly Version Order This Image Keywords Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946 Soldiers HST Keywords Nurnberg Trials; Germany - Nurnberg Cell doors were never opened when food was distributed. Guards were, on occasion, somewhat lenient and allowed some prisoners, based on previous friendships and compatible personalities, to walk in pairs. Long live Germany.. Eighteen-inch rectangular holes were cut from the heavy, oaken cell doors, slightly below eye level. Examine some of the collection's most-accessed trial topics. [95][96] As Jackson made clear, the purpose of the trial was not just to convict the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi crimes, establish individual responsibility and the crime of aggression in international law, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, delegitimize the traditional German elite,[97] and allow the Allies to distance themselves from appeasement. He rarely talked, but when he did his speech was rambling. "[1][163] The judges did not attempt to define aggression[164] and decided not to mention the retroactivity of the charges in the verdict. The United States and United Kingdom refused to endorse this proposal, citing the failure of war crimes prosecutions after World War I. [60] The American prosecution became derailed during attempts to provide evidence of the German annexation of Austria. [99] According to historian Kim Christian Priemel, the conspiracy charge "invited apologetic interpretations: narratives of absolute, totalitarian dictatorship, run by society's lunatic fringe, of which the Germans had been the first victims rather than agents, collaborators, and fellow travellers". Perhaps the most feared group of accused criminals in the annals of history was a potpourri of personalities who had been associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Meals were brought to the prisoners on a precise schedule each day on wheeled, double-tiered push carts by German prisoners from other sections of the prison who were being held for civil crimes. The SA, the Reich Cabinet, and the General Staff and High Command were not ruled to be criminal organizations. It was always a battle of authority. I would like any information that would lead me to a more detailed understanding of what my father did while part of this undertaking. When the needling did not abate and became somewhat annoying, Prestianni said he used to give the former World War I ace his own version of a little dig in return. List of Judges Francis Biddle (American) John J Parker (American) Edward Francis Carter (American) Colonel Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, Lord Justice (British, President of the Tribunal) Sir Norman Birkett (British) Henri Donnedieu de Vabres (French) Robert Falco (French) Major General Iona Nikitchenko (Soviet) SS members were generally frowned upon and can't imagine them having anything to do with the trials except sit in the dock. Ambassador-Plenipotentiary 193536. Other prisoners shuffled past him without even glancing in his direction or outwardly acknowledging that he existed. Four were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years: Karl Dnitz, Baldur von Schirach, Albert Speer, and Konstantin von Neurath. Guards gradually learned through everyday observation, however, that the prisoners collective makeup truly spanned a psychologically intricate cross-section of those who had served Hitler. April 22, 2020. I have searched photos of the trials to see if I could find my dad. Even before this decision, around 1,000 former Latvian Legion soldiers had served as guards at the Nuremberg trials, guarding Nazi war criminals. Had I known just who these prisoners were at the time and what they had been accused and convicted of having done, I probably would not have had such a close relationship with them. [44] As the numerically strongest delegation, it would take on the bulk of the prosecutorial effort. [4], In early 1942, representatives of eight governments-in-exile in the United Kingdom issued a declaration on Punishment for War Crimes, which demanded an international court to try the Axis crimes committed in occupied countries. These once powerful leaders of Nazi Germany were the accused of the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal.
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