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This book reconstructs the legal and military history of the 'minor' war crimes trials held in Occupied Germany and elsewhere from 1945-8. Although the International Military Tribunal held at Nuremberg, from the end of 1945, is extremely well known, there were in fact hundreds of trials of 'minor' so-called war criminals so called in Occupied Germany, liberated Europe and the Far East. But little is known about these trials: even their number remains uncertain, and they are still shrouded in mystery. This book remedies that lack: addressing why those trials began; their legal framework; the trial processes; where they failed; who investigated them; the role of the military; and why they stopped. Challenging orthodox accounts that there was no Holocaust-awareness in Allied prosecutions, the book reveals the extent to which these 'minor' trials involved a substantial contribution by Holocaust victims. Jewish and other witnesses confronted their abusers; and were an integral part of successful prosecutions.
Detailing the extent and value of their contribution, this study of the minor war crimes trials thus serves as a counterweight to the now orthodox and widespread perception of Holocaust survivors as helpless, feeble and emaciated Jews.
List of contents
Chapter 1: Law's history and victim's justice; a neglected conjunction; Chapter 2: Setting contexts: the historical, political and administrative framework for British ‘minor’ war crimes trials; Chapter 3: Living justice: British soldiers investigating war crimes; Chapter 4; Justice observed: legal and other readings of the Belsen(-Auschwitz) Trial 1946; Chapter 5: Living a different story: 2 SAS investigating war crimes in Occupied German; Chapter 6: Distorting justice?: intelligence agencies’ involvement in the Natzweitler Trial, 1946; Chapter 7: Experiencing law: war crimes investigations as human narrative; Chapter 8: Doctrinal law versus victims’ justice: narratives of legal insecurity and Nazi law; Chapter 9: Socio-legal perspectives: theory’s ahistorical fascination with Nazi ‘jurisprudence’ and ‘legal’ responses to German/Axis war crimes.
About the author
Lorie Charlesworth is based at Liverpool John Moores University.
Summary
This book reconstructs the legal andmilitary history of the ‘minor’ war crimes trials held in Occupied Germany and elsewhere from 1945-8. Although the International Military Tribunal held at Nuremberg, from the end of 1945, is extremely well known, there were in fact hundreds of trials of ‘minor’ so-called war criminals in Occupied Germany, liberated Europe and the Far East. But little is known about these trials: even their number remains uncertain, and they are still shrouded in mystery.This book remedies that lack: addressing why those trials began; their legal framework; the trial processes; where they failed; who investigated them; the role of the military; and why they stopped. Challenging orthodox accounts that there was no Holocaust-awareness in Allied prosecutions, the book reveals the extent to which these ‘minor’ trials involved a substantial contribution by Holocaust victims. Jewish and other witnesses confronted their abusers; and were an integral part of successful prosecutions.Detailingthe extent and value of their contribution, this study of the minor war crimes trials thusserves as a counterweight tothe now orthodox and widespread perception of Holocaust survivors as helpless, feeble and emaciated Jews.
