U.S History 3rd
04/19/13
Primary Source Document Essay
NUREMBERG TRIALS
My primary source document is the United States of America opening introduction during the Nuremberg Trials. Their introduction is stated in the first paragraph of the document. In April 1945, two weeks after President Roosevelt's death, Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson was chosen to be the chief prosecutor for the United States at Nuremberg war-crimes trial, that was held in Europe soon after the World War II had ended. The Nuremberg Trials is the general name for two sets of trials of Nazis involved in crimes committed during the Holocaust of World War II. The first, and most famous, began on November 20, 1945. It was entitled the Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal. During World War II, the Allies met to discuss the after the war treatment of Nazi leaders. Towards the end of the war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked the War Department to think of a plan for bringing war criminals to justice. The U.S wanted to come to them in a fair approach without any trouble.
Twelve trials with more than a hundred defendants and several different courts were placed in Nuremberg. It was the most attention that had been focused on the first Nuremberg trial of 21 major war criminals. Many notorious Nazi leaders were brought to justice because of the Trials. However, several other leaders avoided trial and punishment by committing suicide. Specifically, Adolf Hitler took his own life in an underground bunker of his. Soviet Troops just 300 yards away to take him into the trials. Instead of the Nazis who did not take their own lives, their punishment varied. Some Nazis were sentenced to death death by anyway that seemed fit, life time imprisonment, and prison terms that were based on evidence that had which varied a lot more than they had hoped.