Nuremberg Palace of Justice — View of East Wing of the Palace of Justice. Courtroom 600 is behind the three large windows on the second floor. Photo by Sandy Ross (2017).

After visiting the Zeppelin Field, our last stop in Nuremberg was the Palace of Justice. Located to the east of the “old (medieval) city,” the building was one of the few in Nuremberg to survive the Allied bombings of early 1945. The Allies chose the small east wing of the Palace of Justice to hold what are now referred to as “The Nuremberg Trials.”

Despite what many people feel are the symbolic reasons for choosing Nuremberg to hold these trials, the real reason for their choice was much more pragmatic.

Iconic photographs of the first International Military Tribunal trial are well known and show the interior of the courtroom during the ten-month trial held between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946. The courtroom, open to the public (when not being used for trials), is known today as “Courtroom 600” and is easily recognizable even though it has been restored to its pre-trial appearance.

Why The Palace of Justice?

Yes, Nuremberg was a symbolic city to hold the trials of Nazi leaders and their accomplices. It was the site each year between 1927 and 1938 where the Reichsparteitage (Reich Party Congress) met and between 1933 and 1938 the annual National Socialist Party or Nazi rallies were held on the Party Rally Grounds (click here to read the blog Zeppelin Field). It was also here that the Nuremberg Laws were passed representing the first formal actions against Jews and a precursor to the Holocaust.

Palace of Justice 1945 — Aerial view of The Palace of Justice shortly after the war ended. Notice the five radiating prison buildings behind the Palace of Justice. Only one remains. The wall circling the compound is no longer in existence. Photo by anonymous (c. 1945). PD-US Government. Wikimedia Commons.

However, there were other pragmatic issues that made the city ideal for the trials. First, it was one of the only buildings still standing large enough to hold the trial as well as accommodating the staffs of the court and prosecution teams. Second, the complex included a prison adjacent to the Palace of Justice. A circular wall surrounded the prison complex adding additional security. Next to the prison was a gymnasium where on 16 October 1946, the condemned men were hanged (executions arising from verdicts of the subsequent Nuremberg Trials were carried out at Landsberg Prison in Bavaria). Read More Courtroom 600

German General Anton Dostler is tied to a stake before his execution by firing squad. Photo by Blomgren (1 December 1945). National Archives. PD-US Government. Wikimedia Commons.

The German Occupation of Paris and France turned brutal within eighteen months of their soldiers marching down the avenue des Champs-Élysées on the morning of 14 June 1940. Despite the original orders to respect and act as “gentlemen” to the citizens of Paris, the Germans gradually increased the pressure of their jackboot on the throat of France. After the successful Allied invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch) in November 1942, all pretense of an “independent” French government—Vichy—was gone as was the designation of the Occupied- and Unoccupied-Zones.

La Grande Rafle (The Great Roundup) had taken place over two days in July 1942. More than 13,000 Jewish citizens (approximately 4,000 were children) were arrested, detained, and transported to Auschwitz—only several hundred would return less than three years later. Food was scarce except for the privileged few who could afford the black market or those who kept company with German officers. Detention, interrogation, torture, and execution of hostages, résistants, foreign agents, or anyone else the Nazis deemed unworthy became common place as the Gestapo strengthened its position within the Nazi hierarchy and its grip on Paris.

As the Allies moved closer to Paris in the late summer of 1944 after breaking out of Normandy, the Germans began to make arrangements to leave the city. They knew the consequences if they remained. Even some of the German officers tried to convince their lovers to accompany them back to Germany as they predicted harm would likely come to the women if they remained behind. Little did they know the scope of violence that would descend on suspected collaborators. Read More The Épuration: World War II French Revenge

Tag: Auschwitz

Courtroom 600

Why The Palace of Justice?

The Épuration: World War II French Revenge

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