Evening star., 1946-10-01
Justice 7 empered
With Mercyiin
Triul Climax
By NewboId Noyes, Jr.
Stor Sioff corrs.pondsnt

1
ster steff Correspondent
NUREMBERG, Oct. 1.-Justice
was strongly tempered with
mercy In this afternoons 40
minute climax to the unprece-
dented international trial which
has been in progress here since
last November 20. The proceed
ings were packed with drama,
as much for what did not hap
pen as for what did.
One by one Is OF Hitler's hench-
men were brought to face the judg-
ment the world imposed on them
Not one gave evidence of the ter
rible tension which each must have
felt in his 32d appearance.
Each entered the prisoners dock
through elevator doors at the rear
and stood quietly to listen to Justice
Lawrence's words through ear
phones. Most did not realize that
they would hear only one brief
sentence and therefore failed to re-
move the headset when the judg-
ment had been pronounced. Mill
tary guards then signaled that the
ordeal was finished and the con-
demned men took OF the ear
phones and went quietly back into
the elevator.
Significance In Proceedings.
What happened here today had a
signiacanse in comparison to which
the actual defendants meant little.
In this courtroom the conscience Of
q world sick Of tyranny and the war
1t breeds asserted its right to Judge
and to punish duly constituted
rulers who have done 1t violence.
The spectators who packed into
the courtroom 1T the Palace Of JUS
tice witnessed parade Of men who
stood for all the things the world
must overcome If 1t Is to succeed
In its quest for peace. They were
all there, the big ones and the less
big. the gentlemen and the thugs,
the smart ones and the stupid. Each
had his function In the system that
war Naztism. Each In his way was
ants15dispensabie ingredient of INT
ler's terrible brew. M
0oeting Enters.
Just bef0re three O'Clock the doors
at the rear Of the prisoners dock
opened to admit two American
military police who took up po-
sitions on either side Of the en-
trance. A moment later Hermann
Goering walked into the room.
The former reichsmarshal sue
cessor-designate to Hitler, Luft-
waite chieftan and president of the
Reichstas, whose fabulous ambi-
tions, acquisitions, failures and
crimes have made his name infa-
nous in the earth's farthest corners
-hesitates for q moment, standing
alone.
This was the man who in 1888
spurred on the workers in German
aircraft factories by telling them he
wanted bombers big enough to. stop
those arrogant mouths" in New
York and Washington.
Thought He was Strong.
That he failed to get them is not
the point. The point Is that Goer-
ing elected, while the rest of the
world sought peace, to argue with
bombs and tanks instead OF with
words and ideas-not because he
was stupid. but because he thought
he was strong.
This man was Hitler's right hand.
He has been singing psalms in his
cell Of late, but much of the old
arrogance, the staggering misguided
courage, Is still with him at this
moment. As soon as he has put
on his earphones, Justice Lawrence
starts reading the sentence, Goering
stops him with a wave Of the hand.
His headset Is not working.
Apparently perfectly calm he
stands by for a full two minutes
while soldiers tinker with the 40
paratus. At last the dificulty is
straightened out and Justice Law
rence's words, in German transla-
ton, come through to Goering:
"On the counts Of the indictment
on which you have been convicted,
the international Military Tribunal
sentences you to death by hanging.
Rudolf Hess Next.
Next to be brought to the dock was
Rudolf Hess, the man who, in his
day, followed Hitler more closely and
blindly than all the rest. Two months
ago he told this court "if I were
once more at the beginning should
act once more as I did act, even
though / knew that at the end
should meet death on q bonfire"
II Hess is not crazy, he is a great
actor. He could be either-or both.
This +heavy-browed, frizzle haired
man Of ~, with his sickly pallor and
permanent 5 o'clock shadow condi-
ton, gave the war one of its most
dramatic episodes in his 1s4l flight
to Britain.