The Belsen War Crimes Trial

The British liberated Belsen Concentration Camp on 15th April 1945 and were confronted by a human catastrophe on an unimaginable scale. They wanted to hold to account those responsible, and decided to hold a war crimes trial.

In this episode we examine the challenges which faced them: what law to apply, the charge to be preferred, the evidence. We shall see how they rose - or failed to rise - to meet those challenges.