An Overview of the Nuremberg Trials
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Name: edHelper An Overview of the Nuremberg Trials By 1944, the Allied Forces were confident that they were going to be victorious in World War II. Before Germany surrendered, leaders of the Allied nations began to discuss what should be done to punish Germany. After World War I, the Germans had trade restrictions imposed on them. Land they had taken was restored to the citizens of the original country. Many believed that the punishment for their acts during World War II should be more severe. The crimes Hitler and his Nazi troops committed were not easy to ignore. What to do with the leaders who committed these crimes was going to take time to figure out. In August 1944, one of President Roosevelt's own cabinet members, Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau, submitted his plan to the president. His plan was fairly simple. He suggested shooting any German leader who was caught. He also suggested putting German soldiers captured in the war to work rebuilding Europe. His final idea was to destroy all industry in Germany and force it to become an agricultural nation. The president was inclined to go along with Morgenthau. Meeting with other world leaders convinced him otherwise. President Roosevelt met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Russian leader, Joseph Stalin, in February 1945 in Yalta. They made an agreement that the leaders of the Axis powers would be prosecuted for their crimes just as soon as they could bring the war to a close. President Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945. He didn't live long enough to see the plan through to the end. The Allied opportunity came on April 30, 1945, when the Nazi leader, Adolf Hitler, committed suicide rather than face defeat in the war. On May 2, President Truman appointed Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson to be the chief U.S. prosecutor. One of the people at the top of the list to be prosecuted was Herman Goering. He surrendered himself to the Allies on May 6. Now was the time to put the plans to prosecute the Nazis to work. France was asked to join in the prosecution. Robert Jackson and his fellow prosecutors met in London to form plans for the trials to come. After much discussion, it was decided to hold the trials in Nuremberg, Germany. Nuremberg had been all but destroyed by Allied bombings. Still standing was the Palace of Justice. It would be the perfect spot. President Truman appointed Francis Biddle to represent the United States as a judge for the trials. Sir Geoffrey Lawrence was elected as president of the International Military Tribunal, the name the panel of judges was given. The first trial finally began on November 20, 1945. Twenty-one Nazi officers and German officials faced charges of crimes against humanity. All twenty-one entered pleas of "not guilty." Prosecutors called witnesses who testified to the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. The defendants were Name: edHelper questioned. Some of these men were proud of what they had done. Some were confident that no group of judges would find what they had done in the name of Germany wrong. They were wrong. On October 1, 1946, a little more than ten months after the trial began, the International Military Tribunal handed down its verdict. Eleven of the twenty-one defendants were sentenced to death. On October 15, one day before he was to be hanged, Herman Goering committed suicide. He swallowed a cyanide capsule someone had smuggled in to him. The next day, the other ten were hanged for their crimes. Trials continued for Nazi doctors, members of killing units formed by the military, and members of the Nazi government. The last trial ended on April 13, 1949. For four years the Nuremberg trials kept the Nazi war crimes and crimes against humanity alive for the people of the world to see. The Allied nations wanted to teach a lesson to the former Nazis and to anyone else who even thought of bringing this kind of war to the world again. An Overview of the Nuremberg Trials Questions 1. Adolf Hitler was found guilty at the Nuremberg trials. A. true B. false 2. Where is Nuremberg located? A. France B. Poland C. Germany D. England 3. How did Adolf Hitler die? A. He was hanged. B. He was shot by a firing squad. C. He died of natural causes. D. He committed suicide. 4. Why do you think some of the defendants in the trial thought they had done nothing wrong? 5. How long did the Nuremberg trials last? A. six weeks B. ten months C. six years D. four years Name: edHelper 6. What job did Robert Jackson have before he was appointed to be a prosecutor in the trials? A. civil court justice B. city attorney C. Supreme Court Justice D. district attorney 7. Henry Morgenthau wanted to execute all German military and government leaders. A. false B. true Sudoku Sums of 7 Each row, column, and box must have the numbers 1 through 6. 7 4 2 Hint: Look for sudoku sums. The sum of the two boxes inside of the - 1 8 6 dashed lines is 7. Here is an example of a sudoku sum of 7: 3 4 3 0 4 1 4 6 + 3 3 9 6 3 6 1 5 4 2 7,492 + 9,559 = 5 7 11 x 5 = - 3 4 20 ÷ 4 = word root retro can mean backward retrospect, retrospection, retrospective edHelper Name: How many of these can you write about? Think! Write! Check all the ones you answered. Do you have consequences when you do something wrong? What are some of your consequences? Should countries be punished for starting wars? What should the punishment be? Don't stop writing. Use a blank piece of paper to continue. Name: edHelper Germany Invades Poland In 1939, the Nazis ruled Germany. Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader of Germany, said that Germans were a superior race. He said that Germans had the right to conquer inferior groups such as the Slavs of Poland. He wanted to invade and take over Poland. However, the Nazis wanted to be sure that, if their invasion started another war, Germany would win this time. They did not want a repeat of World War I. So, they made careful preparations. The Nazis made an agreement, known as the "Pact of Steel" with their ally, Italy. Germany and Italy agreed to support each other in the event of war. Germany also made a secret agreement with the Soviet Union. This was known as a "non-aggression pact." It was an agreement between the two countries not to go to war against each other. This was important to Germany because it did not want to fight a war on two fronts as it had before. However, the Nazi-Soviet pact went further than that. It also included secret deals in which Germany and the Soviet Union decided how they would divide up Poland between their two countries. With this agreement in place, Nazi Germany could invade Poland without fear of losing. On September 1, 1939, the invasion began. Germany attacked Poland from the west, beginning with a blitzkrieg, the famous Nazi "lightning war," which was a massive air attack. German pilots bombed targets in Poland including military posts, airfields, railroad depots, factories, and cities. That initial attack was followed up within hours by a huge invasion of tanks and troops. The troops moved in from the north and the south to surround the Polish forces. Poland fought back, but its army was no match for the German invasion. Poland's allies also responded. On that same day, September 1, Great Britain and France gave Hitler an ultimatum. Their ambassadors took a message to Germany. It said that the invasion must stop, or they would declare war on Germany. With the invasion still in full force two days later, on September 3, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. World War II began. The United States decided to remain neutral, but other countries, including Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, joined the war on the side of the Allies. On September 17, the Soviet Union joined the German invasion, and it invaded Poland from the east. In Poland, the situation continued to worsen. Germany took over the capital city of Warsaw. Troops paraded through the city in their Nazi uniforms, boots, and helmets. Citizens of Poland were forced to quarter German Name: edHelper troops in their houses. Polish Jews faced more and more restrictions. By the end of September, Germany and the Soviet Union divided Poland as they had originally planned in their secret agreement. The country of Poland ceased to exist. By the end of World War II, millions of Polish citizens, including most Polish Jews, had been forced into concentration camps. Millions of Polish citizens had been killed. Germany Invades Poland Questions 1. The German invasion of Poland was the event that started ______. A. the Great Depression B. World War II C. the Cold War D. World War I 2. Germany invaded Poland on ______. A. September 1, 1939 B. September 3, 1942 C. September 3, 1939 D. September 1, 1942 3. Germany made agreements with ______. A. neither B. the Soviet Union C. Italy D. both 4. Great Britain, France, and other countries entered the war on Poland's side. A. true B. false 5. After the Allies entered the war in support of Poland, Poland defeated Germany. A. true B. false 6. The word blitzkrieg means ______. A. disagreement B.