Prelude to Nuremberg

Between November 1945 and October 1946, the InternationalMilitary Tribunal in Nuremberg tried some of the most notoriouspolitical and military figures of Nazi Germany. The issue ofpunishing war criminals was widely discussed by the leaders ofthe Allied nations, however, well before the end of the war. AsArieh Kochavi demonstrates, the policies finally adopted,including the institution of the Nuremberg trials, representedthe culmination of a complicated process rooted in the domesticand international politics of the war years. Drawing on extensive research, Kochavi painstakinglyreconstructs the deliberations that went on in Washington andLondon at a time when the Germans were perpetrating their worstcrimes. He also examines the roles of the Polish and Czechgovernments-in-exile, the Soviets, and the United Nations WarCrimes Commission in the formulation of a joint policy on warcrimes, as well as the neutral governments' stand on the questionof asylum for war criminals. This compelling account therebysheds new light on one of the most important and least understoodaspects of World War II.