International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg

On 13 January 1942, representatives of nine governments exiled in Great Britain and whose countries were under Nazi occupation met in London for « an allied conference on the punishment of war crimes ». The idea of an international trial to punish those responsible for crimes committed under the Nazi regime, no matter the degree of responsibility of the perpetrators, began to take form. On 17 December 1942, for the first time, the extermination of the Jews was brought up and the governments concerned reaffirmed their resolve to punish those who were found guilty within the shortest possible time. However, at that stage in the process, no precise details were formulated concerning the nature or means of such punishment.

On 30 October 1943, a War Crimes Commission was set up in London to collect and classify information on the crimes and those responsible for extermination. At the same time the Allies drafted the Moscow Declaration in which reference was made to two types of criminals: those who had committed crimes in one sole location and those whose offenses had occurred in several different countries.  The declaration stipulated that the latter would be punished by a joint decision of the Allied governments.

On 28 November to 2 December 1953 a conference was held in Teheran, where Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin met each other for the first time.  War crimes were not listed on the conference agenda, but a dinner table discussion between the three statesmen took place on this subject. Stalin proposed mass execution for all German officers. Churchill was an adherent to the idea of summary execution but, nevertheless, rejected the suggestion of mass execution. The leaders of the American delegation leaned more towards executions after a trial, but their position was however, not unanimous.

At the Yalta Conference which was held from 4-11 February 1945, the question concerning the punishment of war criminals was brought up.  Churchill again proposed summary execution of the high ranking Nazis after properly establishing their identity. Roosevelt’s successor, Harry S. Truman adopted an unambiguous position: he refused to agree to summary executions.

As the war came to an end, negotiations came to a head. On 2 May 1945, the American Supreme Court judge, Robert Jackson, was nominated Chief Prosecutor by President Truman and given the responsibility to prepare the trial. The Declaration of Defeat on 5 June 1945, concerning the assumption of complete authority with respect to Germany by the Allied Powers, made mention of bringing criminals to justice without delay. However, at that point in time, it had not yet been agreed what approach the Tribunal would adopt. On 20 June 1945, the American delegation arrived in London intent on negotiating with their British allies an agreement which would allow the trial to get underway. Two major questions were on the agenda: the number of trials and the content of the bill of indictment. The American delegation preferred a trial centred on the “Nazi conspiracy”, meaning that the accent would be on the crime of aggression with a limited number of defendants and with limited, but decisive proof, as well as on the indictment of certain organizations. The British wanted a quick trial to be concluded in less than two weeks.

Negotiations with the French and Soviet delegations proved to be more complicated. The USSR immediately expressed its disagreement over the procedure and the nature of the crimes. The French, just like the Soviets, wished to put the accent on war crimes and the suffering endured by the people, and not on the “crime against peace” as put forward by the Americans.

On 2 August 1945, the American proposition was accepted by Stalin during the Potsdam Conference. It was agreed that the indictment would include the issue of aggression. The headquarters of the Tribunal was fixed as being in Berlin where the opening ceremony was held on 18 October 1945. However the trial was to be held in Nuremberg following the refusal of the Americans to allow it to be held in a city occupied by the USSR. Moreover, for a symbolic reason, the city of Nuremberg was a privileged location. The city had been host to the Annual Congresses of the Nazi party and it was here that the “Nuremberg Laws” were promulgated in 1935 with texts which fuelled the racist foundation of the Reich. A large Chamber of Justice having suffered very little war damage and located next to a large prison provided ideal conditions.

On 8 August 1945, delegation heads from the United States, Great Britain, France and the USSR signed the London Agreement of 8 August 1945 (Nuremberg Charter) and the Charter of the International Military Tribunal, as an integral part of this Accord.