English commentary translated from German. Consists of footage from German films documenting Nazi personalities and activities; film shot during the trials including testimony and statements from defendants, prosecuting attorneys, judges, and witnesses. The story of the rise and fall of Nazism from the putsch in a Munich beer hall to the Nuremberg trials; contains flashbacks of a variety of Nazi crimes against humanity. Europe 1945, panorama of war devastation: buildings and cities laying in ruins, people in hunger and despair emerge from shelters searching for the causes of the war and of the immediate human suffering;
November 21, 1945, Nuremberg, Palace of Justice, seating of the International Military Tribunal; chief prosecutor, from the United States, Robert Houghwout Jackson, presents Count 1 of the indictment a conspiracy to commit war crimes, and crimes against peace and humanity; Jackson continues with Count 1; Munich, burgeoning Nazi party, following the lead of Adolf Hitler, instigate street riots with the aim of gaining the highest degree of control over the Germans by any means; Joseph Goebbels at desk; Hans G., former official of the Berlin police administration, testifies concerning his investigation of the Reichstag fire; German delegates leave the League Nations, and Germany embarks on a policy to strengthen its military; General Werner Edward Fritz von Blomberg announces universal military conscription;
Spring 1936: German troops invade the Rhineland, and in Nuremberg, the number of goose stepping troops parading through the town increases each day; Guido Schmidt, former foreign minister of Austria testifies concerning Hitler's decision to annex Austria, Arthur von Seyss-Inquart becomes Chancellor of Austria; Gen. Alfred Jodl testifies regarding Hitler's decision to invade Czechoslovakia; Emil Hacha, president of Czechoslovakia, arrives for meeting with Hitler and other German leaders; chief prosecutor from Great Britain, Hartly W. Shawcross, presents Count No. 2, Crimes Against Peace, meaning wars of aggression in violation of international treaties and agreements: Lt. Col. Schumt relates Hitler's plans to occupy Poland;
August 23, 1939: Joseph Stalin and Joachim von Ribbentrop sign Russian-German non-aggression pact; Pope Pius XII and Franklin Delano Roosevelt appeal for peace; September 1, 1939: German troops invade Poland as Luftwaffe begins bombing raid; Hitler, addressing Reichstag, names countries Germany intends to occupy; April 9, 1940: Germany invades Denmark. April 9, 1940: Germany invades Norway; May 10, 1940: Germany invades Luxemburg, Belgium, Holland; April 6, 1941: Germany invades Yugoslovia; September 27, 1940, Berlin: signing of the Tripartte (Axis) Pact giving Italy the Mediterranean region, Japan the Orient, and to Germany the rest of the world; June 1941: Germany invades Russia; August-September 1941: Luftwaffe conducts raids on Great Britain;
December 7, 1941: Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; chief prosecutor from Russia, Roman A. Redenko, presents Counts 3 and 4: charging committment of war crimes in Germany and countries which Germany occupies; abuse, starvation, and execution of prisoners of war. Reference to testimony of Kenaris (?) and Hans Frank in describing Nazi policies and methods for exterminating Poles and others; pictures record the implementation and results of Nazi policies; atrocities in Ouradour Sur Glane in France, in Bande in Belgium, in the Catacombe of San Callisto in Italy, . . . in Czechoslovakia; testimony of Rudulf Hess describes concentration camps at Auschwitz; medical experiments including lowering the body temperature, injecting the body with poisons and infectious diseases, and subjecting the body to high altitude pressure chambers; chief prosecutor from France, Francious de Monthon, concludes Counts 3 and 4: describes, from memoranda of Fritz Sauckel,Nazi policies forcing labor from captive people; describes Hermann Goering directive to plunder.
Footage of the bodies of Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Jodl, Frank, Frick, Rosenberg, Sauckel, Streicher, Seyss-Inquart, Goering were added to this title.
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