Under the Hammer

U.S. and British prosecutors worked in relays. Ever-new assistants stepped briskly to the stand with ever-new documents. Their task: to prove that the deeds which the indictment labeled "crimes against humanity" had been committed by individual human beings, just like the murder or the bank-robbery around the corner. Under the hammer of evidence, alibi after alibi cracked open.

Cold Eyes. There was Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop's protestation that he had been a statesman, not a Storm Trooper. Declared the prosecution: he had specifically approved the lynching of Allied flyers, and had labored long and hard to break the world's peace. Introduced as evidence: the diary of Count Galeazzo Ciano. Excerpt: " 'Well, Ribbentrop,' I asked him . . . 'what do you want? The Corridor or Danzig?' 'Not any longer,' and he fixed on me those cold Musee Grevin eyes of his. 'We want war.' " (In the dock, Ribbentrop shook his head in denial.)

Warped Minds. There was Julius Streicher's claim that he was a thinker, not a thug. Countered the prosecution: as Nazidom's chief prophet of hate and as editor of his obscenely anti-Semitic Stuermer, he had flooded Germany with pseudoscientific, racist hogwash. Said the British prosecutor: "He leaves behind him as a legacy for Europe and the civilized world, millions of young warped and distorted minds ... a whole people poisoned with the lust of hatred, cruelty and murder." (The other defendants pointedly turned their backs on Streicher.)

Soft Skin. A witness faced the prisoners. He was Dr. Franz Blaha, a Czech surgeon--whose wrist tendons had been cut at Dachau so that he might never practice again. Said Blaha: "Orders frequently were received at Dachau for skulls. Teeth counted a great deal. ... It was dangerous to have a soft, fine skin or good teeth. . . . Soft human skin was prized for leather and bindings. . . ." Pointing an accusing finger at Philosopher Alfred Rosenberg, Reichsbank President Walter Funk, Labor Boss Fritz Sauckel and Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick, the witness said that they had visited Dachau concentration camp, and had watched its atrocity show. (The four in the dock sat bolt upright, clenching the rail before them.)

This week, the U.S. and British were expected to finish their case. Then the French and Russians will again take up specific war crimes. Around March 1, the defense will start fighting back.

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