Evening star., 1945-11-21

not due to the lack of discipline or
to the ordinary weaknesses Of hui
man nature. The German organ
lied plundering, planned 1t, disci-
plined it and made it official just
as he organized everything else, and
then he compiled the most meticu-
lous records to show that he had
done the best job Of looting that was
possible under the circumstances.
And we have those records.
We have here the surviving top
politicians, militarists, financiers,
diplomats, administrators and prop
agandists Of the Nazi movement.
Who was responsible for these
crimes If they were not? :.
The end Of the war and capture
Of these prisoners presented the
victorious Allies with the question
whether there is any legal RESPONSE
bility on high-ranking men for acts
which have described. Must such
wrongs either be ignored or redressed
In hot blood? Is there no standard
in the law for deliberate and rea-
soned judgment on such conduct?
Has Faith in Law.
The charter of this tribunal evi-
dences a faith that the law Is not
only to govern the conduct of little
men, but that even rulers are, as
Lord Chief Justice Coke put it to
King James, under God and the
law"
Following the instructions of the
late President Roosevelt and the
decision of the Yalta Conference,
President Truman directed repre-
sentatives of the United States to
formulate a proposed international
agreement, which was submitted
during the San Francisco Confer
ence to foreign ministers of the
United Kingdom, the Soviet Union,
and the provisional government of
France. With many notifications,
that proposal has become the char
ter of this tribunal.
But the agreement which sets up
the standards by which these pris-
oners are to be judged does not ex-
press the views Of the signatory ma
tions alone. Other nations with di-
verse but highly respected systems
of jurisprudence also have signified
adherence to it. You Judge,
therefore. under an organic act
which represents the wisdom, the
sense of justice, and the will of 18
governments, representing an over
whelning majority Of all civilized
people. '''
Ignored ALI Law.
cannot, of course, deny that these
men are surprised that this is the
law: they really are surprised that
there is any such thing as law.
These defendants did not rely on
any law at all. Their program ig-
nored and defied all law. -
These men cannot bring them
selves within the reason of the rule
which in some systems of jurispru-
dence prohibits ex post facto laws.
They cannot show that they ever
relied upon international law in any
state or paid it the slightest re-
gard.
1t will appear that the Defendants
Keitel and Jodl were informed by
official legal advisers that the orders
to brand Russian prisoners Of war,
to shackle British prisoners of war
and to execute Commando prisoners
were clear violations of interna-
tional law. Nevertheless. these or
ders were put into effect. -.
The fourth count of the indict-
ment is based on crimes against hu-
manity. Chief among these are
mass killings of countless human
beings in cold blood. Does it take
these men by surprise that murder
is treated as crime? 80.
The eithth assembly of the League
of Nations in 1927, on unanimous
resolution of the representatives Of
48 member nations, including Ger
many, declared that war of ag-
gression constitutes an international
crime. At the sixth American
Conference of 1928, the 81 American
republics unanimously adopted a
resolution stating that "war of ag-
gression constitutes an international
crime against the human species"
War Is Illegal.
Inherently criminal acts cannot
be defended by showing that those
who committed them were engaged
IN a war, when war itself is
illegal.
We are not inquiring into the
conditions which contributed to
causing this war. They are for history
to unravel. 1t is no part of our task
to vindicate the European status
quo as of 1888, or as of any other
date. The United States does not
desire to enter into discussion of the