One of the most interesting details about the Nuremberg trials, which I only learned from the ever excellent Robert Evans on a podcast, is the controversy over how many of the crimes Nazis were executed weren’t really “crimes” - international law wasn’t really a thing, and they weren’t really illegal under German law.
Yet we hung the Nazis anyways, because they were the fuckin’ Nazis. I find this a comforting thought in these times.
If you’re in need of additional fortification, the article on John Clarence Woods might help, the hangman who very incompetently and thus painfully executed nazi leadership - there is also a Behind the Bastards on him, possibly the one that discusses the trials iirc.
Yet we hung the Nazis anyways, because they were the fuckin’ Nazis.
Except the ones who were useful. They got new homes and jobs in allied countries under operation paperclip
And the infamous Nazi scientist Wernher Von Braun we put in charge of Nasa wrote a book about a nepotistic power grab by the rich to take control of the world and instate their “Elon”, the president of earth. Errol Musk named his child after the leader from the book
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mars:_A_Technical_Tale
Another interesting thing is that the trials stopped when it was the military leaderships time to be prosecuted. The military leaders after the war basically decided they shouldn’t be accountable for following the orders they receive, so only thirteen people from the military high command were sentenced. The last one sentenced was released in 1954 after serving about six years in prison.
there is also a Behind the Bastards on him
Here’s a link to that episode. You can skip the first 6 minutes. Some ads, some banter.
