The Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders, in open court before an international tribunal, had a profound long-term effect in bringing Germans back to democracy and humanity.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
When you look at the startling ruins of Nuremberg, you are looking at a result of the war. When you look at the prisoners on view in the courthouse, you are looking at 22 of the causes.
Germany can make a major difference in the lives of so many Holocaust survivors who are struggling in their later years.
The Holocaust of Nazi Germany is certainly no less of a historic crime than the Holocaust that went on for centuries against African-Americans. That process of reparations, and a truth and reconciliation discussion, was extremely helpful in the country of Germany, and we need to have that here.
My first endeavor was to save the core of the German system of justice: the independent judiciary.
But Germany will always suffer, I fear, from the intensely dramatic character of the crimes of the Third Reich.
The Holocaust also shows us how a combination of events and attitudes can erode a society's democratic values.
Hitler had a police state of the first order. And those who showed any sign of being weak-kneed faced prison or often summary execution. That prevented a lot of people who knew that the war was not going to turn out well for Germany from giving up.
Some international law specialists compare the invasion of Iraq to the 'crimes against the peace' for which Nazi leaders were indicted at Nuremberg.
The Supreme Court of the United States... has validated the Nazi method of execution in... concentration camps, starving them to death.
Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.