Human Rights after Hitler: The Lost History of Prosecuting Axis War Crimes

272 Pages·2017·7.96 MB·English

by  Dan Plesch

HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER HITLER
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HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER HITLER
The Lost History of Prosecuting
Axis War Crimes
Dan Plesch
Georgetown University Press
Washington, DC
© 2017 Dan Plesch. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.
The publisher is not responsible for third-p arty websites or their content. URL links were
active at time of publication.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Names: Plesch, Dan, author.
Title: Human Rights after Hitler : The Lost History of Prosecuting Axis War Crimes /
Dan Plesch.
Description: Washington, DC : Georgetown University Press, 2017. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016031003 (print) | LCCN 2016040144 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781626164314 (hc : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781626164338 (eb)
Subjects: LCSH: United Nations War Crimes Commission—History. | War crime
trials—History—20th century. | World War, 1939–1945—Atrocities. | Holocaust,
Jewish (1939–1945)—Historiography.
Classification: LCC KZ1174.5 .P58 2017 (print) | LCC KZ1174.5 (ebook) |
DDC 341.6/9—dc23
LC record available at https:// lccn .loc .gov /2016031003
c This book is printed on acid-f ree paper meeting the requirements of the American
National Standard for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
18 17 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 First printing
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design by Charles Brock, Faceout Studio.
Cover image by Anastasiya Piatrova / Alamy (Auschwitz- Birkenau concentration and
extermination camp).
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Foreword by Benjamin B. Ferencz xi
Acknowledgments xv
Abbreviations xix
Introduction 1
1
Prosecuting Rape: Th e Modern Relevance
of World War II Legal Practices 11
Key Issues of Prosecuting SGBV Crimes Today 13
Conclusion 29
2
A New Paradigm for Providing Justice for International
Human Rights Violations 46
Legal and Political Amnesia 48
Creation of the United Nations War Crimes Commission 48
Offi cial Resistance to Prosecuting War Crimes 50
Chinese and Indian Leadership 51
A Global System of Complementary Justice 53
Th e Development of Key International Legal Principles 59
Conclusion 62
3
When the Allies Condemned the Holocaust 69
Early Allied Condemnations of the Holocaust
and Nazi Atrocities 70
Th e Declaration 75
vi Contents
Abandonment of the Jews Nonetheless 82
Conclusion 83
4
Pursuing War Criminals All Over the World 87
A Global Achievement 90
Commission Members and Court Structures 92
Conclusion 104
5
Th e Holocaust Indictments: Prosecuting the “Foot Soldiers
of Atrocity” 112
Belgium 114
Czechoslovakia 117
Denmark 118
France 118
Greece 119
Luxembourg 120
Th e Netherlands 120
Norway 122
Poland 122
Yugoslavia 128
United Kingdom 128
United States 129
Conclusion 129
6
Fair Trials and Collective Responsibility for Criminal Acts 138
Th e Fundamentals of Fair Trials 141
“It Wasn’t Illegal When the Action Was Taken” 143
Hearsay 145
Th e Rights of the Accused 145
Command Responsibility 146
Superior Orders 147
Group Responsibility 148
Conspiracy and Common Design 149
Reprisals and the Execution of Hostages 150
Securing the Rights of the Accused 151
Conclusion 152
7
Crimes against Humanity: Th e “Freedom to Lynch”
and the Indictments of Adolf Hitler 158
Crimes against Humanity 160
Th e Crimes of Aggression and Genocide 171
Contents vii
Universal Jurisdiction 173
Conclusion 174
8
Liberating the Nazis 178
Forgetting the Nazi Past to Build a West German Future 178
Early Protests against Prisoner Release 180
Hostility to the Commission 180
Opposition to the Commission’s Closure 182
Ongoing Prosecution of War Crimes 185
Prisoner Release 185
Conclusion 189
9
Th e Legacy Unleashed 192
Th e People’s Human Rights 192
Th e UNWCC as an International Human Rights Agreement 195
Complementarity and the UNWCC 198
Toward a “UNWCC 2.0”? 202
Conclusion 205
Appendixes
A. Timeline of the Allies’ Principal Political Responses to Axis Atrocities 211
B. A Note on the UNWCC’s Archives and Related Material 214
C. Th e Role of the UNWCC in Obtaining ICTY Verdicts 218
D. An Early UNWCC Charge File against a Group of Germans
Involved in the Treblinka Death Camp 222
E. An Early Polish Charge File against a Group of Germans Involved
in the Concentration Camp System 231
Index 241
About the Author 251
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Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Rape Cases Documented in the UNWCC Archive 16
2.1 Number of Trials Carried Out by International Military
Tribunals, by UNWCC Supported Tribunals,
and by UN-Supported Judicial Bodies 49
2.2 Th e Structure of the UNWCC 57
6.1 Th e “Versailles List” of War Crimes Used by the UNWCC 144
7.1 UNWCC Indictment of Adolf Hitler, Rudolf Hess, Heinrich
Himmler, and Other Nazis 159
Tables
4.1 Total Number of Persons Charged by the Governments
and Listed by the UNWCC 90
4.2 Number of German Persons Charged by the Governments
and Listed by the UNWCC 91
4.3 Number of Italian Persons Charged by the Governments
and Listed by the UNWCC 92
4.4 Number of Japanese Persons Charged by the Governments
and Listed by the UNWCC 100
4.5 Far East Sub Commission Lists of Japanese War Criminals 103
4.6 Joint Trials Conducted in East Asia by British and Indian Judges 105
5.1 Charges Brought for Anti- Jewish Persecution Submitted by
UNWCC Member States 115
6.1 Progress Report of War Crimes Trials from Data Available
as of March 1, 1948 140
8.1 Individuals and Units Charged by National Offi ces, by Year 179
ix