The Judges' Trial (or the Justice Trial, or, officially, The United States of America vs. Josef Altstötter, et al. ) was the third of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including These twelve trials were all held before U. S. military courts, not before the International Military Tribunal, but took place in the same rooms. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after The twelve U. S. trials are collectively known as the "Subsequent Nuremberg Trials" or, more formally, as the "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" (NMT). The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials (more formally the Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals) were a series of twelve U
The defendants in this case were 16 German jurists and lawyers. Nine had been officials of the Reich Ministry of Justice, the others were prosecutors and judges of the Special Courts and People's Courts of Nazi Germany. The Reich Ministry of Justice (Reichsministerium der Justiz was a Ministry of Germany during the Weimar Republic and subsequently the Nazi period. The People's Court (Volksgerichtshof was a court established in 1934 by German Dictator Adolf Hitler, who had been dissatisfied with the outcome of the Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers They were—amongst other charges—held responsible for implementing and furthering the Nazi "racial purity" program through the eugenic and racial laws.
The judges in this case, heard before Military Tribunal III, were Carrington T. Marshall (presiding judge), former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, James T. Brand from Oregon, Mallory B. Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads James T Brand ( October 9 1886 - February 28 1964) was the 31st Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, serving in that role from Oregon ( is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Blair from Texas, and Justin Woodward Harding as an alternate judge. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Marshall had to retire due to illness on June 19, 1947, at which point Brand became president and Harding a full member of the tribunal. Events 1179 - The Norwegian Battle of Kalvskinnet outside Nidaros. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution was Telford Taylor; his deputy was Charles M. LaFollette. Telford Taylor ( February 24, 1908 - May 23, 1998) was a US Lawyer best known for his role in the Counsel for the Prosecution Charles Marion La Follette ( February 27, 1898, New Albany Indiana - June 27, 1974, Trenton New Jersey) was a prominent The indictment was presented on January 4, 1947; the trial lasted from March 5 to December 4, 1947. In the Common law legal system an indictment (ɪnˈdaɪtmənt (in-DITE-mint is a formal accusation of having committed a criminal offense Events 46 BC - Titus Labienus defeats Julius Caesar in the Battle of Ruspina. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a "December 4th" redirects here For the song by Jay-Z, see December 4th (song. Ten of the defendants were found guilty; four received sentences for lifetime imprisonment, the rest prison sentences of varying lengths. Four persons were acquitted of all charges.
Contents |
Indictment
- Participating in a common plan or conspiracy to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity;
- War crimes through the abuse of the judicial and penal process, resulting in mass murder, torture, plunder of private property. War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war" including but not limited to "murder the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied In Public international law, a crime against humanity is an act of Persecution or any large scale atrocities against a body of people and is the highest level of
- Crimes against humanity on the same grounds, including slave labor charges. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another
- Membership in a criminal organization, the SS or the NSDAP leadership corps. The ( German for "Protective Squadron" abbreviated SS - or ( Runic)- was a major Nazi organization under Adolf Hitler and the The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945
Count 4 applied only to Altstötter, Cuhorst, Engert, Joel (with respect to the SS) and to Cuhorst, Oeschy, Nebelung, and Rothaug concerning the NSDAP leadership. The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Both organizations had been found criminal previously by the IMT. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after
Count 1 was dropped: the court declared the charge to be outside its jurisdiction. Judge Blair filed a dissenting opinion that stated that the court should have made a statement that the Military Tribunals of the NMT in fact did have jurisdiction over charges of "conspiracy to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity".
All defendants pleaded "not guilty".
Defendants
| Name | Sentence |
|---|---|
| Josef Altstötter | 5 years, incl. time already served |
| Wilhelm von Ammon | 10 years, incl. time already served |
| Paul Barnickel | acquitted |
| Hermann Cuhorst | acquitted |
| Karl Engert | mistrial declared due to illness |
| Günther Joel | 10 years, incl. time already served |
| Herbert Klemm | lifetime imprisonment |
| Ernst Lautz | 10 years, incl. time already served |
| Wolfgang Mettgenberg | 10 years, incl. time already served |
| Günther Nebelung | acquitted |
| Rudolf Oeschey | lifetime imprisonment |
| Hans Petersen | acquitted |
| Oswald Rothaug | lifetime imprisonment |
| Curt Rothenberger | 7 years, incl. time already served |
| Franz Schlegelberger | lifetime imprisonment |
| Carl Westphal | committed suicide after the indictment, but before the beginning of the trial. Louis Rudolph Franz Schlegelberger (23 October 1876 14 December 1970 was State Secretary in the German Reich Ministry of Justice (RMJ and served awhile as Justice Minister |
The highest-ranking officials of the Nazi judicial system could not be tried: Otto Georg Thierack, Minister of Justice since 1942, had committed suicide in 1946, and Roland Freisler, the President of the People's Court since 1942, was killed in 1945. Otto Georg Thierack (19 April 1889 22 November 1946 was a Nazi Jurist and Politician. Year 1942 ( MCMXLII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (the link will display the full 1942 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Early life In contrast to most of the Nazi leadership not much beyond basic details is known about Freisler
All convicts were found guilty on all charges brought before them, except Rothaug, who was found guilty only on count 3 of the indictment, while he was found not guilty on counts 2 and 4. However, the court commented in its judgment that
"By his manner and methods he made his court an instrumentality of terror and won the fear and hatred of the population. From the evidence of his closest associates as well as his victims, we find that Oswald Rothaug represented in Germany the personification of the secret Nazi intrigue and cruelty. He was and is a sadistic and evil man. Under any civilized judicial system he could have been impeached and removed from office or convicted of malfeasance in office on account of the scheming malevolence with which he administered injustice. "[1]
The public considered the sentences generally too low. Most of the convicts were released already in the early 1950s; some (Lautz, Rothenberger, Schlegelberger) even received retirement pensions in West Germany. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( The guide to German law entitled Das Recht der Gegenwart is still being published under the name Franz Schlegelberger (ISBN 3-8006-2260-2).
The Judges' Trial was the inspiration for the 1961 movie Judgment at Nuremberg, starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, Werner Klemperer and William Shatner. Year 1961 ( MCMLXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Judgment at Nuremberg (released in the UK as Judgement at Nuremberg) ( 1961) is a fictionalized film account of the post- World Spencer Tracy ( April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was a two-time Academy Award -winning Actor of stage and Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster ( 2 November &ndash 20 October) was an American film Actor and star noted for his athletic physique Richard Widmark ( December 26, 1914 &ndash March 24, 2008) was an American Actor of Films stage, Marlene Dietrich maɐˈleːnə ˈdiːtrɪç (December 27 &ndashMay 6) was a German -born American Actress, Singer and Entertainer Maximilian Schell (born December 8, 1930) is an Academy Award -winning Austrian Actor. Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10 1922 – June 22 1969 was an American actress and singer Edward Montgomery Clift ( October 17, 1920 – July 23, 1966) was an American film actor Werner Klemperer ( March 22, 1920 – December 6, 2000) was an Emmy Award -winning comedic actor best known for his role as Colonel William Alan Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian double Emmy - Golden Globe - and Saturn Award -winning
Notes
References
- Trial proceedings from the Mazal Library.
- Description of the trial from the U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
- The Justice Trial
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