US Prosecutor Thomas Dodd cross examined Walter Funk, the Minister of Economics, also known as the “Banker of Gold Teeth” for his role in managing Nazi plunder. In Letters from Nuremberg, Christopher Dodd recounts an exchange during interrogations between Thomas Dodd and Funk. “Dodd: When did you start doing business with the SS, Mr. Funk? […]
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Resistance, Rule of Law, and Individual Responsibility: Medieval England, Modern Hong Kong, Nazi German, and the Civil Rights Movement by Sara Harvel
In Hong Kong, prominent lawyer Margaret Ng, sentenced for leading and participating in a peaceful protest, addressed the judge in her plea: “Your honour, I came late to the law. I have grown old in the service of the rule of law. I understand Sir Thomas More is the patron saint of the legal profession. […]
4/7 International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda by Sara Harvel
4/7 We Remember the Rwanda Genocide – International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda Today, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres encouraged the global community to remember and reflect on the Rwanda Genocide in order to take informed and purposeful steps towards transformation and increased human rights. “We saw what […]
Darkness and Light by Sara Harvel
As a research assistant with Dodd Impact, I explore archives and evaluate primary sources about Nazis and crimes against humanity. There’s a part of this historical work that is invigorating, I feel like a detective. But the subject matter takes an emotional toll; it’s dark material. When I think of Nazis, I traditionally think of […]
This Day in Nuremberg: 4/11 Kaltenbrunner Takes the Stand by Sara Harvel
On April 11, 1946, SS Lieutenant General Ernst Kaltenbrunner took the stand. At 6’4’’ with tremendous scars across his face, he stood imposing and ominous. Thomas Dodd writes: “He is a crummy-looking creature, really an evil-looking man. He was Himmler’s chief assistant and he participated in all the horrible crimes that were committed-we have witnesses […]
This Day in Nuremberg: Testimony of Wilhelm Keitel by Sara Harvel
On April 3, 1946, Nazi Defendant and Field Marshal of the Reich, Wilhelm Keitel took the stand. The trial brief says of Keitel, “In Keitel, there was the perfect co-operator. A man who was apparently deaf to any calls of conscience, dead to any sense of honour, ignorant of any distinction between right and wrong.” […]
This Day in Nuremberg: Testimony of Top Nazi: Hermann Goring by Sara Harvel
On March 13, high ranking Nazi Herman Goring took the stand. Goring was maybe the most important Nazi remaining. Goring and Hitler were tight, Hitler was even the godfather of Goring’s only child. Goring’s trial was a big deal because of the magnitude of his position and because of the precedent it set for international […]
Crimes Against Children by Sara Harvel
On February 27, the International Military Tribunal heard witnesses share about crimes against humanity; specifically those against children. In a letter to his wife, Thomas Dodd, US prosecutor, shares his heart regarding a town called Lidice and the injustice suffered by children. A letter from US prosecutor Thomas Dodd to his wife, Grace. “Grace, it […]
Crimes Against Humanity by Sara Harvel
On February 25, the prosecutors of the International Military Tribunal shared evidence of Crimes against Humanity, hoping that by holding the Nazis accountable for their crimes against humanity, they would set a precedent for postwar justice. The variety and quantity of crimes against humanity were astounding. Concentration camps often had gas chambers and crematoriums to […]
3/8: International Women’s Day: Women in the International Military Tribunal by Sara Harvel
I had to look pretty hard to learn about women’s involvement in the International Military Tribunal. Though all of the judges and the vast majority of the prosecutors were male, in some of the subsequent trials, women were involved. Dorothea “Dottie” Grater Minskoff (1910-1986) a graduate of University of Pennsylvania was part of the prosecution […]