The Websites I Used for My Research Are:
Holocaust Aftermath
This website has a "edu." extension showing that is is educationally accurate. The website is published and maintained by the University of Florida. The copyright stamp is also at the bottom of the page.
Vancrook
This website is credible because it shows the date that it was last updated as the 5th of May. The links at the bottom of the page also all work and have to do with post World War II.
Holocaust Encyclopedia
This website includes the ".org" extension, and it is the official website for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum. The contact information is located at the bottom of the page including address, phone number, and you are also able to email them.
What I Learned!
Website 1 suggests that International and National trials were held accusing war criminals were held in France, Italy, the Soviet Union, and other European countries(Website 1). When Allied troops found out about the concentration camps, they were beyond angry. The Allied troops would even take German citizens on "compulsory" tours of concentration camps to exhibit the level of barbarity that was in use towards Jewish people(Website 1). During the last year of the war, after the Allied troops found out about the concentration camps, they began listing German war criminals that they intended to prosecute(Website 1). Among the trials, the Nuremberg Trials were the most popular. In Nuremberg, a town severely damaged by the war, 22 high-ranked Nazi officials were prosecuted in front of the world(Website 1). One defendant, Julius Streicher, was sentenced to death by hanging(Website 1). He was a publisher of an anti-Semitic newspaper called Dur Sturmer. The US, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union worked endlessly to bring officials from Hitler's Third Reich to trial.
There was a high level of resentment towards the German leaders after World War II. People felt that it was imperative that an attempt be made to punish these leaders for their heinous crimes. Most officials owned up to their actions and were found guilty, but others were found innocent(Website 2). Many German officials who were deemed guilty at the Nuremberg trials were found guilty and sentenced to death. There were plans to punish the industrial leaders who had collaborated with the Nazi effort, but Germany was in such bad economic condition after the war that they figured they were needed for recovery rather than punishment. Of course, Hitler committed suicide before he could ever be punished for his crimes(Website 2). Many high ranking German officials committed suicide before they were tried or captured. A lot of those who were found guilty at the Nuremberg Trials committed suicide while they were in prison(Website 2). Unfortunately, some Nazis were never punished for their crimes, and went on living normal lives after the war was over.
Many nations in which Germany occupied during World War II have held national trials against Nazi's and Nazi collaborators. Poland's most famous national trial happened in 1947 in Krakow. This trial prosecuted officials who operated Auschwitz, one of the largest concentration camps(Website 3). War criminals were tried for things such as crimes against peace, brutal crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit these crimes(Website 3). The international Military Tribunal defined crimes against humanity as "murder, enslavement, extermination, deportation, and persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds." Plans to punish such war criminals began while the war was still going on. In the years immediately after the war, the Allied Powers conducted trials in their areas of occupation and tried perpetrators guilty of big and small war crimes(Website 3). Trials regarding this have been held up until the 1980s. Detractors were angered when Nazi's, now in their old age, were given light sentences because of their old age(Website 3). I strongly disagree with that as well, as these Nazi's have done so much damage to humanity that they do not deserve sympathy in any way, shape, or form.
There was a high level of resentment towards the German leaders after World War II. People felt that it was imperative that an attempt be made to punish these leaders for their heinous crimes. Most officials owned up to their actions and were found guilty, but others were found innocent(Website 2). Many German officials who were deemed guilty at the Nuremberg trials were found guilty and sentenced to death. There were plans to punish the industrial leaders who had collaborated with the Nazi effort, but Germany was in such bad economic condition after the war that they figured they were needed for recovery rather than punishment. Of course, Hitler committed suicide before he could ever be punished for his crimes(Website 2). Many high ranking German officials committed suicide before they were tried or captured. A lot of those who were found guilty at the Nuremberg Trials committed suicide while they were in prison(Website 2). Unfortunately, some Nazis were never punished for their crimes, and went on living normal lives after the war was over.
Many nations in which Germany occupied during World War II have held national trials against Nazi's and Nazi collaborators. Poland's most famous national trial happened in 1947 in Krakow. This trial prosecuted officials who operated Auschwitz, one of the largest concentration camps(Website 3). War criminals were tried for things such as crimes against peace, brutal crimes against humanity, and conspiracy to commit these crimes(Website 3). The international Military Tribunal defined crimes against humanity as "murder, enslavement, extermination, deportation, and persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds." Plans to punish such war criminals began while the war was still going on. In the years immediately after the war, the Allied Powers conducted trials in their areas of occupation and tried perpetrators guilty of big and small war crimes(Website 3). Trials regarding this have been held up until the 1980s. Detractors were angered when Nazi's, now in their old age, were given light sentences because of their old age(Website 3). I strongly disagree with that as well, as these Nazi's have done so much damage to humanity that they do not deserve sympathy in any way, shape, or form.