Nuremberg - The War Crimes Trial Quiz

Answer: Yes

Churchill proposed that a list of Nazi leaders be prepared for summary execution. This plan was rejected by the other Allied leaders for fear of accusations of "personal revenge" .

Answer: Hess spent most of the time reading novels

Hess claimed and then denied that he suffered from memory loss throughout the trial. Many thought he was mentally unstable due to his unusual speeches in the court and his general behaviour. Some suspected it was not genuine.

Answer: False

Himmler committed suicide after being captured by British forces in 1945.

Answer: Do not rescue crews of sunken ships except for captains, chief engineers or anyone else of strategic importance

This order was a result of the Laconia incident. The Laconia, holding 1800 Italian prisoners of war was sunk by U-156. After realising his allies were in the water, Doenitz sent two U-Boats to rescue them. Both submarines were attacked by Allied aircraft during and after the rescue operation. Hitler was furious.

Answer: He no longer had access to the quantity of drugs he was addicted to

When Goering was captured, his luggage contained 20,000 paracodein pills, to which he was addicted. Accounts from the time report that Goering was extremely unheathy in appearance.
Goering visibly improved during the trial which was attributed to his drug free or drug reduced life in his cell. A strong desire to survive could have been another factor.
Goering took his own life with a concealed cyanide capsule a few hours before he was due to be hanged at Nuremberg.

Answer: Because there was no suitable prison to hold the accused in Berlin

The Russians at first insisted on Berlin as the location for the trial. After it was found that no prisons existed to hold the accused, Nuremberg was chosen. Nuremberg had many associations with the Nazi movement so it was a meaningful choice.

Answer: True

The ovens at Dachau were re-lit for the occasion. After cremation, the ashes were thrown into a nearby river. This was to ensure no shrine could be created to their memory.
(Source "Nuremberg", Airey Neave. First published 1978)

Answer: To serve the indictments on those accused of war crimes

In 1940 the British government "sacrificed" their forces at Calais, France. in an attempt to delay the German Panzer divisions which were on their way to Dunkirk to take on the BEF.
Airey Neave was wounded and captured at Calais and later escaped from Colditz Castle, eventually returning to England, where he was engaged in the aid of resistance operations in Europe until the end of the war.
Neave was then summoned to the Nuremberg trials due to his legal qualifications. He was tasked with serving the war crimes indictments on to the accused in thier cells and had several meetings with infamous Nazi's such as Goering and Streicher.
After the war, Airey Neave became a politician but was murdered in 1979. The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) claimed responsibilty for his death. A mercury-tilt based car bomb was placed under his car which detonated resulting in the loss of both of his legs. Neave died in hospital an hour after being freed from the wreckage.

If you are interested in the Nuremberg trials, I recommend you read "Nuremberg" by Airey Neave which contains some interesting accounts of his conversations with the accused.

Answer: Great Britain, France, Russia, United States of America

The war crimes trial at Nuremberg in some circles is considered to be the first, only and probably also the last trial of its kind.
This is because uncomfortable comparisons can be made between the behaviour of the victors and that of the defeated. Some regard Allied action during the second world war as inhumane, for example the bombing of Dresden and the massacre of Polish officers by the Russians at Katyn.
Of course, these crimes do not compare to the systematic disposal of human beings due to religious or ethnic background ...

Answer: Speer chose to ignore Hitler's order to destroy Germany's infrustructure

Speer escaped the gallows although his subordinates were not so lucky. Some say Speer was the true architect of slave labour during the Second World War.
Towards the end of the war, Hitler ordered the destruction of Germany's infrastructure such as water and power supplies, but Speer decided to ignore the Fuehrer's command.