In his opening address on behalf of the United States at the Nuremburg Trials, Chief Counsel for
the United States Robert H. Jackson combined the American ideals of due process with the need for
retribution sought by the international tribunal in response to the horrors committed by the accused.
In the first paragraph of his address, he speaks to the restrain exercised by the four aggrieved
countries presiding over the tribunal. Jackson expressed the great burden that comes with
responsibility- while these four nations had the responsibility to make an example of these men and
promote respect for the laws of the earth, they were also beholden to a fair system of justice, and had
to give them a fair, open trial.
He then speaks to the need to right the wrongs done by the Nazis all across Europe, and to the
great hole that was left in the wake of their reign.
I think that the fact that any one of the 20 or so defendants were acquitted speaks volumes
about the integrity of the presiding body. The fact that they were aggrieved and still made an honest
attempt to seek justice and truth for the entire world is a Herculean achievement, one that many of us
(myself included) would likely not have had the strength of character to achieve.