Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume IIVarious
Philosophy
Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg military tribunals under control council law no. 10, volume II
Various
Nuremberg Trial of Major German War Criminals, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1946; War crime trials -- Germany -- Nuremberg
Under the Anglo-Saxon system of jurisprudence every defendant in a
criminal case is presumed to be innocent of an offense charged until the
prosecution, by competent, credible proof, has shown his guilt to the
exclusion of every reasonable doubt. And this presumption abides with a
defendant through each stage of his trial until such degree of proof has
been adduced. A “reasonable doubt” as the name implies is one
conformable to reason—a doubt which a reasonable man would entertain.
Stated differently, it is that state of a case which, after a full and
complete comparison and consideration of all the evidence, would leave
an unbiased, unprejudiced, reflective person, charged with the
responsibility for decision, in the state of mind that he could not say
that he felt an abiding conviction amounting to a moral certainty of the
truth of the charge.
If any of the defendants are to be found guilty under counts two or
three of the indictment it must be because the evidence has shown beyond
a reasonable doubt that such defendant, without regard to nationality or
the capacity in which he acted, participated as a principal in,
accessory to, ordered, abetted, took a consenting part in, or was
connected with plans or enterprises involving the commission of at least
some of the medical experiments and other atrocities which are the
subject matter of these counts. Under no other circumstances may he be
convicted.
Before examining the evidence to which we must look in order to
determine individual culpability, a brief statement concerning some of
the official agencies of the German Government and Nazi Party which will
be referred to in this judgment seems desirable.
THE MEDICAL SERVICE IN GERMANY
Adolf Hitler was the head of the Nazi Party, the German Government, and
the German Armed Forces. His title as Chief of the Government was “Reich
Chancellor”. As Supreme Leader of the National Socialist German Workers’
Party, commonly called the NSDAP or Nazi Party, his title was “Fuehrer”.
As head of Germany’s armed military might he was “Supreme Commander in
Chief of the German Armed Forces [Supreme Commander of the German Armed
Forces], or Wehrmacht”.
The staff through which Hitler controlled the German Armed Forces was
known as the “Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht” (OKW). The chief of this
staff was Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel.
Under the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht were the Supreme [High]
Commands of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. The Supreme [High] Command of
the Navy (OKM) was headed by Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz. The Supreme
[High] Command of the Army (OKH) was headed by Field Marshal Walter von
Brauchitsch until December 1941, and thereafter by Hitler himself. The
Supreme [High] Command of the Air Force (OKL) was headed by Reich
Marshal Hermann Goering.
Each of the three branches of the Wehrmacht maintained its own medical
service.
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