The beginning of the Nuremberg trial of Nazi War Criminals The opening day of the Nuremberg trail of Nazi War Criminals began on November 20, 1945. Lord Justice Lawrence, the British president of the international tribunal, oversaw the proceedings against the surviving major leaders of the Third Reich. In his opening statement, he called the trial “Unique in the history of the jurisprudence of the world” (Opening). And thus, the case of the United States, French Republic, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union against Germany was opened in Nuremberg, Germany.The prisoners appeared in the order of their names in the indictment, and were seated in two rows. The articles went on to describe the prisoners. Goering, (Successor designate to Hitler, Minister of Air force and Commander-in-Chief of Air Force, Plenipotentiary for the Four-Year Plan, Chief of Police in Prussia, Chairman of the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich, and the President of the Reichstag) occupied the right hand corner of the dock, facing the raised judges bench. He looked healthy except for a “heavy sadness” in his eyes (Opening). Admiral Doenitz (Commander-and-Chief U-boats, Commander-and-Chief of German Navy, Gross admiral, and Head of the German State) sat behind him, looking almost inconsequential in his civilian clothes. Rudolf Hess (Deputy to the Fuhrer and successor designate next to Goering, Minister of the Portfolio, and Member of the Ministerial Council for the Defense of the Reich) looked tense. His eyes wandered back and forth across the court when he wasn’t reading a novel he had brought. Sometimes Hess spoke with Joachim von Ribbentrop (Ambassador to Great Britain, and Minister for Foreign Affairs) and once made a comment to Goering who only ignored him and continued staring into the space before him (Opening). The entire time of the court proceedings was taken up with the reading of the twenty-four thousand-word indi...
