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singrdave
singrdave
Join Date 07/2004
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Nuremberg: 60 Years Later

Echoes of trials past in today's headlines

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October 18, 2005 8:32:13 AM from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Sixty years ago, the International Military Tribunal held what has come to be known as the Nuremberg Trials, which endeavored to judge all the people who had been complicit in the Nazi Party and Germany's instigation of war.

The point was to ferret out and prosecute all those who inflicted Nazi rule on an unsuspecting Europe. I quote from Wikipedia, which is much more concise than the official sites:

The Nuremberg Trials is the general name for two sets of trials of Nazis involved in World War II and the Holocaust. The trials were held in the German city of Nuremberg from 1945 to 1949 at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice . The first and most famous of these trials was the Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal or IMT, which tried twenty-four of the most important captured (or still believed to be alive) leaders of Nazi Germany. It was held from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946. The second set of trials of lesser war criminals was conducted under Control Council Law No. 10 at the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT), including the famous Doctors' Trial. Link

The result of the Nuremberg Trials was to establish the term "crimes against humanity" and to put many infamous people behind bars or to death, including Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Hermann Goering. But did it really punish those who instigated the German march to European supremacy? Did it stamp out racism and bigotry in Germany, Europe, or the world at large? Are we a better people for having held these trials? What, if anything, have we learned as a society?

On the eve of Saddam's trial for "crimes against humanity", what are the similarities and differences between this trial and the Nuremberg Trials? Are we better prepared to prosecute Saddam for the same crimes as Hitler's cronies?
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singrdave
Leauki
Join Date 02/2004
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Reply #1 October 18, 2005 10:22:29 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
The Nuremberg trials did their part.

Bringing justice or punishment to perpetrators of crimes such as the Nazis' or Saddam's can help prevent. Unfortunately the United Nations, the agency set up to bring justice to the world, started protecting the criminals.
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singrdave
Dr Guy
Join Date 09/2004
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Reply #2 October 18, 2005 11:08:40 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Did anyone ever wonder why there were no Nuremberg trials for Japan after the war?  Goes to show that Nuremberg was mostly staged fluff, and no real beef in it.
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singrdave
singrdave
Join Date 07/2004
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Reply #3 October 18, 2005 1:10:52 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Did anyone ever wonder why there were no Nuremberg trials for Japan after the war?

The Koreans and Chinese will contend that quite a bit of ethnic cleansing and racial slaughter occurred under Japanese rule. Japan tried to eradicate Korean language and culture from the mid-1910s through till they were forcibly removed from the Korean peninsula in 1945. The only thing that Hirohito was forced to undergo was to sign away his claim of being divinely appointed as Emperor.
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singrdave
Chakgogka
Join Date 04/2005
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Reply #4 October 19, 2005 12:32:40 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
Did anyone ever wonder why there were no Nuremberg trials for Japan after the war?

There were. The Tokyo trials. A number of leading Japanese military and politicians were executed. Hirohito was spared. Not entirely sure why.
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singrdave
Leauki
Join Date 02/2004
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Reply #5 October 19, 2005 3:14:05 AM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums

The only thing that Hirohito was forced to undergo was to sign away his claim of being divinely appointed as Emperor.


That was actually the only thing he was allowed to keep.


Hirohito was spared. Not entirely sure why.


It was assumed that the emperor would make it easier for Japan to become a democracy. The assumption was correct.

Germany's religion was not based on an internal figurehead and it was thus not necessary to keep it to lead Germany.
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singrdave
singrdave
Join Date 07/2004
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Reply #6 October 19, 2005 3:55:37 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums
The only thing that Hirohito was forced to undergo was to sign away his claim of being divinely appointed as Emperor.That was actually the only thing he was allowed to keep.


From Wikipedia:

Hirohito was spared trial and retained the throne, but Hirohito was forced to explicitly reject the traditional claim that the Emperor of Japan was divine, and a descendant of the Sun Goddess.

Sorry, Leauki, my Korean teachers were explicit in that point, since they have a cultural heritage of rejoicing in the embarrassment of the Japanese. Schaudenfreude, anyone?
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singrdave
Dr Guy
Join Date 09/2004
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Reply #7 October 19, 2005 4:08:45 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums

The Koreans and Chinese will contend that quite a bit of ethnic cleansing and racial slaughter occurred under Japanese rule. Japan tried to eradicate Korean language and culture from the mid-1910s through till they were forcibly removed from the Korean peninsula in 1945. The only thing that Hirohito was forced to undergo was to sign away his claim of being divinely appointed as Emperor.

But that is not why there were none.

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singrdave
Dr Guy
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Reply #8 October 19, 2005 4:09:24 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums

There were. The Tokyo trials. A number of leading Japanese military and politicians were executed. Hirohito was spared. Not entirely sure why.

Not the same.  And he was spared for a reason.  I thought you would know this one.

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singrdave
Dr Guy
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Reply #9 October 19, 2005 4:10:24 PM
from JoeUser ForumsJoeUser Forums

It was assumed that the emperor would make it easier for Japan to become a democracy. The assumption was correct.

That much is correct.

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