Nazi Prosecution :: essays research papers fc

What has been achieved by prosecuting Nazis alleged to have affiliated crimes against the Jews?"While fighting for victory the German soldier will view the rules for chivalrous fightfarefare. Cruelties and senseless destruction are below his standard" , or so the commandment printed in every German Soldiers paybook would have us believe. Yet during the Second World War thousands of Jews were victims of war crimes committed by Nazis, whose actions subverted the code of conduct they claimed to uphold and contravened legislation outlined in the geneva Convention. It is this legislature that has paved the way for the Jewish community and political leadership to attempt to redress the Nazis violation, by prosecuting individuals allegedly responsible. Convicting Nazi criminals is an implicit proclamation by post-World War II society that the Nazi regimes extermination of oer five million Jews wont go unnoticed. Many of the alleged Nazi war criminals that were captured had at tempted to evade prosecution shortly before the end of the war. both(prenominal) opted for suicide, rather than risk capture while others used the Austrian and German Underground offers of fake passports and other means of forged identification to shine a smart identity . A choice opted for by many, that closely guaranteed them a new life with remote chance of detection was to rotary off to the Anglo-American countries after immigration quotas were raised. Over 4000 Nazi criminals sought refuge in Australia . Many lied about their history to gain entry into their new home and proceeded to blend in, unnoticed by our government. They were no longer Nazi criminals but new citizens with a hidden past. Lists of suspected criminals were compiled and alleged perpetrators systematically captured and put to trial.In 1943, under Soviet leadership the first war crime trials were conducted, however the first trial to involve the Allied powers was the Nuremburg world-wide Military Tribun al in 1945 . The International Military Tribunal (IMT), set out to prosecute 22 defendants comprising largely of the administration arm of the 3rd Reich . The Americans initially wished to indict whole Nazi organisations for their crimes. This focus was soon adapted to determine the accountability of particular individuals. The accused were tried under at least two of the following four headings devised for indictment. The first count was the " grammatical construction of a common plan or conspiracy" two, "crimes against peace (planning and waging a war of aggression