Naval Historywith Dr. Alex

Q&A · 2:33-5:07

Victors' justice and the limits of Nuremberg

A challenge about victors' justice leads to a distinction between inconsistent prosecution and the case for trying offenders who were actually in Allied custody.

Nuremberg TrialsSoviet UnionUnrestricted Submarine WarfareWar CrimesWorld War II
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Question

Did Allied and Soviet wrongdoing make the Nuremberg prosecutions invalid as victors' justice?

Short answer

The trials were inconsistent, but failure to prosecute every offender did not erase the case for prosecuting defendants who were in custody for distinct crimes.

Notes

Viewers question whether Allied bombing, the Soviet Union's crimes, and the victorious powers' control of the tribunals made the war-crimes trials illegitimate. The inconsistency is real, but unpunished offenders elsewhere do not require releasing defendants whom a court can reach. Submarine warfare practised by several powers is also treated separately from genocide and mass killing directed by the Nazi and Soviet regimes. The exchange presents Nuremberg as a case of imperfect accountability rather than a claim that every belligerent was judged by the same standard.