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  • International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg: The accused in the box circa 1945-1946. First row, left to right: Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel. Second row, left to right: Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, Fritz Sauckel.

  • Karl Brandt, physician in charge of the German Aktion T4 program, the campaign to systematically kill people with disabilities, was found guilty at the Nuremberg Tribunal of belonging to a criminal organization, of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was condemned to death by hanging. Source: United States Army Military History Institute (USAMHI)

Justice and the Holocaust : Prosecuting Nazi Criminals

  • Exhibition United against genocide: Understand, question, prevent
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Exhibition United against genocide: Understand, question, prevent

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Justice and the Holocaust : Prosecuting Nazi Criminals

At the end of World War II, the Allies convened the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg to prosecute Nazi leaders. At the same time a hunt for Nazi criminals began that led to thousands of trials, many of which were held in Poland.

Some Holocaust survivors took part in this hunt, such as Simon Wiesenthal and Montrealer Joseph Riwash. Riwash was instrumental in the arrests of several Nazis, including Martin Weiss, former commander of the Vilna Ghetto.

Despite these initiatives, many criminals escaped justice. To this day, efforts to find Nazi criminals continue. This undertaking, however, has been met with several difficulties, particularly the advanced age of the perpetrators of the genocide and of the witnesses.