3 Feb 1946. I would like any information that would lead me to a more detailed understanding of what my father did while part of this undertaking. Michael Prestianni served as a guard at Nuremberg as high-ranking Nazis stood trial for their lives. [74], Although the list of defendants was finalized on 29 August,[75] as late as October, Jackson demanded changes and expansion of the defendants list, but this was rejected. He was a man of some stature with flowing white hair, but he would still never be noticed much in a crowd. [185] Twelve military trials were convened solely by the United States in the same courtroom that had hosted the International Military Tribunal. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany waged war across Europe, invading Czechoslovakia, Poland, the Low Countries, France, Denmark, Norway, Yugoslavia, Greece, and the Soviet Union, among others. I have searched photos of the trials to see if I could find my dad. [179], The exact sentences to be given each defendant were debated at length by the judges. With the change of command by rotating countries every month, each of the countries altered the previous countrys rules. The Nrnberg trials were a series of trials held in Nrnberg, Germany, in 1945 and 1946 following the end of World War II. Also represented were some leaders of the German economy, such as Gustav Krupp (of the conglomerate Krupp AG) and former Reichsbank president Hjalmar Schacht. He was made an MP after the war William A Shoemaker from North Carolina. [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. [37] Nineteen states ratified the charter and were admitted as observers. It was also a way to indirectly charge crimes committed before the beginning of World War II, which the charter placed outside the court's jurisdiction. While they walked, the prisoners were separated by a prescribed number of yards. These visits usually were brief, and participants were separated by a screen. There were limits to how much gore that could be tolerated by some of the courtroom guards, he recalled. Public to Get Access to Nuremberg Trials Digital Recordings Back in 1945, his grandfather was stationed in Germany for the infamous Nuremberg trials, during which he got his hands on a pair of sunglasses allegedly worn by a high ranking Nazi. 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. No favoritism was shown nor was a selection offered. All were destined for incarceration, at least during their trials, in two of Germanys most feared prisons: the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg and Spandau Prison on the western outskirts of Berlin. [183][184] The judges proved their independence from the governments that appointed them, the defendants were seen as receiving due process, and the evidence of guilt amassed by the prosecution was overwhelming. Prestianni did not recall any such instances. Between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 21 of the most important surviving leaders of Nazi Germany in the political, military, and economic spheres, as well as six German organizations. However, fraternization did occur on a regular basis and, for the most part, went unpunished by the prison administration. Minister of Foreign Affairs 193845. The first session, under the presidency of Gen. I.T. [90][91] The bringing of conspiracy charges also slowed the trial, as the same evidence ended up being read out multiple times, when it was relevant to both substantive and conspiracy charges. On the night he was to be hanged, Streicher gave Prestianni a signed, handwritten note after supper. Through these openings, aluminum food trays could be placed within reach of the prisoners. The same routine was followed for each of the condemned prisoners. During the months of imprisonment, the brisk gait of some of the prisoners gradually evolved into defeatist, head-bowed shuffling as acceptance of their fate gradually wore them down and eroded their will. This is evidenced by the change of the guards uniforms back and forth from the heavier, darker, winter uniform to the lighter colored summer uniform. American chow was prepared for the guards and other Army personnel. Guards were under strict orders never to respond to verbal abuse by prisoners, no matter how hateful it might be. April 22, 2020. A huge crowd of soldiers stands at . Another favorite was Alfred Jodl, former chief of the operations staff of the Army high command, who was found guilty and executed. The purpose of the trial was not just to convict the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi crimes, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, and delegitimize the traditional German elite. [139] Some defendants denied their involvement in, or knowledge of, certain crimes,[140] even resorting to implausible lies. Two of the six were acquitted, two given prison terms and two sentenced to death. [203], In all, 249 journalists were accredited to cover the IMT[40] and 61,854 visitor tickets were issued. Gring enjoyed baiting his guards. Hans Frank, known as the Slayer of Poles, was small, outwardly arrogant, and had a cruel face, Prestianni revealed. 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. 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.. [40] Each state appointed a prosecution team and two judges, one being an alternate. They had a profound affect on my dad, who always said, I would never want to be killed by hanging. Yet, the constables who allegedly murdered my Dad did just that. The tribunal responded that such acts had been regarded as criminal prior to World War II. jkeller, Aug 11, 2010 #16. macrusk Proud Daughter of a Canadian WWII Veteran. They wanted to run the whole show. Nikitchenko, the Soviet member, took place on October 18, 1945, in Berlin. Ten condemned Nazi ringleaders died on the gallows in the Nuernberg jail early today but Herman Goering, Adolf . 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 Several were militaristically aloof and looked down upon those they considered to be the mere political element. Three of those accused were acquitted and upon their release soon faded into obscurity. [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. Prestianni, the guard contingent, and supervisors under the command of Colonel B.C. Some passively resigned themselves to their futures while others fought it off and never fully accepted their fates. [63] Jackson also rewrote the indictment with the intent of keeping the proceedings under American control by separating out an overall conspiracy charge from the other three charges. In some cases, this arrogance lingered into their years of incarceration. The speech was favorably received by the prosecution, the tribunal, the audience, historians, and even the defendants. Twelve sets of trials, involving over a hundred defendants and several different courts, took place in Nuremberg from 1945 to 1949. [236][237], The trials were the first use of simultaneous interpretation, which stimulated technical advances in translation methods. Emilio "Leo" DiPalma, a World War II veteran and a guard for some of the most notorious Nazi prisoners during the Nuremberg trials, died Wednesday along with several other veterans who. 18008 Bothell Everett Hwy SE # F, Bothell, WA 98012. FRD provides custom research services to federal agencies, the District of Columbia government, and authorized federal contractors. Usually these are prosecution chargeslike crimes against humanityor a defense response. Twelve paid with their lives. After 216 court sessions, on October 1, 1946, the verdict on 22 of the original 24 defendants was handed down. Trial issues are criminal activities or subjects at issue in a trial that are addressed by a document. Gring was the acknowledged leader among the prisoners. It would be so greatly appreciated. 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. These were 60 year old Emma Zimmer, nee Mezel, and 36 year old . [144] Most defendants argued their own insignificance within the Nazi system, but Gring took the opposite approach, presenting himself as Hitler's loyalist and expecting that while he would be executed, the German people would eventually appreciate his loyalty. Johann Georg Richert was found guilty and was executed in Minsk, Byelorussia. [215] Early releases of those convicted by the Nuremberg Military Tribunals began in 1949;[216] and in 1951, High Commissioner John J. McCloy overturned most of the sentences. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Many were resistance fighters or political opponents. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded many countries across Europe, inflicting 27 million deaths in the Soviet Union alone. The purpose of the armored reinforcement was to prevent any possibility of attack by groups of still-fanatic Nazis. A. My mothers cousin was a WAC serving in England during WW2. After the war, she and other WACS were asked to stay for the Nuremburg trials to serve as stenographers . [205] Where the prosecution was disappointed by some of the verdicts, the defense could take satisfaction. All eight judges participated in the deliberations, but the alternates could not cast a vote. Later. Number 3 was Konstantin von Neurath, a former high-ranking politician. [195][196], These trials emphasized the crimes committed during the Holocaust. [71][72] The military leaders were Hermann Gring, Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Jodl, Erich Raeder, and Karl Dnitz. I could never beat him in checkers. He was quiet by nature and spent much of his time writing his memoirs. When expanded it provides a list of search options that will switch the search inputs to match the current selection. [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. I tried to judge them myself, not by what others said of them. The defendants' lawyers jointly appealed to the court, claiming it did not have jurisdiction against the accused; but this motion was rejected. Before and during the war crimes trial, they were to be considered still innocent, Andrus drummed into the military personnel under his command. One of the new USA light tanks (M24) on guard outside the courthouse at Nuremberg. [120] Ultimately, the French prosecution was unable to convince the court that Germanization was a crime against humanity, and incidents such as the German annexation of AlsaceLorraine went unmentioned in the final verdict. In mid-1945, France, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States agreed to convene a joint tribunal in Nuremberg, with the Nuremberg Charter as its legal instrument. Had been imprisoned since then. Adam Weishaupt, Abraham: The World's First Psychopath. Most of the time the prison was dank, uncomfortably cold, and forbidding, especially during the winter months. [64] The division of labor, and the haste with which the indictment was prepared, resulted in duplication, imprecise language, and lack of attribution of specific charges to individual defendants. How long did it take you to learn what you are doing? he often asked. [111][112] The British case covered invasions, from that of Poland to that of the Soviet Union, which Shawcross covered in the second part of his speech;[113] these charges took three days to present, with Maxwell Fyfe detailing 15 treaties broken by Germany. Per newspaper accounts of the scene, when the inmates heard the news they "shouted with joy" and "chattering excitedly, hastily shed the red . [228][24] The charge of crimes against humanity, the charge of conspiracy, and imposing criminal penalties on individuals for breaches of international law were also novel but attracted little criticism. Below are facts about what has been called the greatest trial in history. Three were sentenced to life imprisonment. Verdicts were handed down on October 1, 1946. Everyone within hearing distance knew what the hammering signified. [173] The war crimes and crimes-against-humanity charges held up the best, with only two defendants who were charged being acquitted on those charges. [238][239] The Palace of Justice houses a museum on the trial and the courtroom became a tourist attraction, drawing 13,138 visitors in 2005. Some of these camps, such as Treblinka, were death camps, intended to kill every prisoner that passed through their gates. During his three-month tour of duty at Nuremberg prison, Prestianni was assigned to 16 different prisoners. His name was David C. Porter from Pennsylvania. (November 1945) Sources: All photos copyright and courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum [163] Contrary to the prosecution, the verdict dated the planning of aggression to the 1937 Hossbach Memorandum and not to the founding of the Nazi Party. Jackson. Guards were, on occasion, somewhat lenient and allowed some prisoners, based on previous friendships and compatible personalities, to walk in pairs. Prestianni played checkers and chess with four of the prisoners and argued politics with others. I inherited all of it. 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. He had actually tried to usurp Hitlers authority during the last days of the Reich but remained an ardent supporter of the Nazi regime during the trial, often proving himself a skilled debater. 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. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. My mother gave the journal to my oldest brother who died in 1998. All war crimes prisoners ate from a single German menu. Ten of themHans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Alfred Rosenberg, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Fritz Sauckel, Alfred Jodl, Wilhelm Keitel, and Arthur Seyss-Inquartwere hanged on October 16, 1946. The Nuernberg trial records include transcripts of proceedings . Second, it rejected the argument that the trial and adjudication were ex post facto. Prestianni guarded Streicher many times. If anyone knows how I can verify that he was a guard, please let me know. Today these sketches are highly prized. , That used to shut him up but usually only for a few minutes, and then he would start up again with the jokes. In the prison cellblock, each single-occupant cell had two parallel heating pipes beneath a single, heavily scratched, plastic-covered window, the top half of which could be tilted open for limited ventilation. Andrus, a strict disciplinarian, were constantly reminded that the prisoners should be treated with civility and objectivity at all times. --. [45] At Jackson's recommendation, the United States appointed judges Francis Biddle and John Parker. Soviet prosecutors in Nrnberg, Germany brought out Friedrich Paulus and Erich Buschenhagen by surprise as witnesses in the war crimes trials. [13] Planners in the United States Department of War were drawing up plans for an international tribunal in late 1944 and early 1945. An accomplished horseman, Streicher continued to wear high leather boots and riding britches during his confinement. New Patient Forms; Q. The British worked on putting together the aggressive war charge; the French and Soviet delegations were assigned the task of covering crimes against humanity and war crimes committed on the Western Front and the Eastern Front, respectively. The ensuing trial pitted U.S. chief prosecutor and Supreme Court judge Robert Jackson against Hermann Gring, the former head of the Nazi air force, whom Adolf Hitler had once named to be his. We needled him by saying his girls wanted to abandon the Fatherland, marry Americans, and emigrate to the United States.. After his release from prison in Nuremberg, a Stuttgart court sentenced him to eight years in a work camp. [227] The main legal criticisms of the trial focused on questions of retroactivity, selectivity, and jurisdiction. [198] The trials targeted 177 defendants and obtained 142 convictions, including 25 death sentences;[199] the severity of sentencing was related to the defendant's proximity to mass murder. [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".