Evening star., 1946-10-02
By NewboId Noyes, Jr.
Sfor Stoff Corrsspondsnt

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 18 of Hitler's hench-
men were brought to face the judg-
ment the world imposed on them.
Not one gave evidence of the ter
riple tension which each must have
felt in his 30-second appearance.
Each entered the prisoners dock
through elevator doors at the rear
and stood quietly to listen to Lord
Chief Justice Lawrence's words
through earphones. Most did not
realize that they would hear only
one brief sentence and therefore
failed to remove the headset when
the Judgment had been pronounced.
Military 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
significance in comparison to which
~. 4, ,ot,,al ay,do v,fc vv,ooYf Gff1a
In this courtroom the conscience Of
a world sick of tyranny and the war
it breeds asserted its right to Judge
and to punish duly constituted
rulers who have done it violence.
The spectators who packed into
the courtroom at the Palace of JUS
tice witnessed parade of men who
stood for all the things the world
must overcome if it 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
was Naziism. Each in his way was
an indispensable ingredient of Hit
ler's terrible brew. =.
Just before 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
Reichstag, whose fabulous ambi-
tions, acquisitions, failures and
crimes have made his name infa-
nous in the earth's farthest corners
-hesitates for a moment, standing
alone.
This was the man who in 1898
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, Gpering
stops him with a wave of the hand.
His headset is not working.
Apparently perfectly calm ne
stands by for a full two minutes
while soldiers tinker with the ap-
paratus. At last the difficulty is
Strengthened out and Justice Law
rence's words, in German transla-
ton, come through to Goering:
ION 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
is Rudolf Hess the man who in his