Learning Activity: Nuremberg War Crimes Trials

How World War II Ended*

On May 8, 1945, after six years of bloodshed in which approximately 50 million people died, World War II ended. With it came the liberation of the surviving occupants of the concentration and slave labor camps that had been established by the Nazi regime.

Many called for a trial to confront the primary architects of the crimes committed under Hitler's government. One of those advocating a trial was Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, an accomplished lawyer and a Jamestown, NY native.

Justice Jackson believed it was important that the worst carnage in human history be ended with an honest and fair trial of the major Nazi leaders, that they be given the right to have a lawyer and defend themselves, but that they be held accountable for their actions in establishing death camps, slave labor policies, and for other "crimes against humanity ... "

The Robert H. Jackson Center and the Law, Youth, and Citizenship Program of the New York State Bar Association believe it is important that students understand this bleak and tragic time in American and world history, and that the lessons of that time be reminders to us of the impact injustice and oppression have on individuals who suffer through such experiences.

(*Taken from: Robert H. Jackson Center, What was the Holocaust? Robert H. Jackson Center: Jamestown, New York, 2006. www.robertjackson.org.)

The Nuremberg Trials: An Introduction*

Nuremberg, Germany: 1945-1949.

Twenty-four major political and military leaders of Nazi Germany, indicted for aggressive war, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, were brought to trial before the International Military Tribunal. More than 100 additional defendants, representing many sectors of German society, were tried before the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals in a series of 12 trials....

[Editor’s note: To view the official proceedings of the trials visit http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/Nuremberg_trials.html, United States Library of Congress]

(*Taken from: Military Legal Resources: Nuremberg Trials, The Library of Congress.)

The Nuremberg Trials: Jackson’s Opening Statement*

Have students read the following opening statement by Robert H. Jackson at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial and explain why he felt that this trial was so important to the survival of all civilization.

"The privilege of opening the first trial in history for crimes against the peace of the world imposes a grave responsibility. The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating, that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated. That four great nations, flushed with victory and stung with injury stay the hand of vengeance and voluntarily submit their captive enemies to the judgment of the law is one of the most significant tributes that Power ever has paid to Reason."

Robert H. Jackson's opening statement at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, November 1945.

(*Taken from: Robert H. Jackson Center, What was the Holocaust? Robert H. Jackson Center: Jamestown, New York, 2006. www.robertjackson.org.)

The Nuremberg Trials

Have students visit “The Nuremberg Trials,” American Experience [2006 WGBH Educational Foundation], featured on PBS at www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/nuremberg/ to find out more about the role that Justice Robert H. Jackson played as Chief United States Prosecutor. Have students summarize Jackson’s opening address and discuss his goals for the trial.

If possible, students can view “The Nuremberg Trials,” available on DVD from PBS to gain a better understanding of the challenges that Jackson and other prosecutors faced at Nuremberg. As students watch this video, have them answer the following questions:

Back to Top