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In December 1942, according to the USHMM (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum" the Allied leaders of Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union “issued the first joint declaration officially noting the mass murder of European Jewry and resolving to prosecute those responsible for violence against civilian populations”. Soviet Leader, Joseph Stalin (1878-1953), had proposed the execution of 50,000 to 100,000 German staff officers. The British Prime Minister ,Winston Churchill (1874-1965), had discussed the possibility of a summary execution (execution without a trial) of high-ranking Nazis, but he was persuaded by American leaders that a more effective approach would be a criminal trial. Among some other advantages, the criminal proceedings required some sort of documentation of the crimes charged against the defendants to prevent later accusations that the defendants were condemned without evidence.
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Many legal and procedural difficulties had to be overcome when setting up the Nuremberg trials. After a while the Allies had eventually established the laws and procedures for the Nuremberg trials with the help of the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal (IMT), that was issued on August 8, 1945. The charter had defined three categories of crimes: crimes against peace (which included: planning, preparing, starting or waging wars of aggression or wars in violation of international agreements), war crimes (including violations of customs or laws of war, including improper treatment of civilians and prisoners of war) and then crimes against humanity (that included murder, enslavement or deportation of civilians or persecution on political, religious or racial grounds). It was then determined that civilian officials and military officers could be accused of war crimes.
Source:History Staff. "Nuremberg Trials." History. A&E Networks, 2012. Web. 19 Feb.
2015. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/nuremberg-trials
Source:History Staff. "Nuremberg Trials." History. A&E Networks, 2012. Web. 19 Feb.
2015. http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/nuremberg-trials