Упрощенная HTML-версия
Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Author : O. Melnikova
Head of Division, Press and Information Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
IN PLANNING the setting up of the International Military Tri-
bunal and an international trial of the main Nazi war criminals,
the powers of the anti-Hitler coalition were guided by the princi-
ples of inevitable liability and punishment for all the Nazi criminals
guilty of mass atrocities.
The Nuremberg trials demonstrated to the whole world fascism's
true face, exposed its essence and its plans of eliminating entire
states and nations, as well as its heinous mass crimes against peace
and humanity.
The main task of the trials was not only to exact retribution and
punish the criminal leaders of Hitler's Germany, but also to lay
the groundwork in international law for the criminal liability of all
individuals and organizations guilty in the most serious crimes and mass atrocities.
The Nuremberg trials had an extremely important impact on international legal practice and the
development of contemporary international law. The principles and norms formulated at the
Nuremberg trials and approved by the UN laid the groundwork for all postwar international
documents that sought to prevent aggression and war crimes, such as the Convention on the
Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948) and the Geneva Conventions for
the Protection of War Victims (1949).
The Nuremberg trials, for the first time in world history, ruled that aggression was the gravest
international crime against humanity and passed legal judgment on other war crimes.
Today, decades later, this makes all the more outrageous any attempts not only to justify but also
to glorify war criminals and portray fascist minions in Estonia, Latvia and Ukraine as fighters
for national independence. Russia is resolutely opposed to such attempts.
Today, the world community has been seriously misinformed about the course of World War II.
A stereotype has evolved in the West whereby the U.S. forces, without any assistance from the
Red Army and the USSR, liberated Europe from fascism.
It is very important for representatives of the younger generation to have access to historical
knowledge about those events, and not only in the run-up to the next celebration of Victory
Day on May 9.
This highlights the need to create a solid basis in the study of the past war in the context of
contemporary threats and challenges to peace, stability, security, and harmony in the international
community. These are the lessons of the Nuremberg trials.
The Nuremberg Trials: Lessons for Today