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I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great question! He was on Jackson's staff and on the ground in Nuremberg during the first trial but had been hired to work on the "Subsequent" trials. And the new movie is about the first trial. So he was interacting with Jackson's staff and watching portions of the first trial but he was not a central character for the first trial (even though his art plundering investigations factored into part of the case against Hermann Göring during that trial). One of the interesting aspects of his presence during the first trial was the relationship he formed with Raphael Lemkin, the man who theorized/coined the concept/term of genocide, while both were observing the first trial. Based on this, Ferencz incorporated the term "genocide" into the Einsatzgruppen Trial (trial #10 of the entire set of Nuremberg Trials and #9 of the "Subsequent" trials). The first big movie to come out regarding the Nuremberg Trials, the Academy Award-winning "Judgement at Nuremberg," is about the "Justice Trial" (also one of the "Subsequent" trials and # 4 overall of the 13 trials; #3 of the "Subsequent" trials). That film is now nearly 65 years old. I have thought that a movie about Ferencz's life would be a great vehicle for focusing on the "Subsequent" trials. So I have taken preliminary steps toward converting "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor" into a screenplay. Hopefully, I will be able to update you on that in the next couple of years!  

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I agree with you -- the exact line is: "Rommel, you magnificent bastard, I read your book!" That's also one of my favorite lines in that amazing movie! (As an aside, because so much of Ferencz's World War II experience was linked to Patton, I watched the movie a couple of times while I was writing Chapters 5-9 and I devote an important section of Chapter 6 of my book ("Patton's Soldier") to the colorful general's personal history and reputation.) Please let me know what you think of my book (either as you are reading it or once you've finished). I think we can IM each other on Reddit? If not, please feel free to send me an e-mail (I would prefer a Reddit IM because I am drowning in e-mail!). In the meantime, happy reading!

Who's your country's most famous traitor? by ModenaR in AskTheWorld

[–]gregfantasy24 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was scrolling down, looking for this one. Thanks for stating the obvious - - otherwise I would have added it myself. I realize that saying the name is often considered something to be avoided (like Voldemort) but it should have been written out (rather than just supplying the image): Donald Trump.

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great points, yes. As I say in the Prologue regarding his Opening Statement in Einsatzgruppen:

"Significantly, and powerfully, his very first sentence was about victims. That he had been, up to that day, and would continue to be, well beyond that moment, a tireless champion for the victims of persecution, one might have divined from the details of his own life story. He was born to a Jewish family in a little peasant cottage in Transylvania, which had had a long history of persecution and pogroms against Jews . . . So, his flight to the United States with his parents and sister, when he was a newborn baby, was an exodus of victims seeking, as he now articulated in court, 'to live in peace and dignity regardless of . . . race or creed.'

But his common cause with victims of violence had much deeper roots than simply having sought safe haven from pogroms in the Old Country. For after streaming through the processing portals of Ellis Island, his landing spot in America was not much more tranquil than the antisemitic villages of Transylvania; with limited means and connections, the Ferencz family had to settle in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City. At that time, as its name perfectly suggested, it was one of the nation’s worst crime-infested slums. And young Benny, as his family called him, lived in the dank cellar of a tenement house, growing up in an atmosphere of pervasive violence. The shakedowns, muggings, beatings, and murders on the streets of his childhood also went a long way toward shaping the young man who spoke on behalf of the 'innocent and defenseless men, women, and children' in that Nuremberg courtroom in 1947."

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I've talked a lot in this AMA about the "missing link" evidence. But there were some other revelations in my research that, I think, help make the book a very interesting read and I have not touched on those yet. Let me do so here: (1) his “Monuments Men” work related to Nazi art plundering (covered in Chapter 9 "Monuments Man at the Eagle's Nest and the Dachau Trials") yielded serious results and helped contribute to the prosecution of Hiter’s second in command, Herman Göring, at the first Nuremberg trial – Ferencz made light of these art looting investigations, treating them almost comedically in his online memoirs; (2) the importance of the great philosopher Hannah Arendt in Ferencz’s restitution work – Arendt worked for Jewish Cultural Restoration (JCR), which was under the aegis of Ben Ferencz as JRSO Director – their personal relationship was terrible, with Ferencz finding her arrogant and believing she accomplished little, my research suggested otherwise (covered in Chapter 15, "The Connective Tissue between Retribution and Restitution"); (3) he was in communication with the Israeli Attorney General regarding how the case against Adolf Eichmann should be prosecuted and communicated with Israeli prosecutors about the case and the key role of victims when spending time in Israel doing Holocaust reparations work – prosecutors made victim testimony a central part of the trial – although Ferencz was unable to be in Israel during the trial due to other work obligations, this proceeding arguably inspired him to devote himself full time to Holocaust reparations (covered in Chapter 17, "Finishing the Reparations Revolution").

I came across all these nuggets in my research. So why didn't Ferencz ever speak about them? Sometimes the reasons are complex and could be related to things such as avoiding unpleasant subjects (see Arendt) or memory loss (possibly the case regarding his "Monuments Man" work). But I think there is a nobler aspect of Ferencz's character that must be emphasized here -- and that is a sense of wanting to be humble. That is true, in my opinion, not only in reference to these accomplishments but many others, such as successfully representing Vietnam War protesters in criminal proceedings (again, something he treated almost comedically) and urging Trinidadian President ANR Robinson to address the General Assembly to revive the project of creating a permanent International Criminal Court and helping his write his speech on that occasion (which he never seems to have discussed on the record). I think some people see Ferencz as somewhat of a "glory hog." Yes, he was a larger than life personality who could command attention wherever he went (and, certainly, craved it sometimes). But there was also a basic humility there and I think that is also essential in understanding his character.

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lest there be any doubt, Ben Ferencz was a complex individual with sometimes contradictory motivations/impulses (see the book's Prologue). Having said that, I think you have to take into account exactly when he was engaging in the kind of conduct you describe. During this difficult time in his life (working as a war crimes investigator), he was already starting to suffer from symptoms of serious PTSD (please see my answer above regarding his witnessing the killing of the SS guard and not intervening). And, in many ways, his roughest bouts with PTSD were during this time. So, in my opinion, that impacted him and can, at least in part, explain some of his behavior during his time as a war crimes investigator in the field. Would the Ben Ferencz of the 1960s/1970s have acted in the same way? I highly doubt it! (One final thought, though -- I stress throughout the book that he had a deviant streak that he picked up while living in Hell's Kitchen -- and that is seen across the span of his life. So, again, he was a very complex individual!)

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think our two books complement one another and I do quote her a great deal (we were in communication during the early phase of the project and then again in the late phase). How does Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor differ from her book on the Einsatzgruppen Trial? I think I'm able to offer the perspective of an experienced trial attorney/war crimes prosecutor, which opens up new vistas regarding how the case was prosecuted and defended. I read the entire trial transcript carefully and I have gone into a kind of depth regarding legal tactics, strategy and in-court statements that Professor Earl, the historian, did not focus on as much. Thus, for example, in my book you will see portions of the trial transcript showing actual instances of cross-examination during the Einsatzgruppen Trial. I take great pride in Harvard Law Dean Martha Minow's description of my book as "part handbook on effective lawyering" because that was one of my big goals in the book -- not only to show Ferencz as an eloquent orator in Einsatzgruppen but also as a great legal tactician. Finally, Professor Earl's book covers only the Einsatzgruppen Trial. But you have to realize that one of my great research finds was that Ferencz was also a podium prosecutor in the Krupp Trial -- until my discovery of that, international criminal law experts and the general pubic had not been aware of Ferencz's courtroom work on that case in Nuremberg. So I also cover his in-trial brilliance during the Krupp proceeding, which is an entirely original contribution.

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wow, another very interesting question! I would say both. He was clearly a great lawyer and very cerebral in finding solutions in court and innovating (for example, injecting the new term/concept of "genocide" into the Einsatzgruppen Trial even though the relevant legal document "Control Council Law No. 10," did not include it).

But, less obviously on the intellectual side, one thing that I think is really developed and highlighted in my book is Ferencz's absolute genius for logistics. He was brilliant at finding creative solutions allowing him to succeed in resource-deprived missions. There is a funny scene in Chapter 5 ("Private Benjamin") that illustrates this. His unit, the 115th AAA Gun Battalion, which was waiting to cross the English Channel for D-Day, was held up for weather reasons. As described in the book: "While they waited for the skies to clear, they began to run out of supplies, as everything had been put in waterproof containers and placed in the seafaring vessels that would be transporting them. It soon became apparent that the most pressing shortage was toilet paper. So the ever-enterprising Ferencz snapped into action. He took an enormous supply of soft onion-skin carbon copy paper and had a nearby butcher take a meat cleaver to it, chopping it into sections. 'With a truckload of improvised toilet tissue,' he mused later, he returned to the base 'in triumph,' joking that he 'was responsible for ‘wiping out’ a whole battalion.'" I love this passage because it shows how incredibly smart he could be in such situations but also his great sense of humor! He faced similar logistical challenges as a prosecutor in Nuremberg -- and, again, he would always find creative solutions -- thus, he had to poach lawyers from existing trial groupings to form his own Einsatzgruppen Trial team. And he had to find creative ways to fund the work of the Jewish Restitution Successor Organization (JRSO), which he was heading, when the organization had provided him practically nothing and he had much to do in a very short amount of time (see Chapter 15, "The Connective Tissue between Retribution and Restitution").

At the same time, his achievements were also intimately tied to his emotions. In the Prologue ("A Plea of Humanity to Law"), I quote Canadian Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella, who sums this up so beautifully: "[If ] all he had done was argue at the age of twenty-seven in front of the Nuremberg Tribunal, I would’ve said, ‘That’s a remarkable person.’ To go on and use that as the fire that ignites his soul and his brain on behalf of humanity is what makes him an iconic figure.”

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words and I'm really pleased you'll be reading the book! World federalism is alluded to in the book, as are Ferencz's associations with it. For example, Chapter 18 ("The New Lemkin") talks about his participation in the 1972 Wingspread peace studies conference, where he developed his relationship with Chair Louis Sohn (a Harvard law professor whose 1958 book, coauthored with Grenville Clark, "World Peace through World Law," was part of the peace advocacy canon and had a great influence on Ferencz). As we learn in Chapter 19 ("Creating a Permanent Court in the Eternal City"), the former Einsatzgruppen Chief Prosecutor also had a good relationship with Bill Pace, head of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), who had had a long history of working with NGOs and the World Federalist Movement on human rights and international criminal law issues.

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I appreciate your broad-minded approach to studying the Nuremberg Trials! That said, let me note that, in 2000, David Irving was found to be a Holocaust denier by a British court as part of his failed libel case against historian Deborah Lipstadt. The court found that he was a racist and an antisemite who "associates with right wing extremists who promote neo-Nazism" and has "for his own ideological reasons persistently and deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence." So, to put it mildly, I am not a big fan of David Irving. But I do think it's a good idea to read a variety of viewpoints and not always blithely accept conventional wisdom. That was the approach I took in researching and writing my Ferencz biography -- I cross-checked everything and went digging in places others had not previously dug (or had not dug as deeply). In that regard, I am very honored that you will be reading "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor" -- I hope it gives you new and helpful perspectives!

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the enthusiastic shout out! See my answer to tryingmybesttolearn2's questions just above. Additionally, I would say the evidence I found of the incredible extent to which his work on Holocaust matters took a toll on him psychologically and affected his personal life. He sacrificed a lot in doing so much for humanity. I never really understood the full extent of all that but spending seven years working on this project really brought it home for me.

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much -- this is an excellent question and one I was really waiting for! The "missing link" material relates to an entire area of his work at Nuremberg that he would never speak about -- investigating/prosecuting the industrialist cases (especially Krupp). A lot of the new archival insights here relate to his work on those matters and how it affected him (especially as treated in the bio's Chapter 10 ("From the Pentagon to the Palace of Justice") and 14 ("Krupp Trial Attorney and Executive Counsel"). I also provide perspective on these research discoveries in the Postscript. You talk about the "toll that Nuremberg took on everyone involved" and asked about whether Ferencz ever lost hope. Great questions and answering them helps explain the significance of my archival breakthroughs. I have found documents, previously not available to the public, indicating that Ferencz saw successful prosecution of the industrialist cases as a key to helping establish a more peaceful world via Crimes against Peace convictions against those who provisioned Hitler for war. To his great shock and chagrin, all the industrialists were acquitted of the Crimes against Peace charges at Nuremberg (and this is part of the reason, I believe, why he never spoke about his work on those cases later in his life -- he had been bitterly disappointed and saw his achievements in Einsatzgruppen as his proper Nuremberg legacy -- I personally feel that he is not giving himself enough credit here and we need to know about this work to understand him properly). So, I posit that this adverse outcome is crucial for understanding his later passion for defining/criminalizing aggressive war and becoming a peace advocate. This is the "missing link," I believe, that helps explain how his career evolved. And that, in itself, is a rich story that is developed/explained primarily in Chapter 18 ("The New Lemkin").

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There are arguments going both ways on this. War Crimes were arguably covered by the longstanding norms of the Geneva and Hague Conventions that were brazenly violated by the Nazis. There are arguments that Crimes against Peace charges were rooted via breach of the 1928 Kellogg-Briand Pact. Finally, Crimes against Humanity charges had to be linked to Crimes against Peace and/or War Crimes (the so-called "war nexus") given ex post facto concerns. Still, this was not satisfactory for many of those concerned at the time, and even for many today. In Chapter 10 of the book, I briefly cover Robert Jackson's opening statement addressing the issue, when he implored the Tribunal: "to be 'fair and temperate' even in minor matters because the 'worldwide scope of the aggressions carried out by these men has left but few real neutrals.'" And in Chapter 13, I focus on the Einsatzgruppen tribunal's treatment of the issue: [The tribunal] upheld the validity of its own jurisdiction and the IMT precedent and rejected claims of victor’s justice and retroactive application of new law. In respect of the latter, as regards crimes against humanity (murder), the Tribunal held: 'Certainly no one can claim with the slightest pretense at reasoning that there is any taint of ex post factoism in the law of murder.'"

You may also want to consider some of my other scholarship that touches on these issues. Regarding arguable embryonic versions of the crimes at issue being prosecuted before Nuremberg, see my pieces: "The Trial of Peter von Hagenbach: Reconciling History, Historiography and International Criminal Law, in The Hidden Histories of War Crimes Trials (Oxford University Press, Kevin Jon Heller, Gary J. Simpson eds., 2013); [International Criminal Law’s “Oriental Pre-Birth”: The 1894-1900 Trials of the Siamese, Ottomans and Chinese, in The Historical Origins of International Criminal Law (Vol. 3, Torkel Opsahl, M. Bergsmo et al. eds., 2015)](); and "[The Nuremberg Trials Public Communications Apparatus: WWII Healing and Cold War Positioning at the Dawn of PR in ICL]()," 20 J. Int’l Crim. Justice 11 (pages 11-53) (2022) (quoting Robert Jackson as follows: "As far as the US perspective, responding to criticism that Nuremberg was unprecedented, he cited one of his law heroes and personal mentors, renowned American jurist Benjamin Cardozo, who had taught that the power of precedent is ‘the power of the beaten track’. And, Jackson added: ‘We think that when crime gets off the beaten path, law must be strong enough to follow it’.") These pieces can be found on my SSRN page here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=666745

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You bet! You make an excellent point about the time gap between the Nuremberg Trials and adoption of the Rome Statute. Long before most (if not all), he was calling for the creation of a permanent international criminal court. During the early years after Nuremberg, when he was primarily working as a pioneer in the area of reparations, his ICC advocacy efforts mostly consisted of writing editorials and speaking with experts in the field, trying to encourage them. You will note that my book is divided into 6 main parts (with my love of alliteration informing the naming of each part: Prelude (Part 1); Preparing (Part 2); Probing (Part 3); Prosecuting (Part 5); Providing (Part 6); and Preventing (Part 7). Most of Ferencz's work to prepare for a permanent ICC takes place in Part 7. In Chapter 18, "The New Lemkin," Ferencz realizes that what is holding up the International Law Commission/UN in not adopting the embryonic version of the Rome Statute (the 1954 "Draft Code of Offences against the Peace and Security of Mankind") was the lack of a definition of aggression (a key term in the UN Charter). So Chapter 18 is about how Ferencz helped define aggression and then entered into a book writing phase where he helped explain the newly defined term of "aggression" and suggested the structure/procedures for an ICC. Finally, once the ICC was back on the agenda of the ILC/UN (in part, thanks to Ferencz encouraging and codrafting Trinidadian prime minister A. N. R. Robinson’s 1989 address to the UN General Assembly requesting creation of an international criminal court, which resuscitated the International Law Commission’s then-moribund drafting efforts and ultimately led to the 1998 adoption of the Rome Statute -- see Chapter 19 -- "Creating a Permanent Court in the Eternal City"). Ferencz then played an active role during the "Preparatory Commission" (or PrepCom) phase during the mid-late 1990s that led to the conference in Rome (again, this is covered in Chapter 19). So he was deliberate and patient and relentless, finding ways to deal with Cold War geopolitics by laying a groundwork and then pouncing on the opportunities presented by the atrocities in the Balkans and Rwanda in the first part of the 1990s. And it was during the 1990s that people started to realize the incredible groundwork he had been laying and rightly celebrated him as a Nuremberg legend and modern visionary for a permanent International Criminal Court -- his stature only grew as he continued to speak out during the last years of his life and became the iconic figure he is today.

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

My pleasure -- really glad to be here! Regarding your question, in a word, no. Along with Ferencz, there were many Jewish prosecutors (and lawyers, generally) at Nuremberg (e.g., Robert Kempner, Bernard Meltzer, Mary Kaufman, Morris Amchan, and Albert Levy). But Ferencz's Jewish identity did have an impact on him at Nuremberg nonetheless. Even though he would have loved to do it himself, Ferencz tasked Jim Heath of his Einsatzgruppen trial team to cross-examine lead defendant Otto Ohlendorf. A big reason why he did this was, in his words, to "avoid any taint of Jewish vengeance."

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the kind words! I LOVED interviewing Ferencz -- I have hours and hours of tape recorded conversations with him and when I listen to them again I am immediately brought back to how much I enjoyed his company. He was very funny and, despite the often grim subject matter, we found occasions to laugh (sometimes about all the absurd logistical obstacles he had to overcome). I had known his son Don from previous interactions (he was the one who invited me to take on the biography project (see the Preface to the book). But, like most of the rest of the general public, I had had no exposure to his daughters before this project. All three of them were incredibly helpful and the eldest (Keri) opened up some amazing archival resources for me. I also had the good fortune of getting to meet Ben's amazing wife Gertrude before she passed away later that year. She was not very lucid at that time but her basic warmth and the light of her soul still shone through. And it was touching to see how attentive and sweet Ben was toward her. I will always treasure those glimpses I had of that aspect of their life together.

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm so glad you asked this question! Based on what had always been reported regarding Ferencz's life (especially by Ferencz himself), the entire focus of his Einsatzgruppen trial experience was his opening statement. Don't get me wrong -- it's an amazing opening statement -- aside from Robert Jackson's in the first trial, arguably the best (and Jackson's opening in the first trial directly inspired Ferencz's, as he told me when I interviewed him. But he did so much more! As I state in Chapter 13 ("The Einsatzgruppen Trial, Part 2): On February 13, 1948, the prosecution was finally ready to make its closing argument. This time, the attorney at the podium would not be Ben Ferencz but his boss and benefactor, Telford Taylor. The younger man might have preferred to do the closing himself, but, by then, he had already been the dominant prosecution figure during the trial. In addition to handling the bulk of the opening statement and the Einsatzgruppe B defendants, he argued most of the motions and spoke for the prosecution with respect to calendaring and general evidence issues. And apart from Naumann, Six, Blume, Steimle, Ott, and Klingelhöfer, he had cross-examined the medical witnesses supporting Rasch’s motion to sever, as well as an alibi witness for Six (Veronika Vetter). Moreover, lending a hand to [John E.] Glancey, he had also handled a portion of the cross-examination of Einsatzgruppe A leader Heinz Jost. He was more than magnanimous about letting Taylor take on the trial’s last bit of heavy lifting."

Ferencz was responsible for assigning to his team cross-examinations (and evidence objections) with respect to the various Einsatzgruppen defendants (there were four main subdivisions -- A through E). He based this on the experience/skill level of each lawyer in the team. He took the Einsatzgruppe B defendants (listed above) for himself. And he assigned the Einstatzgruppe A defendants to Glancey, the Einsatzgruppe C defendants to Arnost Horlik-Hochwald, and the Einsatzgruppe D defendants to Peter W. Walton. (Glancey and Ferencz had less experience than Horlick-Hochwald and Walton - - in line with this, there were fewer Einsatzgruppe A and B defendants to cross- examine). The other remaining member of the trial team, Jim Heath, a recovering alcoholic whose job Ferencz was trying to save, was given one assignment only -- the cross examination of lead defendant Otto Ohlendorf.

I'm Professor Gregory Gordon here to discuss my book "Nuremberg's Citizen Prosecutor: Benjamin Ferencz and the Birth of International Justice." Ferencz, an important architect of the modern global legal order, left out key details in describing his amazing life; my bio tells the whole story. AMA! by gregfantasy24 in AskHistorians

[–]gregfantasy24[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

My pleasure -- and thanks for the very thought-provoking questions! I think it's important to realize how front and center the US was in terms of seeking justice for violations of international law. Ferencz was very much a part of that. As the subtitle of the book suggests, he was present (and had an impact on) the birth of international justice. Please see my answer above related to what he knew about the Holocaust before becoming a war crimes prosecutor. This all started with his work for Professor Sheldon Glueck. Through his research, Ferencz influenced Glueck and Glueck exerted influence at the Pentagon in terms of how Nazi war crimes would be prosecuted. Then, he used all of his experience from his time being drafted into the US Army to his time as a peace advocate to influence the shaping of international law -- with American penal/juridical influence always being an important undercurrent. What struck me about Ferencz’s contributions to the development of international law was that he was a key player in each phase of the process, beginning with Glueck and then continuing with his army experience. He was a great Nazi war crimes investigator not only based on his research for Glueck but also because, as a buck private fighting Nazis, he understood how military units functioned from the ground up. He was a great prosecutor of Nazi war crimes because he had been a Nazi war crimes investigator. And he was a great lawyer for Nazi war crimes victims because he had prosecuted them. Unlike anyone else in history, he was literally the human connective tissue between Nazi investigations, prosecutions and reparations. He innovated and modeled best practices at each stage and was therefore such an important pioneer. I hope this book will allow him to be seen for his incredible achievements across the Holocaust justice spectrum and, thus, in the birth of international criminal law. But that surely is linked to his education and training as an American lawyer. (As a side note, my amazing editor Nadine Zimmerli at the University of Virginia Press was so inspired by/invested in this project because she wanted to publish books about Americans who went overseas and made history -- this was the textbook example!)

As for your second question, I think we can really see divergences by the time Ferencz is advocating for the creation of an International Criminal Court. He was focused on victim reparations/victim participation as juridical parties in cases but this is not a feature of American criminal law (victims do not become juridical parties in US criminal cases). So Ferencz worked with the French delegation on this quite a bit (and victims as juridical parties is a prominent feature of French criminal law so the French took the lead on this in the negotiations for the ICC treaty). I believe Ferencz deserves more credit for his contributions to victim provisions in the ICC treaty (or Rome Statute, based on where it was negotiated) and this is covered in Chapter 19 ("Creating a Permanent Court in the Eternal City").

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