Judgement At Nuremberg || "We Stand For Justice, Truth And The Value Of A Single Human Being" !!

|

CREDIT:

Movie: "Judgment at Nuremberg"
Released: Tuesday, December 19, 1961 (USA)
IMDb Website: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055031/
Saul Paulus YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/wgvR67Ktwio

Storyline:

It has been three years since the most important Nazi leaders had already been tried. This trial is about four (4) judges who used their offices to conduct Nazi sterilization and cleansing policies.

Retired American judge, Dan Haywood has a daunting task ahead of him. The Cold War is heating up and no one wants any more trials as Germany, and Allied governments, want to forget the past.

But is that the right thing to do is the question that the tribunal must decide.

DESCRIPTION:

In 1948, an American court in occupied Germany tries four (4) Nazis judged for war crimes.

Judgment at Nuremberg is a 1961 American epic courtroom drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, written by Abby Mann and starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, William Shatner, and Montgomery Clift.

Set in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1948, the film depicts a fictionalized version of the Judges' Trial of 1947, one (1) of the twelve (12) United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals conducted before the United States military.

QUOTE:

Chief Judge Dan Haywood [ portrayed by Spencer Tracy ]: "Janning [ i.e., Dr. Ernst Janning, portrayed by Burt Lancaster ], to be sure, is a tragic figure. We believe he LOATHED the evil he did. But compassion for the present torture of his soul must not beget forgetfulness of the torture and the death of millions by the government of which he was a part. Janning's record and his fate illuminate the most shattering truth that has emerged from this trial. If he and all of the other defendants had been degraded perverts. If all the leaders of the Third Reich had been sadistic monsters and maniacs, then these events would have no more moral significance than an earthquake or any other natural catastrophe. But this trial has shown, that under a NATIONAL CRISIS, ordinary, even able and extraordinary men, can DELUDE themselves into the commission of crimes, so vast and heinous that they beggar the imagination. No one who has sat through this trial can ever forget them. Men sterilized because of political beliefs ... A mockery made of friendship and faith. The murder of children ... How EASILY it can happen! There are those in our own country too, who today speak of the PROTECTION of the country. Of SURVIVAL! A decision must be made. In the life of every nation, at the very moment, when the grasp of the enemy is at it's throat, then it seems that the only way to survive, is to use the means of the enemy. To rest survival upon what is expedient. To look the other way. Only, the answer to that is: SURVIVAL AS WHAT? A country isn't a rock. It's not an extension of one's self. IT'S WHAT IT STANDS FOR. IT'S WHAT IT STANDS FOR WHEN STANDING FOR SOMETHING IS THE MOST DIFFICULT! Before the people of the world, let it now be noted, that here in our decision this is what WE STAND FOR: JUSTICE, TRUTH ... AND THE VALUE OF A SINGLE HUMAN BEING!"

THOUGHTS:

► It had been three (3) years since the most important Nazi leaders had already been tried. This trial was about four (4) judges who used their offices to conduct Nazi sterilization and cleansing policies. Retired American judge, Dan Haywood had a daunting task ahead of him.

► The Cold War had heating up. No one wanted any more trials as Germany, and Allied governments, wanted to forget the past. But was that the right thing to do? That was the question this tribunal had to decide.

Hmmm ...

What would have been your decision?