1. Hartley Shawcross.
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NUREMBERG War Crime Trials, Nuremberg, Germany, 1945-1949 , *LAWYERS , *WAR crime trials , *DEATH ,OBITUARIES - Abstract
Hartley William Shawcross, prosecutor at Nuremberg, died on July 10th, aged 101. Perhaps Hartley Shawcross will be remembered by a single sentence: "There comes a point when a man must refuse to answer to his leader if he is also to answer to his own conscience." He was presenting the case at Nuremberg in 1945 against Germans accused of making aggressive war and of crimes against humanity. Their leader, Adolf Hitler, had killed himself. Twenty-two of Hitler's civilian and military chiefs were now on trial, a proceeding that was to end with 12 of them being sentenced to death. The effectiveness of the Shawcross opening speech, spread over two days, is that he was able to challenge the notion that the trial was an act of vengeance by the victors. Under Hitler, he said, Germany had been organized for aggressive war, and its crimes against peace had been the parent of other crimes. American, French and Russian lawyers all made speeches during the 216-day trial. But in their book," The Nuremberg Trial", John and Ann Tusa say the two Shawcross speeches stood out. Sir Hartley Shawcross (the title went with the job of attorney-general) returned to Britain from Nuremberg much praised in the newspapers and Parliament for his needle-sharp mind and (incidentally) for outpointing the uppity Americans.
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- 2003