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Natalie Mifflin
Mr. Hawkins
Modern World History-P, Period 2
8 April 2016
Inquiry Question #2: The Postwar Trials
One of the largely overlooked aspects of the second World War is the trials that took
place after the war had ended. Court can seen as a long process that draws out the pain one had
to go through as a victim, but even though people wanted to forget the atrocities committed in
the war, punishment for the offenders seemed necessary to prevent the crimes from happening
again. There were many trials that persecuted both Nazis and Japanese war criminals for multiple
reasons. As little as they are remembered, the most well-known trials took place in Nuremberg:
the Nuremberg trials. These trials concerned thousands of defendants, included multiple
countries and international organizations as plaintiffs, and influenced both international laws and
memories today.
There are two roles when it comes to court: the guilt phase where the court finds any
wrongs committed, and the penalty phase where the punishments are decided for defendants
found guilty. Many people think that the Nazis or government officials were put on trial as a
group, but The estimate of hundreds of thousands who participated actively in the
annihilation of the Jews and other crimes is no exaggeration and one ordinarily thinks of
two main groups of criminals: the instigators, planners, and commanders who directed
killing operations or with whose passive participation these acts were committed; and the
actual implementers of the plans and commands at various levels of authority and
initiative. (Website 1) There were over hundreds of thousands of people put on trial, whether

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they were a government official or even a citizen. The two groups could also include citizens
from other countries as long as they were aiding in the persecution of Jews, Gypsies, or any other
persecuted group. The International Military Tribunal (IMT) clarified that, "Crimes are
committed by men, not by abstract entities," thereby resoundingly affirming the charges
against the leaders of the Nazi regime, who argued that since, under international law, only
states had legal personality, it was the state of Germany that should have been tried.
(Website 1) War criminals tried to prevent trials in which they would be the defendant by hiding
behind the state, but the International Military Tribunal had decided this would not provide
justice if an entire state was punished for the actions of those who acted maliciously. The IMT
most likely made this rule because they saw how Germany reacted the last time Germany was
punished and pushed into a depression. It would be unjust to prosecute the German citizens who
did nothing, and after two world wars and a great depression in one century, the world-and the
country- had been through enough. Alongside the Nuremberg trial, The IMTFE (International
Military Tribunal for the Far East) presided over a series of trials of senior Japanese
political and military leaders pursuant to its authority to try and punish Far Eastern war
criminals. (Website 2) The Nuremberg Trials began earlier than the Japanese trials because the
end of World War II on the Atlantic front(Germany) ended before the Pacific front (Japan). The
Japanese trials made less of a splash in the news, nevertheless, the Japanese war criminals were
not forgotten amongst the Nazi trials and were given trials and punished accordingly. These
trials that have a big impact on history only took place after several countries stood up to the
Nazis.
Although the main group of defendants of these trials were obvious, not many people
know who was raising the charges or for what specific reason. To start with, The four major

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Allied powersFrance, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United Statesset
up the International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremberg, Germany, to prosecute and
punish the major war criminals of the European Axis. (Website 2) The Nuremberg Trials
were not held by any one country, but a conglomerate of countries, which formed the
International Military Tribunal, that suffered from the war who wanted to punish war criminals.
In order to punish criminals appropriately, The IMT focused, not mainly on the crimes
committed against the Jews, but the cruelty of it and any one of the following crimes: (a)
Crimes Against Peace (b) War Crimes (c) Crimes Against Humanity. (Website 2) Crimes
against peace included planning or proposing a war of aggression; war crimes were violations of
the customs of war, including murder, ill-treatment, or deportation; and crimes against humanity
were the murder, enslavement, or any other inhumane acts committed against civilians. There
was also not just one reason that every Nazi and criminal was convicted of and the correct
punishments could be given based on which crime was committed and to what degree. While
some countries mainly wanted to avenge their lost citizens, The U.S. rationale was threefold:
precedents had to be established in international law to send an unequivocal message to
future would-be Hitlers that potentially awaited them; a high moral plane had to be
established; and a comprehensive historical record had to be collated systematically to
enable future generations to learn the lessons of the Nazi era. (Website 1) Ultimately, the
Unites States wanted to send a message that would be heard for generations and set a higher
standard for the world to live up to. The U.S. chose to fight more for prevention than damage
control and revenge and this is understandable considering the U.S. did not face losses as drastic
as many other countries did. However, the chief prosecutor of the IMT said, The wrongs which
we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant, and so devastating

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that civilizations cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being
repeated. (Website 3) This quote can sum up the motivation of every country in the IMT and
most likely every country fighting Germany, Italy, and Japan. The energy that went into these
postwar trials brought justice to so many families and entire countries, and they augment to the
meaning behind international laws maintain the importance of remaining humane during hard
times.
The war itself along with the trials that came afterwards have had a major impact on our
world today from the way we treat people to how international boundaries have been placed for
people who show little regard for others around the world. On the legal side of the impact, The
Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals contributed significantly to the development of
international criminal law by adding two major criminal offenses: crimes against peace
and crimes against humanity. (Website 2) The crimes that Nazis and Japanese convicts were
convicted of were new to international law and have since been used in many other countries
courts. Unfortunately, the world had to experience such atrocities to decide there must be a law
that would prevent them from happening again. The Nuremberg Trials were only 2 years long,
but The investigation of Nazi crimes has remained a controversial chapter of postwar
German history, both in private discussion and public debate ending with the repeatedly
voiced opinion that people should try to forget what happened in those wretched times.
(Website 1) Victims, witnesses, and even people who have only heard the horror stories would
like to forget that any event so terrible could have really happened, but the trials proved that it
was impertinent that one does not forget and instead, make changes in his life to prevent similar
events. Bringing culprits to court is one of the only ways to let other people know there are
serious consequences for harming others. The fight to bring aggressors to justice went far past

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the Nuremberg and Tokyo Trials, in fact, In 2005, there were ongoing investigations against
more than 1,252 suspected Nazi war criminals in 16 countries, with the largest number of
cases being investigated in Poland (450), the United States (246), Austria (199), Canada
(190), Latvia (58) and Germany (46) (Website 1) Though many of the people who were
involved in Nazi activity were gone, those who were still alive in 2005 were found and put on
trial after having escaped Germany years before posing as refugees in other countries. Escaped
felons were still brought to court because even sixty years later, people still want justice. The
trials continue to have an effect on laws today as well as relieving the families of victims from
World War Two.
With countless defendants, a plethora of vengeful countries, and the strong impact on
memories and laws, the postwar trials brought people together. Though not necessarily a good
reason, people from multiple countries had the opportunity to work together peacefully to resolve
issues. Today, one can see around the world the terrible injustice and suffering that results in
places where either there is no consequences to actions that impact others. Thankfully, the
countries were able to cooperate to work towards the ultimate goal of world peace. The trials
have brought about the saying that will be echoed for generations to come: Never Forget.