Goetter(d)aemmerung: German Admirals on Trial

摘要

As World War Ⅱ drew to a close in Europe, Nazi Germany's depredations cried out for punishment. The British favored a simple approach: the summary execution of the principal perpetrators. United States Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson disagreed, insisting on a trial that would fully expose the criminality of the Nazi regime. Enshrined in law, the court's rulings could regulate the future conduct of nations and help to prevent such future cataclysms.1 Stimson's outlook prevailed, and the four major Allied powers-the United States, Britain, France, and Russia-duly chartered the International Military Tribunal to try the Nazi leadership. Included among the 22 German leaders indicted as major war criminals were Grand Admirals Erich Raeder and Karl Donitz.