Nuremberg
1st September 1946:
“This court has found ex-Reichmarschall Hermann Goering guilty of waging crimes against humanity, crimes against peace and war crimes. For the charges mentioned above, this court sentences you to death by hanging. The date of execution shall be intimated to you well in advance. Until then you shall be held in custody of Allied powers”, boomed the voice of Colonel Sir Jeoffrey Lawrence, Lord Justice and President of the Tribunal for the Trials of the Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg.
Soon after Hermann Goering, the second highest ranked Nazi to be tried at this forum was lead off the stand, a tense silence overcame the great halls. The attorneys for both Prosecution and Defense sat quietly at their seats, the representatives of the International Press had stopped their incessant scribbling. Even the judges looked at each other, nervous. This suffocating silence remained for sometime before Francis Biddle, the American judge gave a short nod to the Bailiff. Even the Bailiff, a bear-like man had fallen silent. The usual booming man who made the criminals break into cold sweat seemed to have lost his voice. He cleared his throat a few times and then said in his heavily accented English, “Next to be tried before this Court will be Ad-Adolf Hitler, ex-Fuhrer of Germany and the leader of the Third Reich.”
At the very end of the War, the Russians had stormed into the bunker below the Chancery House and found Adolf Hitler there, sitting on a chair mumbling incoherently to himself. Beside him lay the dead bodies of his fiancé Eva Braun and his beloved dog Blondi. Potassium Cyanide: the doctors had affirmed later. These brave soldiers had put a gun to his head and lead the man to the truck waiting outside. They knew he would be presented before Stalin who would prefer to shoot him with his own pistol. However, some MI6 agents lurking around the place had ruined their plan and reported in detail to Winston Churchill, who had then made it his life mission to ensure the Fuhrer was tried at Nuremberg. Stalin had to bow.
Now, Adolf Hitler was sitting there, a manic look on his face. Lawrence cleared his throat and began, “Mr. Hitler, you are being tried for crimes against humanity, the massacre of minorities, violating the Rules of War and waging crimes of aggression, how do you plead?” With a pause, he continued, “Mr. Fredrick Alder has chosen to be your defense counsel”.
Hitler was looking around the halls with disinterest. He paused for a few seconds, mumbling something to himself and stood up. The Fuhrer who once commanded crowds of millions with his voice had now lost his grace and sonorous voice. His hair was balding and his eyes were far off. Even the most novice observer could spot the effect of drugs that had reduced Der Fuhrer to an addict. When he spoke, his voice was rasping and weak. His sentences incoherent and lacked rationale. “I do not need an advocate to represent me in this Jewish Forum, I am the Fuhrer of Germany, this conspiracy will not get far…”. “Mr. Hitler”, the sharp voice of Francis Biddle cut him from the Bench. “You may choose not to take the Court appointed lawyer and represent yourself, but you will address this Court with respect and speak only when spoken to.” Hitler looked around, angry, but when it became clear that there were no SS personnel around to rescue him, he sat back down.
Once Lawrence nodded his assent for the trial to begin, the prosecuting attorney stood up. Sir Hartley Shawcross, a lawyer in Britain’s Court of Appeals had been unanimously chosen to lead the prosecution in Hitler’s trial. He pointed his fingers at the defendant and after taking a few deep breaths started speaking, “This man, appeared before the devastated State of Germany and its people as a Messiah. He promised them hope, light and freedom. Maybe at first, he himself believed that he could do it. However, with time his true colours showed. Honourable Judges, this man is no Messiah, neither is he a ruler. All he is a mad-man and a mentally disturbed psychopath and in the course of this trial I intend to prove that to you”.
Shawcross sat back on his chair stiff and Hitler stood up, slightly swaying. His eyes were bloodshot and his forehead was lined with beads of sweat. Years later when historians would look back at the notes of the Court psychiatrist, they would see that Der Fuhrer was suffering from withdrawal symptoms.
When he spoke, his voice was not like the deep role of thunder that had rolled over Germany, it was the croak of a man who had lost everything including himself.
“I was destined to be the Fuhrer of Germany, to save the race from the great parasite trinity: Jews, Marxists…” he casually waved his hand and spat “the inferior races. Versailles humiliated me, it humiliated Germany. Versailles was nothing more than the winner writing history and so is this tribunal”, he shouted the last part. He paused; the Judges were looking decidedly uneasy. Hitler carried on, “You are all hypocrites”. Pointing his finger towards the Soviet judge, he continued “Your master Stalin has annihilated entire races in the places he conquered, the entire world is aware of the Katlyn Massacre, where his men have single handedly obliterated twenty-two thousand Polish Officers. His purges have lead to the death of millions of Russian people. But will he be tried in this court of hypocrisy by these Judges of injustice? I doubt. What authority does this Court have to try us, who was the jurisdiction granted by? It was war, and I had to do what it took…”
“Did you have to annihilate six million of your own civilians, the citizens of your mighty Reich, you coward”, bellowed Francis Biddle. Hitler stared at him for a few seconds before sitting down.
Heaving a sigh, Lawrence called for the Prosecution to call their witnesses. Innumerable witnesses entered and left the witness box. All of them repeated the same things: “we were tortured”, “we were forcefully kidnapped from our home”, “we saw the SS massacre our fellow brethren”, “trains full of our people were forcefully taken away, and we never saw them again…”. These people here had lost their fathers, their mothers, brothers, sisters and friends to SS bullets and SS gas. Yet, they confronted their trauma and had appeared before the tribunal, looking straight at the face of the Devil as they testified against him. “This is the Jewish revenge”, thought Lawrence, “this is how they will be paid their dues.”
The trial went on for days. Shawcross would question witness after witness, extracting one incriminating statement after another. Hitler on the contrary had no one to call up, neither did he have any interest in doing so. It had become evident to the Court that he had accepted providence and knew that he had fallen out of favour of lady Luck.
At the end of each examination, he would stand and rant, his words making lesser sense by the passing day. Twice, he showed violent tendencies and had to be forcefully restrained.
As the calendar turned it became evident to everyone that the trial of Adolf Hitler could have only one verdict. On the fifty second day everyone arrived to the Court with mixed feelings, while they knew the verdict, its finality would prove to be an end of an era.
“All rise”, boomed the Bailiff, as the Judges entered and took their seat. As he adjusted his robes, Biddle’s eyes went towards Hitler. He had not bothered to stand up. He slouched in his chair, looking blanky at the empty ceiling, his hair was graying and had three bald patches, the shadows under his eyes showed that he had not slept a wink for many days.
“We have discussed and come to the unanimous conclusion about the verdict of Adolf Hitler”, Lawrence began. He paused, hoping to attract his attention, but when it became evident that he would not stop staring at the ceiling, Lawrence continued, “You have been found guilty of innumerable war crimes, the torture and massacre of Prisoners of War and captives in German occupied areas. You have also been found guilty of the orchestrating and allowing the mass murder of six million of your own Jewish citizens. You have been found guilty of promoting and encouraging crimes against peace, for these aforementioned crimes, this Tribunal at Nuremberg sentences you to death by hanging.”
The banging of the gavel was followed by a deathly silence punctuated by Hitler’s own heavy breaths.
After a few minutes, Lawrence stood up and walked in front of the bench. He removed his spectacles and after heaving a huge sigh began talking, “Ladies and Gentlemen, today brings us to the end of this trial. It was extremely tiring for all us, and before I take your leave, I would like to say a few words. While these trials may not have been conducted by the norms of traditional court, I undoubtedly believe that they were the great equalizers. Our peace was broken within twenty years of the Great War, with a more brutal war. However, the cause for this war was not geopolitics or territory, it was merely the blind greed of men. I recall a phrase that I had studied in Jurisprudence during my time at Oxford, it was a Sanskrit phrase, Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah, it literally translates to ‘the law will protect those who protect it’.
That is what we have tried to establish here, Ladies and Gentlemen. We did not go seeking for revenge for all the wrongs done to us, we used the old, and divine tool that has been proven by the ages: the law. We stand here today, under the umbrella, that is justice. While these trials today may not have sovereign backing, they have divine support. We could have gone the way of anarchy, the people who have been wronged could have publicly massacred the wrongdoers. They had every right to do so, these brave men and women have seen their friends being shot dead in front of them for not being able to work for twenty hours at a time, they have seen their old parents made to toil in the fields under the sweltering sun, and shot dead when they sat down to rest and they have seen their children being lead away in crowded trains and never saw them again. Despite these inhuman trials that they face, they were unwavering in their support of Law and justice. I salute them for it. Many of the defendants tried here today have given instances of ignored injustices. However, I assure the world, that all wrongs, real or imaginary will be tried by the Court of History. I pray for good health and lasting peace.”
With these words, he stepped down and lead the other Judges off the hall. As they walked off, their black cloaks billowing after them, a sharp contrast to their white hair, the four men did not look like humans, they resembled angels of Death, who had come down on earth with the approval of God and the Blessing of Justice.
Author: Anubhav Mukherjee.
Authors Note- This is an article of contemplative history and has not occurred in real life. It is based on the assumption that Hitler did not commit suicide and may have been tried at Nuremberg.