Evening star., 1946-10-07
Nuremberg Principles
Seen Indicting Soviet
Iron Curtain Policy Compared
With Nazi Totalitarianism

Iron Curtain Policy Compared
With Nazi Totalitarianism
By David Laurence
When Is a question internal and
when is it international, and what diff
ference does 1t make in either case II
the peace of the world is threatened?
This, in effect, is what Robert H.
jackson, associate justice OF the
Supreme Court of the United States
and the chief American prosecutor In
the Nuremberg trials, said in his speech
the most pointed warning against totali-
tartan tyranny that has been uttered
since WI day.
Justice Jackson did not mention the
totalitarianism or oppression behind the
iron curtain" in Russia and the Balkans
and was properly discussing the problem
in the most general terms. But the
implication that can be taken from his
remarks is plain, whether or not he
intended it so to be construed. Mr..
Jackson said:
"The victory has not ended or given
promise of ending oppression and In
justice which breed international dis
cords. We conquered country whose
predominant faction was practicing ter
rorism in most barbaric forms and on
vast scale.
But the defeat of one group of op-
pressors does not end oppression. In
many of its aspects persecution Of mi
norities Is an internal matter between
the Government and Its citizens. But
its disruptive effect on the international
order is 80 direct that tyranny on
sizable scale anywhere Is matter Of
international concern"
Reiteration Of Doctrine.
This is a significant reiteration OF q
doctrine which has lately been pro-
claimed by Uruguay with reference to
Latin America and by such groups as
the Catholic Bishops Of America in
their pronouncement Of year ago. 1t
is a principle which is logically de-
rived from the approach made by the
Allied governments to the problem of
internal acts wholly within nations
sovereignty which nevertheless affect
external relations and which in this
instance produced the most fragrant
aggression of modern history.
What Justice Jackson is really saying
is that it was mistake for the world
to shut its eyes to what Hitler and the
Nazis were doing between 1888 and 1899,
refraining from taking preventive action
because this had hitherto been re-
garded as strictly, an internal matter
between the government and its eiti-
zens"
Had the world realized fully the con-
sequences on an international scale Of
what Hitler was doing inside Germany.
the theory Of Allied cooperation and
punishment which the Nuremberg trials
exemplified might have been invoked
before, and not after, many millions
OF persons had been killed and many
more wounded.
ut will take time-more time than
jackson, "to learn the ultimate effect
Of the Nuremberg trial on international
law, and to what extent it may deter
attacks on the peace Of the world and
prosecutions Of minorities."
individuals Also Are Guilty.
The principle behind the trials was
novel. 1t is that individuals, as well as
nations, can offend against interna-
tional ethics and law and that punish
ment must be inflicted upon individ-
uals as well as nations guilty Of ag-
gression.
The world is witnessing another series
of acts of barbarism and tyranny. Con-
centration camps exist behind the
Iron curtain" Freedom Of speech and
of the press Is denied and any one who
dares to question the policies of the
totalitarian governments is prosecuted,
It is estimated that many hundreds of
thousands of persons are incarcerated
in the Russian orbit of nations for ex-
pressing political opinions.
The iron hand of the dictators Is felt
in Yugoslavia as well as in other Bal
kan countries. American correspondents
are forbldden 10 penetrate these coun-
tries lest the truth of what is happening
behind the iron curtain" be revealed
to the world. The Russian government
is apparently afraid of the truth-afraid
of world opinion which will inevitably
be modified against it when all the
truth is known about present-day Com
munism and its excesses.
The Communist totalitarians, like
their predecessors, the Nad Fascists,
insist that all this is internal and that
sovereignty gives government the right
to do as it pleases within its borders.
Unhappily, that is the road to internal
friction which becomes international
discord.
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