The SS on Trial

The Nuremberg Trials were held by the four victorious Allied forces of Great Britain, the USA, France and the USSR in the Palace of Justice, Nuremberg from November 1945 to October 1946. Famous for prosecuting the major German war criminals, they also tried the various groups and organizations that were at the heart of Nazi Germany. This fascinating volume is concerned with the trial of the SS and includes all the testimony from the Nuremberg Trials regarding this enormous organization, including the original indictment, the criminal case put forward for the SS, the closing speeches by the prosecution and defense and the final judgment. Former SS members often wondered why they were charged as war criminals when they just performed their "normal" duty. The Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was to attempt to answer that question. The witnesses called for the trial of the SS include Freidrich Karl von Eberstein, an early member of the Nazi Party, the SA, and the SS, Paul Hausser, one of the most eminent leaders of the Waffen-SS who vehemently defended their military role in the war, Georg Konrad Morgen, a former SS judge, and Wolfram Sievers, the Reich manager of the Ahnenerbe. Features 40 war time photographs and charts.