Short History Of… The Nuremberg Trial

Podcast: Short History Of…
Host: NOISER (John Hopkins)
Episode: The Nuremberg Trial
Date: December 8, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode delves into the origins, drama, outcomes, and enduring significance of the Nuremberg Trial—the historic legal reckoning that followed World War II, where international justice was used to prosecute the most culpable figures of Hitler’s Nazi regime. Through narrative storytelling, expert commentary, and real quotes from the trial, the episode explores how the trial came to be, what unfolded inside the courtroom, and how its legacy changed the world’s approach to justice, war crimes, and human rights.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Discovery of Atrocities & Demand for Justice

• The episode begins by painting a vivid picture of Allied soldiers encountering the horrors at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, setting a somber tone and highlighting the gravity of Nazi crimes (02:46–05:38).
• The Allies’ initial awareness of Nazi persecution and eventual realization of the Holocaust's full scale after liberating camps such as Auschwitz, Dachau, and Treblinka (07:47–09:56).

Forming a Legal Response

• The 1943 Moscow Declaration established the intent to hold Nazi leaders accountable, but the method—especially trial vs summary execution—remained under debate among the Allies (09:07–11:46).

  • Churchill favored execution without trial, Stalin preferred show trials with presumed guilt, while the U.S. insisted on a standard legal process.

• James Bulgin, Imperial War Museum historian, emphasizes:

  • “There are principles which are greater than any of your independent national convictions… we will preserve to try and enforce those and stand in judgment of those who don't adhere to them.” (10:20, C)

• Challenges included the legal novelty of prosecuting crimes that had not been internationally defined prior to the war—especially "crimes against humanity" and conspiracy to wage aggressive war (12:15–13:57).

Defining the Charges & Structure of the Court

• Four main charges were agreed (13:57–14:35):

  1. Conspiracy to wage aggressive war
  2. Crimes against peace
  3. War crimes
  4. Crimes against humanity (for the first time at an international tribunal)

• Notably, genocide was subsumed under crimes against humanity.

• The tribunal would include judges from each Allied nation; trials would be conducted in Germany, in the city of Nuremberg for its symbolic association with Nazi rallies and laws (16:16–17:23, 16:54 C).

Selecting the Defendants

• Only 21–24 high-profile Nazis were tried, due to the logistics and symbolism—selected to represent all strata of the regime: military, industrial, and political leadership (18:10–18:44, 18:26 C).
  • Many top officials, including Hitler, Himmler, and Goebbels, were already dead (19:16–19:21).
  • Noteworthy defendants included Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Karl Doenitz, Albert Speer, and Martin Bormann (tried in absentia).

Security, Suicide Prevention & the Logistics of Detention

• Prison cells were designed to prevent suicide; Robert Ley (head of Nazi labor) nonetheless managed to kill himself, after which security was tightened (21:53–22:43).

The Opening of the Trial

• The trial began on November 20, 1945, in a near-theatrical setting with international press, legal teams, and groundbreaking use of simultaneous translation into four languages (23:22–25:22).
• All defendants pleaded not guilty. Hermann Goering attempted to defy protocol:
  • “He tries to make a statement and he was cut off immediately… a clear statement from the court immediately to say, this isn’t an opportunity for you to bend these proceedings to your will.” (26:12, C)

The Prosecution’s Case

• U.S. prosecutor Robert H. Jackson delivered a masterful opening:

  • "The wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated." (26:59–27:05, A)

• Prosecution focused on documentary evidence over witnesses, building their argument with Nazi files, camp records, and orders (27:57–29:07).

• Devastating visual evidence included films of the concentration camps and physical artifacts (tattooed human skin, shrunken heads) that shook the courtroom (29:07–30:38).

Memorable Testimonies

• Perpetrators:
  • Otto Ohlendorf, SS death squad leader, described the systematic murder of civilians with chilling detachment:
    • “His testimony at the IMT was chilling in its kind of cold discussion. Of mass murder of civilians and men, women and children.” (31:27, C)
• Victims:
  • Poet Abraham Sutzkever, one of the few Jewish witnesses, recounted the murder of his own son in Vilnius (31:42–32:25).

Defense Strategies & The Defendants’ Conduct

• Defendants largely claimed ignorance (“I didn’t know anything about this”) or cited obedience to orders—even though, as Bulgin notes, German military law expressly forbade following illegal orders (40:19–41:11).
  • “This idea that they had absolutely no agency or authority... is highly convenient for them as a defense, but it also doesn’t bear any close scrutiny whatsoever.” (40:48–41:11, C)
• Goering consistently positioned himself as chief antagonist and orator, drawing attention and manipulating the proceedings where possible (34:21–37:47).
• When confronted with documents tying him personally to the "Final Solution," his attempts to minimize responsibility fell flat (38:01–38:26).

The Verdicts and Executions

• After a 10-month trial, verdicts were delivered on October 1, 1946:
  • 12 sentenced to death (including Goering and Bormann), 7 to prison, and 3 acquitted—the latter seen as proof against accusations of a show trial (43:44–44:53).
• Just before his scheduled hanging, Goering killed himself with cyanide:
  • “From his perspective, clearly he took some degree of something, what we might call satisfaction from knowing that he denied his captors the opportunity to kill him themselves.” (49:15, C)
• Remaining condemned were executed at once, their bodies cremated, and ashes scattered (49:41–50:05).

Aftermath, Legacy & Impact

• The main Nuremberg trial was followed by several subsequent trials; in total, 142 more Nazis were convicted and 25 executed by 1949 (50:37–51:16).
• Nuremberg’s pioneering legal concepts formed the basis for later international justice mechanisms:
  • The Geneva Conventions, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ad hoc tribunals for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and ultimately the International Criminal Court (52:15–53:23).
• Symbolically, the trial confronted Germany and the world with the scale of the Holocaust and the imperative to never forget or repeat such crimes:
  • “For victims and their loved ones, it provided a measure of justice. For the German people, a chance to take responsibility, reflect and learn… The Nuremberg trial could never provide a miracle cure, but it could at least begin the process of healing.” (53:23, A)
  • “In some respects, it did offer a means of, in the purest possible sense, bringing a form of justice to these individuals… they were thinking with the eyes of history on them.” (54:09–54:38, C)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the unprecedented horror witnessed by Allied soldiers:
  • “He hardly dares believe his eyes, but then he sees another body. And another. He quickly loses count.” (04:25, A)
• On the philosophical leap of the tribunal:
  • “There are principles which are greater than any of your independent national convictions… we will preserve to try and enforce those.” (10:20, C)
• From the opening prosecution address:
  • "Civilization cannot tolerate their being ignored because it cannot survive their being repeated." (27:05, A)
• Legal innovation:
  • “What crimes against humanity was doing… was the idea that there were inalienable rights that you intrinsically have as a civilian.” (14:35, C)
• On the trial’s atmosphere:
  • “There was a sort of a bonding experience that occurred for the people who were there… a lot of socializing and drinking… in the evening.” (27:34, C)
• On the enduring legacy:
  • “Nuremberg remains the benchmark for international trials. The trial made sure these crimes were confronted so that the philosophies underpinning them might never take hold again.” (53:23, A)
• On the small number of those held to account:
  • “Fewer than two dozen stood for tens or hundreds of thousands, or perhaps even millions.” (52:15, A)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:46–05:38 – Allied troops’ discovery at Bergen-Belsen
• 07:47–09:56 – Growing realization of Nazi crimes & 1943 Moscow Declaration
• 13:57–14:57 – Four principal charges established, definition of “crimes against humanity”
• 16:16–17:23 – Nuremberg chosen as trial site; its symbolic significance
• 18:10–20:14 – Selection of defendants, major Nazis already dead
• 23:22–25:53 – Opening day of the trial, Goering’s failed outburst
• 26:12–27:05 – Robert H. Jackson’s opening speech
• 29:07–30:38 – Impactful visual evidence of camp atrocities shown
• 31:27–32:25 – Testimony of Otto Ohlendorf and Abraham Sutzkever
• 34:21–41:43 – Goering’s performance; defense strategies; the "just following orders" defense
• 43:44–44:53 – Verdicts, acquittals, and their significance
• 45:12–50:05 – Goering’s suicide, executions & aftermath
• 52:15–54:09 – Legacy of Nuremberg and its impact on modern justice

Conclusion & Reflection

The episode offers a powerful narrative of how the world responded to unprecedented atrocity with an unprecedented trial. Through innovative legal frameworks, rigorous prosecution, and public confrontation of horrifying evidence, the Nuremberg Trial became a turning point in both international law and collective memory. Its legacy is etched in subsequent human rights advances and the creation of modern war crimes tribunals, and its lessons endure as a warning and a call to vigilance in the face of evil.