Nuremberg Page #7

[NARRATOR] An aggressor

can be branded only

by the world's conscience.

That supreme organ of humanity

must have not only real,

but also moral authority.

Its impartial judgment

must be looked upon

with general confidence.

It must stand above

the contesting parties.

[NARRATOR] In the name of

the United States of America,

Justice Jackson

delivers his summation.

[NARRATOR] According to the

testimony of each defendant,

these men saw no

evil, spoke none,

and none was uttered

in their presence.

If we combine only the

stories from the front bench,

this is the ridiculous,

composite picture

of Hitler's government

that emerges.

It was composed of

a number two man

who never suspected the

Jewish extermination program,

although he signed over a

score of anti-Semitic decrees.

A number three man who is

merely an innocent middle-man

transmitting Hitler's orders

without even reading them

like a postman or

a delivery boy.

A Foreign Minister who knew

little of foreign affairs

and nothing of foreign policy.

A field marshal who issued

orders to the armed forces

but had no idea of the results

they would have in practice.

A Security Chief who

was of the impression

that the policing functions

of his Gestapo and S.D.

were somewhat on the lines

of directing traffic.

A party philosopher who

had no idea of the violence

which his philosophy was

inciting in the 20th century.

A Governor-General of Poland

who reigned, but did not rule.

A Gauleiter of Franconia

whose occupation

was to pour forth filthy

writings about the Jews,

but who had no idea that

anybody would read them.

A Minister of the

Interior who knew

not even what went

on in his own office,

much less the interior

of his own department,

and nothing at all about

the interior of Germany.

A Reichsbank president

who is totally ignorant

of what went in and out

of the vaults of his bank.

To say of these men that

they are not guilty,

it would be as true to

say there has been no war,

there are no slain,

there has been no crime.

[NARRATOR] In the name

of the United Kingdom

of Great Britain and

Northern Ireland,

Sir Hartley Shawcross

delivers his summation.

[NARRATOR] This trial

must form a milestone

in the history of civilization.

Not only marking that

right shall in the end

triumph over evil, but

also that ordinary people

of the world and, I

make no distinction here

between friend and

foe, are now determined

that the individual must

transcend the state.

The state and law

are made for man,

that through them he may

achieve a fuller life,

a higher purpose and

a greater dignity.

[NARRATOR] In the

name of the Union

of Soviet Socialist

Republics, General Rudenko

delivers his summation.

[NARRATOR] And when

we ask have the charges

against the defendants been

proved before the court,

have the defendants been

convicted of their guilt?

There is only one answer.

Their crimes have been proved.

Neither the statements of the

defendants nor the arguments

of the defense were able to

refute our grave accusations.

It has been impossible

to cast doubt

on events which

actually took place.

The truth cannot be challenged.

That is the real

meaning of this trial.

That is the lasting result of

our long and strenuous effort.

[NARRATOR] In the name

of the French Republic,

Monsieur de Ribes

delivers his summation.

[NARRATOR] When this

international trial is closed

and the principal war

criminals sentenced,

we shall go back to

our own countries.

The fate of these men now lies

entirely with your conscience.

This is beyond our competence.

Our task is finished.

Now it is for you, in the

silence of your deliberations,

to listen to innocent

blood crying for justice.

[NARRATOR] Lord Justice

Lawrence, Great Britain.

Mr Frances Biddle,

United States.

Monsieur de Vabres, France.

And Major General

Nikitchenko, U.S.S.R.

and their alternates

prepare the verdict.

It will be based on the

opinion of the majority.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

[NARRATOR] On October 1st,

1946, the verdict is delivered

by Lord Justice Lawrence,

president of the tribunal.

[NARRATOR] Of the

organizations, the S.S., S.D.,

Gestapo and leadership

corps are found guilty.

The high command, S.A. and

Reich cabinet, not guilty.

As for the individual,

Wilhelm Hermann Goering:

guilty of conspiracy,

crimes against peace,

war crimes and crimes

against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Rudolph Hess:
guilty of conspiracy

and crimes against peace.

Life imprisonment.

Joachim Von Ribbentrop:

guilty of conspiracy,

crimes against peace, war crimes

and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Wilhelm Keitel:
guilty of

conspiracy, crimes against peace,

war crimes and crimes

against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Ernst Kaltenbrunner:

guilty of war crimes

and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Alfred Rosenberg:

guilty of conspiracy,

crimes against peace, war crimes

and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Hans Frank:
guilty of war crimes

and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Wilhelm Frick:
guilty

of crimes against peace,

war crimes and crimes

against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Julius Streicher: guilty

of crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Walter Funk:
guilty of

crimes against peace,

war crimes and crimes

against humanity.

Life imprisonment.

Hjalmar Schacht:
not

guilty on this indictment.

Released.

Karl Doenitz:
guilty of crimes

against peace and war crimes.

10 years imprisonment.

Erich Raeder:
guilty

of conspiracy,

crimes against peace

and war crimes.

Life imprisonment.

Baldur von Schirach: guilty

of crimes against humanity.

20 years imprisonment.

Fritz Sauckel:

guilty of war crimes

and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Alfred Jodl:
guilty of conspiracy,

crimes against peace,

war crimes and crimes

against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Franz von Papen:
not

guilty on this indictment.

Released.

Albert Speer:

guilty of war crimes

and crimes against humanity.

20 years imprisonment.

Constantin von Neurath:

guilty of conspiracy,

crimes against peace, war crimes

and crimes against humanity.

15 years imprisonment.

Artur Seyss-Inquart: guilty

of crimes against peace,

war crimes and crimes

against humanity.

Death by hanging.

Hanz Fritzsche:
not

guilty on this indictment.

Released.

Martin Bormann, tried in

absentia:
guilty of war crimes

and crimes against humanity.

Death by hanging.

[NARRATOR] The trial is over.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

Seven begin their

prison sentences.

Goering chooses to

die by his own hand.

The other 10 wait

for the gallows.

(DRAMATIC MUSIC)

In Nuremberg, the people of

the world found out and why.

But Nuremberg is more than

an answer to a question.

As Justice Jackson

said, this trial is part

of the great effort to

make the peace more secure.

It constitutes juridical

action of a kind to ensure

that those who start a war

will pay for it personally.

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