The National Archives
Education
World War II
Catalogue ref: FO 371/50997
These extracts come from the Indictment of the leading Nazis and were read out at the start of their war crimes trial in Nuremberg (Nurnberg is the German name) in 1945.
An indictment is the list of crimes that someone is accused of committing.
During the war the Nazis committed some of the most terrible atrocities in history. The worst was the mass murder of Jews and other minority groups in extermination camps in Poland from 1942 onwards. However, there were many other war crimes as well. During the war, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was determined that war criminals would be hunted down and punished.
This was agreed at Yalta in February 1945 when the leaders of Britain, the USSR and the USA met in a conference.
The issue of war crimes remains controversial today. Some historians argue that the British and American bombing campaign against German cities was a war crime. Others point out that Britain and America’s ally Stalin, leader of the USSR, was probably responsible for more deaths than Hitler. It remains an uncomfortable issue.
The leading Nazis were not the only ones put on trial. Many less senior figures were also tried, most often guards from concentration camps. However, there is little doubt that many thousands of war criminals escaped justice in the chaos and confusion at the end of the war.
You could use this framework for Churchill’s reply.
