step 2:
mining the evidence
Nuremberg staff catalog evidence
Robert H.Jackson realized the importance of good credible evidence and sought to convict the Nazis with their own words. As such, Allied prosecutors submitted some 3,000 tons of records at the Nuremberg trial. Captured German documents provided a record of the policies and actions of the Nazi state, and submission and examination of these documents proved to the world how Nazi policies lead to the destruction of European Jewry.
Below, you will find samples of evidence presented at Nuremburg. Jackson hoped that this evidence would once and forever shine a light on the atrocities committed by the Nazi's during the second World War, and hold them accountable for what they had done. Please click on the evidence links below to examine each piece of evidence. This can be done individually, in groups, or as a class. Use the evidence examination sheets here to help examine the evidence. It is important to recognize that the evidence provided below is a mere sampling of the over 3,000 tons presented at Nuremberg. When you have completed STEP 2, please continue on to STEP 3.
Below, you will find samples of evidence presented at Nuremburg. Jackson hoped that this evidence would once and forever shine a light on the atrocities committed by the Nazi's during the second World War, and hold them accountable for what they had done. Please click on the evidence links below to examine each piece of evidence. This can be done individually, in groups, or as a class. Use the evidence examination sheets here to help examine the evidence. It is important to recognize that the evidence provided below is a mere sampling of the over 3,000 tons presented at Nuremberg. When you have completed STEP 2, please continue on to STEP 3.
WARNING:
SOME OF THE MATERIAL BELOW CONTAINS GRAPHIC CONTENT THAT SOME VIEWERS MAY FIND DISTURBING. PLEASE USE DISCRETION.
the law as a weapon: the legislative assault against the jews
Chart used to explain the Nuremberg Laws
The trials began November 20, 1945, in Nuremberg's Palace of Justice. The next day, Robert H. Jackson made his famous opening statement to the International Military Tribunal. "The most serious actions against Jews were outside of any law, but the law itself was employed to some extent. They were the infamous Nuremberg Decrees of September 15, 1935," Jackson said. The Nuremberg Decrees, sometimes referred to as the Nuremberg Race Laws, were viewed by the prosecution as a crucial step in the dehumanization and marginalization of Germanys Jews at the hands of the Nazis. It was believed that this set of laws paved the way for the segregation, confinement, and extermination of Europes Jews. As such, the Nuremberg Decrees became key pieces of evidence at the Nuremberg Trials. To view the english translations of the Nuremberg Laws, click here.
witness testimony: marie-claude vAILLANT-COUTURIERn and Rudolph Hoess
Eyewitness testimony from both perpetrators and survivors laid the foundation for much of what we know about the Holocaust including details of the Auschwitz death machinery, atrocities committed by the Einsatzgruppen and other SS and police units, the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto, and the original statistical estimate of six million murdered Jews. Testimony from survivors, then and today, is often the best antidote to Holocaust denial. Holocaust survivors directly experienced Nazi genocidal policies. Their testimony is personal, immediate, and, for this reason, compelling. Survivors like Marie-Claude Vaillant-Couturier who testified at Nuremberg about her experiences at Auschwitz, provide the human element. Such witnesses convey what it felt like to be the target of genocide. Click here to read the witness testimony of Marie -Claude Vaillant-Couturier at Nuremberg and here to read the sworn affidavit of Rudolph Hoess.
"We will show you their own films.":
film as evidence at nuremberg
During the International Military Tribunal (IMT), Nazi Germany’s dedicated filming of itself was turned into film evidence of its crimes. As WWII drew to a close, the Allies worked to locate and gather this film footage. The film was then edited organized into evidence for postwar trials. As Jusitce Jackson stated in his opening statement to the IMT, "We will show you their own films."
the nazi plan: the annihilation of jewsDuring the International Military Tribunal (IMT), Nazi Germany’s dedicated filming of itself was turned into film evidence of its crimes.
The film "The Nazi Plan" was shown as evidence at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg on December 11, 1945. It was compiled for the trial and included only German material, including official newsreels. This footage titled "Hitler Predicts Annihilation of the Jewish Race in Europe if War Occurs" shows Hitler delivering a speech to the German parliament on January 30, 1939. Click on the image to the right, or here, to view Hitler's speech. |
concentration camp filmIn 1943, General Dwight D. Eisenhower charged American filmmaker George Stevens with directing teams filming the advance of U.S. forces, eventually including the liberation of the concentration camps.
On November 29, 1945, only a week into the trial, the IMT prosecution introduced an hour-long film titled "The Nazi Concentration Camps." When the lights came up in the Palace of Justice all assembled sat in silence. The human impact of this visual evidence was a turning point in the Nuremberg trial. It brought the Holocaust into the courtroom |