The Nuremberg trials established that “I was just following orders” does not excuse war crimes. Something for them to think about before they start shooting, maybe.
The Nuremberg trials prosecuted only 24 people, all of whom were very high level Nazis. This number goes up to around 1700 if you count the subsequent tribunals also held at Nuremberg.
To a first approximation, the treatment of the rank and file was a polite agreement to politely ignore their involvement and move on.
We tried the collective punishment thing after world war 1 with the treaty of Versailles. The impact of that is still a subject of debate, but some historians draw a direct line from it to the Nazis.
The Nuremberg trials established that “I was just following orders” does not excuse war crimes. Something for them to think about before they start shooting, maybe.
The Nuremberg trials prosecuted only 24 people, all of whom were very high level Nazis. This number goes up to around 1700 if you count the subsequent tribunals also held at Nuremberg.
To a first approximation, the treatment of the rank and file was a polite agreement to politely ignore their involvement and move on.
We tried the collective punishment thing after world war 1 with the treaty of Versailles. The impact of that is still a subject of debate, but some historians draw a direct line from it to the Nazis.