Definition of Nuremberg Trials

“Go victis"Woe to the vanquished, said Breno (leader of the Gauls) when the Romans complained of their traps with the scales that were to calculate the ransom to deliver to the tribe of the Senones. The same phrase also denotes a reality that concerns all conflicts throughout history, and that refers to the fact that the winners "pass accounts" with the defeated.

Modern warfare has rules and, when these are broken, those responsible for the violation must be brought to justice. It is not a question of judging the soldier who, in the middle of battle, kills another, an act that, no matter how hard it may be, falls within the duties of any military man.

The killings of unarmed civilians or military prisoners are punishable as war crimes, as well as the indiscriminate bombings of populationcivil or facilities necessary for this, as well as passing own soldiers by civilians or enemy soldiers.

The Nazi regime was characterized by an exacerbated brutality with a series of communities, which its creed considered as "inferior beings"

This led to more or less organized assaults on some of the country's leaders even before they came to power in 1933. these communities, those present in Germany like the Jews, although it was from 1939 with the outbreak of war and occupation of territories throughout Europe, that crimes and atrocities, both against imprisoned soldiers and, above all, against civilians.

After the fall of Berlin in May 1945 and the consequent unconditional surrender of Germany, it was time to pass accounts with the criminals. Vae victis, but not from soldiers, captains, lieutenants, colonels or generals who simply complied with due obedience and fought, killing enemies or ordering them to be killed, but of those who attacked civilians.

During the months and years that followed, many trials were held in different locations, both in Germany and elsewhere. countries, but when it came to dealing with the highest and ultimate responsible, the allies decided to give an example exemplary.

They chose the city of Nuremberg for its symbolism for Nazism, since great party events had been held there Nazi, in addition to having been enacted the infamous racial laws that legalized discrimination according to the racial concepts of the Nazis.

Although hundreds of Nazis were tried, some of the main defendants in the Nuremberg Trials were:

• Hermann Göring, marshal of the air (Reichsmarschall) of the force German airLuftwaffe).
• Rudolf hess, Hitler's secretary; he had parachuted over Great Britain in 1941 with an as yet unclear objective.
• Wilhelm frick, Minister of the Interior of the Reich and Protector of Bohemia and Moravia on the death of Reinhard Heydrich
• Karl Donitz, Supreme Chief of the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) from 1943, and successor to Adolf Hitler as president of Germany after his suicide, and until his deposition by the allied occupation authorities.
• Erich raeder, Supreme Chief of the Kriegsmarine until 1943
• Joachim von Ribbentrop, External subjects minister.
• Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Director of the Central Office of Safety
• Albert speer, Hitler's favorite architect and Minister of Armaments and War.
• Alfred Rosenberg, theorist of Nazism and minister of Reich for the occupied territories.
• Alfred Jodl, Chief of the General Staff of the German Army (Wehrmacht).
• Wilhelm Keitel, field marshal, head of the High Command of the Wehrmacht.
• Gustav Krupp, an important German industrialist, one of the main contractors of the army, and who used slave labor in his factories.

The prosecution was carried out by four prosecutors, one for each of the allied powers (United States, Union Soviet, Great Britain and France), while the judges were also four, one for each of the same countries, with a judge alternate in each case.

The processes took place between November 20, 1945 and October 1, 46.

Almost a year of views, although not enough to capture all the horror suffered in the war.

Witnesses such as the photographer Francesc Boix, who as a Republican exile was imprisoned in the concentration camp of Mauthausen, provide their testimony, identifying the defendants, and providing graphic evidence that attests to the atrocities committed.

Sentences were to death in the cases of Wilhelm Frick, Alfred Jodl, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, or Hermann Göring, although the latter committed suicide before being executed.

The method Chosen for all cases was the gallows, including the military, who were thus denied the "honor" of being shot, due to the nature of their crimes. Go victis.

Several life sentences were also handed down, such as those of Erich Raeder and, above all, Rudolf Hess, who was the last survivor of the Nuremberg trials to die, in 1987 in Spandau prison, under circumstances not yet clarified

After the trials, there were criticisms of the way they were approached, calling what happened there as “Justice of the victors ”but, for history, these trials remained as a model to follow and laid, to a large extent, the foundations of what the Criminal Court should be in the future International.

Photos: Fotolia - Rawf8 / Doganmesut

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