Details
THE NUREMBERG TRIAL. A collection of approximately 250 typed documents (mostly roneoed copies) and other items relating to the British case for the indictment of the leading Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg Trial in 1945-1946, from the archive of Private Gordon Arthur Martin Tyler (1911-2006).
The collection comprises:
187 documents for the use of the British prosecuting team (some of them certified translations from German), in five numbered buff folders each stamped 'British Document Book (English)', including: 35 documents referring to fifteen international treaties broken by Germany, including the Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes (1899), the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919) on the Free City of Danzig, and subsequent agreements before World War II; reports of meetings between Hitler, Goering and Ribbentrop (March 1939); a memorandum of Hitler and Ribbentrop's meeting with Count Ciano (12 August 1939); 84 documents referring to Germany and Poland, including treaties, evidence of German intentions before 1939, and discussions concerning Danzig; German plans to occupy Czechoslovakia and Hitler's meeting with President Hacha, the final preparations for war and political activity in August 1939; documents referring to German aggression against Norway and Denmark (21), the Benelux countries (26) and Greece and Yugoslavia (21);
other items including a submission by the Dutch Government on the treatment of political prisoners and deportation of Dutch Jews, the bombing of Rotterdam and destruction of ports (55 pages, folio); an indictment against Erich Raeder (U-boat specialist and Head of the German Navy, 1928-1943); evidence relating to Belgium and Greece; a note by counsel G.D. Roberts on Defendant [Gustav] Krupp; reports on the Concentration Camps at Bergen-Belsen and Breendonck; exchanges of letters immediately before the war; lists of defendants and counsel; Anthony Eden's statement to Parliament on the arrival of Rudolf Hess in Britain (22 Sep 1943); 6 witness statements (Essen October 1945) describing the maltreatment of Russian workers and Jews in the Krupp steel works and Panzer construction shop; together approximately 125 pages, mostly folio and 4to (loosely inserted in a notebook cover); two copies of the Indictment of the International Military Tribunal (printed, 43 pages, folio); personal items including Private Tyler's Soldier's Release Book (17 January 1946) and testimonials; official passes (3), photographs (4), a few printed items and memorabilia;
'[P]robably no one will ever again have the confidence of the whole German people as I do. There will probably never again be a man in the future with more authority than I have ... There is no outstanding personality in England or France. For us it is easy to make decision[s]. We have nothing to lose; we can only gain ... Our opponents risk much and can gain only a little. England's stake in a war is unimaginably great. Our enemies have men who are below average. No personalities. No masters, no men of action....
Today's publication of the non-aggression pact with Russia hit like a shell. The consequences cannot be overlooked. Stalin also said that this course will be of benefit to both countries. The effect on Poland will be tremendous' (from Virginia von Schon's translation of captured document no. 798-PS: summary transcript of Hitler's speech to the Commanders in Chief, 22 August 1939).
'The Russians were beaten just because they were Russians and regarded as enemies. They were not treated like humans ... From the first to the last day the camp commandant was always complaining to the Works Manager Neumann about the ill treatment of the Russians; in spite of this the ill treatment continued' (witness statement on the treatment of Russian prisoners in the [Krupp] Sheet Metal workshop).
DOCUMENTS FOR THE INDICTMENT IN THE MOST IMPORTANT TRIAL IN EUROPEAN HISTORY
The International Military Tribunal (IMT) opened in Nuremberg on 18 October 1945, when the Prosecution entered indictments against twenty-four 'major war criminals' and six 'criminal organisations'. The Tribunal convened for the trial itself from 20 November 1945 to 1 October 1946 under the presidency of the British judge, Lord Justice Lawrence (Colonel Sir Geoffrey Lawrence) whose team included Sir Norman Birkett (his alternate), Sir Hartley Shawcross (Prosecutor), Sir David Maxwell Fyfe and Sir John Wheeler Bennett. The three other participating countries (the United States, Russia and France) provided similar teams. Over 218 days of trials, testimony was introduced from 360 witnesses and approximately 200,000 affidavits. The trial was conceived partly as a symbolic legal act to mark the end of the war and beginning of the peace, in which international law would govern the conduct of nations.
The British case against the Nazi aggression, based upon documents and incontrovertible factual evidence, took less than three days to present. Citing the fifteen main treaties which Germany had signed and then broken, it then covered each geographical area of aggression in turn. The present collection reflects this presentation, and includes a large part of the documentation assembled for the case including translations of secret German captured documents found at Schloss Marburg as well as statements by witnesses and survivors. Hitler's speech to the commanders-in-chief sensationally proved his intention to attack both Poland and the West (A. and J. Tusa. The Nuremberg Trial (1995, page 159).
The indictment was on the four counts of Common Plan or Conspiracy, Crimes against Peace, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity. Twelve of the most notorious war criminals, including Goering and Ribbentrop, were sentenced to death by hanging, three to life imprisonment, four to shorter terms and three acquitted. Martin Bormann was sentenced to death in absentia. Gustav Krupp (who had been confused with his son, Alfried) was too ill to be summoned. Goering cheated the hangman by committing suicide.
Private Gordon Tyler was among more than 1,000 personnel engaged as translators, secretaries and clerks. He served in the Royal Air Force as a balloon operator and was transferred at the end of the war to clerical duties with the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) which had responsibility for providing staff clerks for administrative duties. He was at Nuremberg during the preparations for the trial and for some weeks after the Tribunal opened.
'The judgement of the Nuremberg Tribunal may be one of the most important events in the history of civilisation' (Rebecca West, Daily Telegraph, 26 September 1946)
The collection comprises:
187 documents for the use of the British prosecuting team (some of them certified translations from German), in five numbered buff folders each stamped 'British Document Book (English)', including: 35 documents referring to fifteen international treaties broken by Germany, including the Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes (1899), the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919) on the Free City of Danzig, and subsequent agreements before World War II; reports of meetings between Hitler, Goering and Ribbentrop (March 1939); a memorandum of Hitler and Ribbentrop's meeting with Count Ciano (12 August 1939); 84 documents referring to Germany and Poland, including treaties, evidence of German intentions before 1939, and discussions concerning Danzig; German plans to occupy Czechoslovakia and Hitler's meeting with President Hacha, the final preparations for war and political activity in August 1939; documents referring to German aggression against Norway and Denmark (21), the Benelux countries (26) and Greece and Yugoslavia (21);
other items including a submission by the Dutch Government on the treatment of political prisoners and deportation of Dutch Jews, the bombing of Rotterdam and destruction of ports (55 pages, folio); an indictment against Erich Raeder (U-boat specialist and Head of the German Navy, 1928-1943); evidence relating to Belgium and Greece; a note by counsel G.D. Roberts on Defendant [Gustav] Krupp; reports on the Concentration Camps at Bergen-Belsen and Breendonck; exchanges of letters immediately before the war; lists of defendants and counsel; Anthony Eden's statement to Parliament on the arrival of Rudolf Hess in Britain (22 Sep 1943); 6 witness statements (Essen October 1945) describing the maltreatment of Russian workers and Jews in the Krupp steel works and Panzer construction shop; together approximately 125 pages, mostly folio and 4to (loosely inserted in a notebook cover); two copies of the Indictment of the International Military Tribunal (printed, 43 pages, folio); personal items including Private Tyler's Soldier's Release Book (17 January 1946) and testimonials; official passes (3), photographs (4), a few printed items and memorabilia;
'[P]robably no one will ever again have the confidence of the whole German people as I do. There will probably never again be a man in the future with more authority than I have ... There is no outstanding personality in England or France. For us it is easy to make decision[s]. We have nothing to lose; we can only gain ... Our opponents risk much and can gain only a little. England's stake in a war is unimaginably great. Our enemies have men who are below average. No personalities. No masters, no men of action....
Today's publication of the non-aggression pact with Russia hit like a shell. The consequences cannot be overlooked. Stalin also said that this course will be of benefit to both countries. The effect on Poland will be tremendous' (from Virginia von Schon's translation of captured document no. 798-PS: summary transcript of Hitler's speech to the Commanders in Chief, 22 August 1939).
'The Russians were beaten just because they were Russians and regarded as enemies. They were not treated like humans ... From the first to the last day the camp commandant was always complaining to the Works Manager Neumann about the ill treatment of the Russians; in spite of this the ill treatment continued' (witness statement on the treatment of Russian prisoners in the [Krupp] Sheet Metal workshop).
DOCUMENTS FOR THE INDICTMENT IN THE MOST IMPORTANT TRIAL IN EUROPEAN HISTORY
The International Military Tribunal (IMT) opened in Nuremberg on 18 October 1945, when the Prosecution entered indictments against twenty-four 'major war criminals' and six 'criminal organisations'. The Tribunal convened for the trial itself from 20 November 1945 to 1 October 1946 under the presidency of the British judge, Lord Justice Lawrence (Colonel Sir Geoffrey Lawrence) whose team included Sir Norman Birkett (his alternate), Sir Hartley Shawcross (Prosecutor), Sir David Maxwell Fyfe and Sir John Wheeler Bennett. The three other participating countries (the United States, Russia and France) provided similar teams. Over 218 days of trials, testimony was introduced from 360 witnesses and approximately 200,000 affidavits. The trial was conceived partly as a symbolic legal act to mark the end of the war and beginning of the peace, in which international law would govern the conduct of nations.
The British case against the Nazi aggression, based upon documents and incontrovertible factual evidence, took less than three days to present. Citing the fifteen main treaties which Germany had signed and then broken, it then covered each geographical area of aggression in turn. The present collection reflects this presentation, and includes a large part of the documentation assembled for the case including translations of secret German captured documents found at Schloss Marburg as well as statements by witnesses and survivors. Hitler's speech to the commanders-in-chief sensationally proved his intention to attack both Poland and the West (A. and J. Tusa. The Nuremberg Trial (1995, page 159).
The indictment was on the four counts of Common Plan or Conspiracy, Crimes against Peace, War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity. Twelve of the most notorious war criminals, including Goering and Ribbentrop, were sentenced to death by hanging, three to life imprisonment, four to shorter terms and three acquitted. Martin Bormann was sentenced to death in absentia. Gustav Krupp (who had been confused with his son, Alfried) was too ill to be summoned. Goering cheated the hangman by committing suicide.
Private Gordon Tyler was among more than 1,000 personnel engaged as translators, secretaries and clerks. He served in the Royal Air Force as a balloon operator and was transferred at the end of the war to clerical duties with the Royal Army Service Corps (RASC) which had responsibility for providing staff clerks for administrative duties. He was at Nuremberg during the preparations for the trial and for some weeks after the Tribunal opened.
'The judgement of the Nuremberg Tribunal may be one of the most important events in the history of civilisation' (Rebecca West, Daily Telegraph, 26 September 1946)
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