WW2 War Crimes Trials
Were the war crimes trials held by the Allies in Europe and the Far East after the Second World War fair and just? We look at the trials: the law, the charges and the evidence. Be prepared to be surprised.
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Episodes
Tuesday Jun 15, 2021
Wednesday Jun 09, 2021
Wednesday Jun 09, 2021
Was General Tomoyuki Yamashita guilty of the terrible war crimes he was charged with - or was he himself a victim?
Friday Jun 04, 2021
Friday Jun 04, 2021
Joachim Peiper was charged with murdering many Allied soldiers and civilians at Malmedy, during the Battle of the Bulge. He was tried after the War by the Americans, but the trial was a disaster. Let us see why.
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Hilde Lisiewitz was a guard at Belsen and was found guilty of war crimes. But did her accuser commit perjury?
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Irma Grese was a guard at Belsen. She was charged and convicted of war crimes, and then she was hanged. But did the court act properly?
Monday May 31, 2021
Monday May 31, 2021
Fritz Klein was a doctor at Auschwitz and Belsen and was singled out by the British for vicious treatment before being hanged. Was that fair?
Thursday May 20, 2021
Thursday May 20, 2021
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.