list of guards at nuremberg trials

Gifts, usually clothing, soap, tobacco, and family photos, could be given to prisoners after inspection by a guard. The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy. Despite being accused of the same crimes, Sauckel was sentenced to death, while Speer was given a prison sentence because the judges considered that he could reform. But, he gave us no problem and I found him engaging to talk to and an excellent checkers player.. He never repented for anything he ever did. He was a physical fitness fanatic who threw his cell window open in mid-winter and splashed toilet water over his bare chest and then did pushups, before meals, after meals, most any time, over and over. I never heard him speak, Prestianni remembered. Between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 24 of the most important political and military leaders of Nazi Germany. Former field marshal Keitel, another prisoner who was eventually executed, gradually alienated himself from the other prisoners. [114], In mid-December the Americans switched to presenting the case against the indicted organizations, while in January both the British and Americans presented evidence against individual defendants. Only Speer stood in the courtroom showing some remorse and, in an act of contrition, admitted his guilt and knowledge of the camps. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment. He was another of Prestiannis favorite checker-playing opponents. Eighteen-inch rectangular holes were cut from the heavy, oaken cell doors, slightly below eye level. He was sent to Nuremburg and stood guard at the Judges quarters. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. star wars fanfiction terran alliance; when a girl says i'll keep that in mind; hillsborough disaster who was to blame; how to get into stanford with a low gpa Nuremberg Trials Nuremberg Trials after WWII Nuremberg Trials post Second World War Categories: General news, War and unrest, Government and politics, Military and defense, Social affairs; Location: Germany Display: All Displaying 1 - 124 of 124 Results < Prev | 1 | Next > 4508300110 4508301118 4508310176 4508310168 451007142 490414058 490414049 Im always looking for pictures of the guards and hoping one day I will see him as a young soldier. Ten of them Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Alfred Rosenberg, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Keitel, and Arthur Seyss-Inquart were hanged on October 16, 1946. Twelve paid with their lives. Staff Sgt. American chow was prepared for the guards and other Army personnel. Seven others, over time, were reduced by lengthy prison sentences to hollow, shuffling shadows of their former selves. [19], The Nuremberg Charter upended the traditional view of international law by holding individuals, rather than states, responsible for breaches of international law. [66][67] The prosecutors wanted to try representative leaders of German politics, economy, and military; and the Americans had a list of 70 names at the London Conference. The Rome Statute establishing a permanent International Criminal Court (ICC), which had been proposed in 1953, was finally agreed to in 1998. [36][35] On 8 August, the Nuremberg Charter was signed in London. I inherited all of it. [136][137] The Soviet prosecution case was generally well received and presented compelling evidence about the suffering of the Soviet people and the Soviet contribution to victory. Minister of Foreign Affairs 193238, succeeded by Ribbentrop. After encountering a you tube video by accident I have a different answer. Home; Services; New Patient Center. Neurath, after serving eight years of his 15-year sentence, was spirited away in clandestine fashion, without fanfare, and mysteriously set free in the dead of night on November 6, 1954, because of an alleged eye ailment. [2] German aggression was accompanied by immense brutality in occupied areas and the systematic murder of millions of Jews in the Holocaust. Minister of Foreign Affairs 193845. Colonels from all four countries were running around trying to determine how it happened.. We were given strict orders to have no contact whatsoever with these women, no conversation, no nothing and to stay well away from them, noted Prestianni. Martin Bormann was tried and condemned to death in absentia, and Hermann Gring committed suicide before he could be executed. These women prisoners constantly did anything they could to get a guard in trouble or disciplined.. Long live Germany.. Goehring gave my Dad a notebook that he had drawn in. At least 30,000 women died here. [60] Conspiracy charges were especially central to the cases against propagandists and industrialists; the former were charged with providing the ideological justification for war and other crimes, while the latter were accused of economic mobilization without which no war would have been possible. Jackson. My father was a guard in the courtroom (Palace of Justice) at the Nuremberg trials in 1946. I tried to judge them myself, not by what others said of them. The food, prepared in an American-staffed kitchen, offered identical German menus for each prisoner. Michael Prestianni served as a guard at Nuremberg as high-ranking Nazis stood trial for their lives. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Four were sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years: Karl Dnitz, Baldur von Schirach, Albert Speer, and Konstantin von Neurath. 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. He did mention seeing the prisoners in their cells. I do remember that Schacht, like most of the others, steadfastly maintained his innocence, never admitting to guilt in any form. [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". Only Speer occasionally tried to befriend him or penetrate his deep solitude with a few words of encouragement. Twelve sets of trials, involving over a hundred defendants and several different courts, took place in Nuremberg from 1945 to 1949. The prisons concrete walls, most of which were more than three feet thick, encased the solitary cell window that offered the prisoners no view of the outside world. [152] The defendants' witnesses sometimes managed to exculpate them, but other witnessesincluding Rudolf Hss, the former commandant of Auschwitz, and Hans Bernd Gisevius, a member of the German resistanceeffectively incriminated the defendants. 08-12-2007, 10:07 PM. Andrus, a strict disciplinarian, were constantly reminded that the prisoners should be treated with civility and objectivity at all times. [17] On 8 May, Germany surrendered unconditionally. [134] The second film included footage of the liberation of Majdanek and the liberation of Auschwitz and was considered even more disturbing than the American concentration camp film. [80][81] The aim was to have these organizations declared criminal, so that their members could be tried expeditiously for membership in a criminal organization. By creating an Aryan nation, the world would look up to and envy Germany for its racial purity.. Joachim von Ribbentrop's body after his execution. During numerous argumentative discussions, Neurath referred to the Polish population and others that were slaughtered by German troops as untermenschen, the German expression for inferior beings. Tags International Military TribunalNurembergGermanywar crimes trialstrials National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD After one of those accused, Robert Ley, former director of the nations Labor Front, hanged himself from a drain pipe with a torn towel, prisoners were kept under constant visual surveillance by guards, and while sleeping were forced to do so with their faces and hands exposed above their blankets at all times. Four were convicted and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years. [100], On 21 November, Jackson gave the opening speech for the prosecution. Soldiers in tank stand guard in front of the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg where the International Military Tribunal . [56][57] After this division of formulating the charges, the British and American delegations decided to work jointly in drafting the charges of conspiracy to wage aggressive war. [121], On 8 February, the Soviet prosecution opened its case with a speech by Rudenko that covered all four prosecution charges, highlighting both aggressive war and the devastation of Eastern Europe[122] and listing many crimes committed by the German occupiers against the Soviet people. was on Court room duty. So the court then allowed him to choose any lawyer he wanted and Stahmer was his pick. It was eerie. Afterwards, during the Berlin Blockade, they took part in securing Allied facilities involved in the Berlin Airlift and later also were guarding USA Army headquarters. Examine the Nrnberg (Nuremberg) trials of formerleaders of Nazi Germany for war crimes, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Nurnberg-trials, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Holocaust Encyclopedia - The Nuremberg Trials, Famous Trials - Nuremberg Trials (1945-49), Nuremberg Trials - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Nuremberg trials - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Konstantin von Neurath at the Nrnberg trials, Ernst Kaltenbrunner at the Nrnberg trials. The film, compiled from footage of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, shocked both the defendants and the judges, who adjourned the trial. Verdicts were handed down on October 1, 1946. [49][48] The French government tried to appoint staff who were not tainted by collaboration with the Vichy regime; some appointments were of those who had been in the French resistance. The duty roster for guards was revised daily in an attempt to prevent the development of unauthorized relationships with prisoners. He guarded top Nazis at Nuremberg trials; now he'll share his story By CAROL SMITH, P-I REPORTER Updated Nov 7, 2007 Jack Carver holds a portrait of top-ranking Nazi Hermann Goering, whom he met. It was in my family until the early 2000s. [217][218] The last prisoner was released in 1958. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. This brass pot held the holy water that an attending priest sprinkled on the condemned immediately before their execution. Neurath, Konstantin von. [167] The judges were aware that both the Allies and the Axis had planned or committed acts of aggression, writing the verdict carefully to avoid discrediting either the Allied governments or the tribunal. My mother gave the journal to my oldest brother who died in 1998. If anyone knows how I can verify that he was a guard, please let me know. He was the popular picture court room scene the second on the left of the door. Proposals for how to punish the defeated Nazi leaders ranged from a . [22][23] War crimes already existed in international law as criminal violations of the laws and customs of war. [89] Because of the loose evidentiary rules, photographs, charts, maps, and films played an important role in making incredible crimes believable. He served in that capacity for three months, bringing him in daily contact with 16 of the 22 accused war criminals. The crew (left to right) Private (1st Class) Carl E McCray (Salem, Va.) and Sergeant E Wilson (Texas.)'. All guards were forced to stand practically motionless at parade rest behind their assigned prisoner seated before them in the dock. list of guards at nuremberg trialsdelpark homes sutton list of guards at nuremberg trials. My dad, Frederick M. Bencriscutto, was in the field artillery in the 1st Infantry Division during WWII. Three others were acquitted. In an attempt to further depersonalize them, prisoners were designated by numbers rather than by their familial surnames. I never really got to know him very well during the few months before he was released, commented Prestianni, but at one time he tried to teach me an intricate German card game, but I never could catch on to it. He was released in 1966. Adam Weishaupt, Abraham: The World's First Psychopath. There was no physical contact, and all conversation via microphone was closely monitored by a guard standing behind each prisoner. No favoritism was shown nor was a selection offered. Another favorite was Alfred Jodl, former chief of the operations staff of the Army high command, who was found guilty and executed. They, as a group, had no problem with their guilt. 1. That was until he took his own life by biting down on a cyanide capsule a few hours before he was scheduled to be hanged., Prestianni remembered vividly the night of the executions and Grings suicide. Seven others, including Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler 's former deputy, were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life. He remained bombastic and arrogant right up to the end, all the while looking upon the other prisoners as inferior beings., Ribbentrop, another of Prestiannis checker opponents, was vainglorious, almost constantly given to pompous bragging and considered stupid by the other prisoners. At the wars end, he was assigned to the guard detail at Nuremburg. He used to tell me he always did what he thought was right for the Fatherland but that just too much came to light during the trial.. 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. jkeller, Aug 11, 2010 #16. macrusk Proud Daughter of a Canadian WWII Veteran. Hans Frank, known as the Slayer of Poles, was small, outwardly arrogant, and had a cruel face, Prestianni revealed. It was difficult and tiring duty. Where the convicted were housed on the ground floor, lower-tier cellblock, the main corridor was 60 meters (195 feet) long, lined by 16 cells on each side, and constantly patrolled by 1st Division guards. Unbelievable but true - an entire unit of former Waffen-SS Grenadiers were retrained and deployed by the Americans to help guard the Nuremberg Trials in 1946-49. Two of the six were acquitted, two given prison terms and two sentenced to death. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. [186] These trials were held under Law No. -. After being rotated home in 1949, he reenlisted and soon found himself on Okinawa prior to deployment to Korea. He has little or no memory of the six remaining defendants, Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach, Labor Front head Robert Ley, Minister of Economics Walther Funk, Plenipotentiary for Labor Deployment Fritz Sauckel, propagandist Hans Fritzsche, or Artur Seys-Inquart, the administrator of the occupied Netherlands. Again, without a word being spoken, the door was slammed shut. [206], Many Germans at the time of the trials focused on finding food and shelter; few followed the trial closely. However, one thread of similarity was woven among them. [46], The French prosecutor, Franois de Menthon, had just overseen trials of the leaders of Vichy France;[37] he resigned in January 1946 and was replaced by Auguste Champetier de Ribes. I never treated him differently than I did the others I guarded.. Koch was later tried at Buchenwald and sentenced to life imprisonment. Other than that, Hess had no social interaction with the other prisoners. Number 5 was Albert Speer, Hitlers personal architect and confidant. He just celebrated his 93 birthday, and is smart and caring as he has always been. By early 1946, Western prosecutors were uneasy about the Katyn charge, although they never publicly rejected it for fear of casting the entire proceedings into question. Ten of those men would be hung 16 days later. [203], In all, 249 journalists were accredited to cover the IMT[40] and 61,854 visitor tickets were issued. Also represented were some leaders of the German economy, such as Gustav Krupp (of the conglomerate Krupp AG) and former Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht.[2]. [26], The final version of the charter only gave the court the ability to punish those crimes against humanity that had been committed "in connection with any crimes within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal". Raeder kept to himself, voraciously reading and writing his memoirs, but when he interacted with the others, it was often to lash out in anger. [181] All three acquittals (Papen, Schacht, and Fritzsche) were based on a deadlock between the judges; these acquittals surprised observers. After the war, she and other WACS were asked to stay for the Nuremburg trials to serve as stenographers . I dont remember the name of the game after all these years. [43] The United States prosecution believed that Nazism was the product of a German deviation from Western history (the Sonderweg thesis) and sought to correct this deviation with a trial that would serve both retributive and educational purposes. The defendants at Nuremberg. [125], More so than other delegations, Soviet prosecutors showed the gruesome details of German mistreatment of prisoners of war and forced laborers, as well as the systematic murder of Jews in eastern Europe. Many of the prisoners never accepted the fact that they were no longer on top of the world. I had a chance to meet Mr. Christian Delage at a workshop on the . [231], The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Trial) borrowed many of its ideas from the IMT, including all four charges. [87] Over the course of the trial, Western judges allowed the defendants additional leeway to denounce the Soviet Union, which was ultimately revealed to be a co-conspirator in the outbreak of World War II. [61], The problem of translating the indictment and evidence into the three official languages of the tribunal, as well as German, was severe due to the scale of the task and difficulty in recruiting interpreters, especially in the Soviet Union. The Nuremberg Trials: Complete Tribunal Proceedings (V. 4): Trial Proceedings From 17th December 1945 to 8th January 1946 by International Military Tribunal (shelved 1 time as nuremberg-trial) avg rating 0.0 0 ratings published Want to Read Rate this book 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars Nrnberg trials, Nrnberg also spelled Nuremberg, series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 194546, in which former Nazi leaders were indicted and tried as war criminals by the International Military Tribunal. I would have kept my distance from them.. Generally, I would describe the food, as I recall, quite good, Prestianni remembers. The Nuremberg trials were a series of 13 trials carried out in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1949 to try those accused of Nazi war crimes. Nuremberg, Germany, November 1945. [200] The case law of the trials fleshed out the skeleton provided by the Nuremberg charter and the IMT verdict. [39] Besides legal professionals, there were many social-science researchers, psychologists, translators and interpreters, and graphic designers, the latter to make the many charts used during the trial. When asked how the individual personalities, habits, and mannerisms differed, Prestianni responded that they were varied. Three of the defendants were acquitted: Hjalmar Schacht, Franz von Papen, and Hans Fritzsche. Following the Second World War, many concentration camps such as Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz were liberated. The Nuernberg trial records include transcripts of proceedings . After Ley hanged himself, this strict suicide watch was instituted, Prestianni explained. Prestiannis assignment was over, and he was transferred to guard duty at a POW compound at Bamberg, Germany. [129] The Soviet prosecution also attempted to fabricate German responsibility for the Katyn massacre, which had in fact been committed by the Soviet Union. [8][9] On 1 November 1943, the Soviet Union, United Kingdom, and United States issued the Moscow Declaration to "give full warning" to the Nazi leadership of the Allies' intent to "pursue them to the uttermost ends of the earthin order that justice may be done". He was the first of 10 hanged on October 16, 1946. If one inadvertently looked up at her, she arbitrarily ordered the prisoner shot. my father david c bergeron was a 1st LT with the guards at the war trials. While on duty, guards carried no weapons, only wooden truncheons. He held the rank of seargent when he was discharged in 1945. [28] The charter limited the jurisdiction of the court to Germany's actions because the Allies did not want to answer to an international court for their own actions;[29] only Germans could be tried. [119] Unlike the British and American prosecution strategy, which focused on using German documents to make their case, the French prosecutors took the perspective of the victims, submitting postwar police reports and calling eleven witnesses. He had been instrumental in establishing a totalitarian state. They were not to be shown disrespect. events, and resources, Michael Prestianni: Guarding the War Criminals at Nuremberg. [135] The Soviet Union also called two Holocaust survivors as witnesses, Samuel Rajzmana Treblinka survivorand poet Abraham Sutzkever, who eloquently described the murder of tens of thousands of Jews from Vilna, although their testimony did not directly incriminate any of the defendants. 18008 Bothell Everett Hwy SE # F, Bothell, WA 98012. Whether the prisoners availed themselves of this privilege was by individual choice. Speer managed to distinguish himself from other defendants, giving the impression of apologizing, although without assuming personal guilt or naming any victims other than the German people. After the first trial ended in October 1946, the United States held 12 other trials at Nuremberg under the authority of the International Military Tribunal. [146][147] Defense lawyer Alfred Seidl[de] repeatedly tried to disclose the secret protocols of the GermanSoviet pact. Most certainly. [219][220] The German public took the early releases as confirmation of what they saw as the illegitimacy of the trials. It was the last thing Streicher was known to have written. I would like any information that would lead me to a more detailed understanding of what my father did while part of this undertaking. [6] The Soviet Union wanted to hold a show trial similar to the 1930s Moscow trials, in order to demonstrate the Nazi leaders' guilt and build a case for war reparations to rebuild the Soviet economy, which had been devastated by the war. He was quiet by nature and spent much of his time writing his memoirs. He greeted me in the morning and that was about it. Other Units at Nuremberg were The US Constabulary, the 793rd MP . He rarely talked, but when he did his speech was rambling. [241][242], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}492716N 110254E / 49.45444N 11.04833E / 49.45444; 11.04833. One can only imagine the effect the pounding had on the condemned prisoners, now with only one more day to live. Sykes supervised guards, including the iconic. [210] As the Cold War began, the rapidly changing political environment began to affect the effectiveness of the trials. Surviving members of the company marked the 56th anniversary of its founding , which took place, according to Toronto's Tommy Tomson, on December 26, 1946. Strict attention was always paid to the prisoners. My Dad was a guard at the Nuremberg trials. [123] The next week, the Soviet prosecution suddenly produced former field marshal Friedrich von Paulus, captured after the Battle of Stalingrad, as a witness and questioned him about the preparations for the invasion of the Soviet Union. The Palace of Justice was relatively intact but needed to be renovated for the trial due to bomb damage; it had an attached prison where the defendants could be held. The defense lawyers saw themselves as acting on behalf of their clients, but also the German nation;[78] they prioritized the Wehrmacht's reputation over the lives of the generals on trial. [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. My mother had pointed his photo out to me on several occasions but I was too young to remember. [154] The United States controlled the prison where the defendants and some of the witnesses were held, and tried its best to shut the Soviets out of the proceedings. Guards were under strict orders never to respond to verbal abuse by prisoners, no matter how hateful it might be. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. [175][176], Four organizations were ruled to be criminal: the Leadership Corps of the Nazi Party, the SS, the Gestapo, and the SD, although some lower ranks and subgroups were excluded. Cell doors were never opened when food was distributed. These were people, Neurath reasoned, of whom Germany was cleansing the world.. The Nuremberg Trials were a series of trials that occurred in post-World War II Germany to provide a platform for justice against accused Nazi war criminals. His face had an animal look to it, Prestianni stated. The priest was most likely the Nrnberg prisons Lutheran chaplain, Henry F. Gerecke. Prestianni never served in the trial courtroom, only in the cellblock. My Dad was murdered, hanged, when I was 5 years old in 1965. I wish I would have ask more questions about his experience there. He was not tall at all and didnt really stand out in any way from the others, Prestianni said. He argued that he was being persecuted.. [58], The charge of conspiracy was spearheaded by the United States prosecution and was less popular with the other Allies. [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. [14][15] The exact form that retribution would take was left unresolved at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. The Nazi war criminal, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, after execution at Nuremberg. Before and during the war crimes trial, they were to be considered still innocent, Andrus drummed into the military personnel under his command. Jobs People Learning . This page was last edited on 8 October 2022, at 21:33. [179], The exact sentences to be given each defendant were debated at length by the judges. [24][25] Although a novel construct, "crimes against humanity" covered acts that were already prohibited by the laws of most countries. [127] Evidence was presented on the murder of children, attempts to cover up atrocities,[128] systematic plunder of occupied territories, and confiscation or destruction of cultural heritage. All I can recall is that he was standing to the left in the court room. [59] The conspiracy charge was used to charge the top Nazi leaders, as well as bureaucrats who had never killed anyone or perhaps even directly ordered killing. In rendering these decisions, the tribunal rejected the major defenses offered by the defendants. [146][148] Six defendants were charged with the German invasion of Norway, and their lawyers argued that this invasion was undertaken to prevent a British invasion; a cover-up prevented the defense from capitalizing on this argument. She was given the nickname "Bloody Brigette" by the camp . All of those with whom I came in contact spoke flawless English, he remembered. Two and a quarter hours before he was to be executed he took poison under the. The same routine was followed for each of the condemned prisoners. [87] In France, some verdicts were met with outrage from the media and especially from organizations for deportees and resistance fighters, as they were perceived as too lenient. [190][191] Also on trial were industrialistsin the Flick trial, the IG Farben trial, and the Krupp trialfor using forced labor, looting property from Nazi victims, and funding SS atrocities. Did guards favor some prisoners over others? There was a large clock on the wall that was above his right shoulder. He still resides in Framingham after retiring from a 33-year career in supervisory positions with the U.S. [240] The IMT is one of the most well-studied trials in history, and it has also been the subject of an abundance of books and scholarly publications, along with motion pictures such as Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and The Memory of Justice (1976). herrington on the bay wedding cost, kings of pain cast net worth, robert edelman released in 1993,

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