By Ricardo Zamora
Impunity Watch Reporter Europe
NUREMBERG, Germany – An exhibit commemorating the Nuremburg trials opened its doors to the public on Sunday. The display is located at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, the building where several Nazis were sentenced to death between November 20, 1945 and October 1, 1946.
The exhibit, commemorating the 65th anniversary of the trials, features original documents and archival material including photo, video and audio displays. Also on display are the original docks and seats where countless Nazi leaders such as Hermann Goering and Marin Bormann sat to face charges.
One of the major attractions is the famed Court Room 600, the room where some of the most significant trials were held 65 years ago. The well-preserved and still-functioning court is open to the public when it is not presently in use.
Among those in attendance for the grand opening was 90 year-old Benjamin Ferencz, one of the original U.S. prosecutors at the trials. In 1943, Ferencz, then 23 and fresh out of Harvard Law School, began gathering evidence of Nazi crimes as the concentration camps were liberated. Just four years later he found himself chief prosecutor at the trial of 22 Nazis.
Ferencz noted, “When I left Germany for the first time after World War II and left Nuremberg, my biggest regret was that I never heard from any German saying ‘I’m sorry.’ I would never have believed that I would come back 60 years later and would hear a completely difference voice and a different plan in the same country.”
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, also in attendance, expressed how the trials set a precedent for the development of international law. Indeed, not only were the trials the first to establish the legal precedent of crimes against humanity, they also made way for the International Criminal Court.
“Because a lot was risked here in Nuremberg – politically, legally and personally – international law was able to develop and rules could be set out for future cases,” Westerwelle said.
In his closing remarks Ferencz emphasized that prevention is the goal, not punishment. “By the time you are punishing you have failed,” he warned. Before stepping down, Ferencz left the audience with a final question: “How far have we come?”
For more information please see:
CBC – Nuremberg Trials Explored in Museum Exhibit – November 22, 2010
DEUTSCHE WELLE – How Far Have We Come? Nuremberg Trials Museum Opens – November 21, 2010
RIANOVOSTI – Museum on Nuremberg Trials Opens Doors in Germany – November 21, 2010
