The Nuremberg High Command Case: Context and legacy, 1947--1958

This dissertation investigates the impact of one of the most important post-war trials of those accused of perpetrating war crimes and crimes against humanity in service of the Nazi state. The High Command Case, conducted by the Americans from 1947 to 1948, examined German military complicity and participation in ideologically motivated political and racial crimes. The trial was an integral part of US occupation goals to achieve justice, educate the German public about its criminal past, and democratize West Germany. The trial itself was a success, resulting in eleven guilty verdicts out of thirteen defendants, and producing a comprehensive and incontrovertible record of military crimes. However, the timing of the proceedings and the identity of the defendants as soldiers provided unique leverage to West German governmental, religious and private institutions intent on securing sweeping pardons for convicted war criminals. Exploiting the intensification of the Cold War, particularly the west's desire for West German rearmament, German leaders and ordinary citizens demanded the return of their soldiers prior to any commitment to western defense plans. The Americans' new political priorities ultimately eclipsed their original goals for the war crimes trial program and prompted a speedy release of convicted war criminals by occupation officials. In the end, US authorities admitted that they had not done everything in their power to protect the integrity of the trial and impress the lessons of the proceedings upon German public consciousness.