Nazi War Crimes Trials-1

 1. Eichmann trial

On May 23, 1960, Israeli Prime Minister Ben Gurion announced that he had arrested Adolf Eichmann at the Knesset. At that time, Eichmann was living with his family in the suburbs of Buenos Aires under the pseudonym Richard Clementz. The Israeli government claimed that his arrest was made by Israeli volunteers, but it is widely believed that it was actually carried out by intelligence agencies. He was abducted on 11 May 1960, detained for a week, questioned and forcibly transferred from Argentina to Israel after signing a memorandum of voluntary transfer. Argentina immediately protested and turned into a diplomatic issue, but ended with an apology from Israel. It was a clear violation of sovereignty, but there was no way the international community could not recognize Israel's moral position, which lost the lives of six million of its own.

After being investigated by Israeli police, Eichmann was charged with being a member of the SS, SD and Geshtapo, which had already been identified as criminal organizations in the Nuremberg trial, and as one of the highest decisions and implementers of the Nazi Jewish slaughter policy. Originally raised in Linz, Austria, Eichmann moved to Germany and joined the Nazi's, becoming an expert on Jewish issues relatively early on. Since his appointment as Jewish Director at the SD in Berlin in 1934, he was promoted to an officer at the end of 1937 and was responsible for the forced migration of Jews to the region along with the annexation of Austria. In 1941, he was appointed as the head of IV B4, the department in charge of Jewish affairs in Geshtapo, and maintained his position until the end of the war.

The trial began on April 11, 1961. Jerusalem's district courts were crowded with hundreds of reporters from all over the world. During the four months of the trial, 114 trials were held, with 1,500 documents and 120 witness interrogations. Eichmann's lawyers argued that he simply exercised limited power without any initiative while obeying his boss's orders. It was that he was only the head of IV B4, which had nothing to do with any political policy-making and was only a secondary institution responsible for transporting Jews from various other European regions to concentration camps. However, as an expert on Jewish affairs, there was no way to deny his role in 'passionate dedication' to the genocide. In addition, the Eichmann trial is considered the "best drama in legal history" due to numerous legal issues such as jurisdiction issues of Israeli courts, violations of international law following kidnapping, and statute of limitations.

The charges against Eichmann were Israel's violation of the Nazis and Nazi Collaborators Punishment Law, 5710 of 1950. This law not only excludes the statute of limitations for important crimes, but also stipulates that defendants punished by foreign countries can be punished by Israeli courts. It took three days to read the Eichmann ruling. Naturally, it was a death sentence as scheduled. The same was true of the appeal ruling made by the Israeli Supreme Court. The petition for amnesty was also dismissed. On May 31, 1962, Eichmann was executed in the middle of the night. His body, cremated at his request, turned into a handful of ashes and scattered along the Mediterranean coast.

2. Barby's trial

On February 24, 1983, Jean Bertier, a prosecutor in Lyon, France, presented eight charges against Barbie. These were inhumane criminal facts to which the statute of limitations did not apply. The facts charged in the eight items were as follows.

1. The killing of 22 hostages in retaliation for the attack on two German police officers in 1943

2.19 arrests and torture in 1943

3. Aiding and abetting the sending of 86 Jews from Lyon

4. Between 1943 and 1944, 42 people were shot around Lyon.

In 1944, French railway workers were searched and arrested, some of whom were injured and others missing.

6. In 1944, 650 people, mostly Jews, were transferred to Auschwitz and Ravensbrook camps.

7. Seventy Jews in Bronx, two pastors and other Jews shot at Senjenny Laval.

8. Send 55 Jews, mostly children, from the village of Yijiu Village

However, Barbie's sins did not stop here, and later increased to 41 charges. As a sadist, he was a man who was tired of a Swiss woman who lived with him, shot her and threw her baby in the arms of a Jewish mother on a train bound for Auschwitz. For this cold-blooded act, he receives several medals from the Nazi government and is branded as the "Butcher in Lyons" by the occupied French.  However, the reason why the French wanted Barbie so badly was that he was the murderer of Moulin, the spiritual pillar of the French Resistance.

Until now, the fact that Barby lived in Bolivia has already been widely known since 1974, and the French government has demanded repatriation. In particular, lawyer Krasfeld, a Nazi expert, has made every effort to bring Barby to court, but failed to achieve his goal due to the Bolivian government's stubborn refusal. In this situation, the sudden expulsion of Barbie led to speculation of secret transactions between the two governments. In fact, it is said that the plane that brought Barbie from Lafaz to Lyon carried weapons, 3,000 tons of wheat, and $5 million back. That's why France strongly wanted Barbie to be sent back.

The Barby trial was held from May 11 to July 4, 1987. At that time, 73-year-old Barbie said in the Injeong newspaper that the alias "Klaus Altman" was used in Bolivia and replied that the address was Rapaz. During this trial, the citizens of Lyon had the opportunity to testify face-to-face with the person in charge of their imprisonment, torture and execution 40 years ago. However, Barbie and his lawyers sarcastically said that they were trying to blame Barbie for everything that happened during the war, saying, "Next time I'll say I stole the Eiffel Tower." In addition to the 39 lawyers who filed civil lawsuits against Barby, Jewish organizations, Resistance Group, and individual survivors were adding to the trial. In the end, a jury of nine citizens convicted, and three judges of the Lyon Criminal Court sentenced them to life imprisonment.

Barbie's presence had a great influence on American society. Just before Barbie was still repatriated to France, a U.S. CIC agent happened to see Barbie's face on the screen when he was watching NBC's broadcast reporting the news of La Paz, Bolivia. The agent, who clearly confirmed his impression, contacted NBC and revealed that he was a CIC agent who was controlling Barbie, who was hired as a CIC informant. When all these reports went out on NBC again, American society was shocked by the revelation that the war criminals were used as intelligence agents.