Sixty Years Ago Today, The Nuremberg Trials Began

Sixty years ago today, 24 Nazi officials went on trial for their lives in Nuremberg, Germany, for atrocities committed during World War II. An international tribunal from the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and England conducted the trial.



It was the first trial of its kind in history, and the defendants faced charges ranging from crimes against peace, to crimes of war, to crimes against humanity. Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence, the British member, presided over the 216 court sessions.

On October 1946, 12 Nazi leaders were sentenced to death. Three were acquitted, and seven received prison terms. Goering, who was called the "leading war aggressor and creator of the oppressive program against the Jews," cheated the hangman by taking his own life the night before his scheduled execution. Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann was condemned to death in absentia, although he was actually most likely dead by then.

Trials of less well-known war criminals continued into the 1950s. 5,025 other defendants were convicted, 806 were executed.

Nuremberg has always been a litmus test of my resolve against capital punishment. I may not believe in an eye for an eye, but the people put to death here come pretty close to making a compelling case. . .
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