GOVERNMENT: What's a Criminal?

"I wanted and had to maintain Krupp, in spite of all opposition, as an armament plant for the future, even if in camouflaged form." In these words, in 1941, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach told how his giant munitions trust had helped arm the Nazis. For this and other brags and deeds, the U.S. put Krupp high up on its war criminals list.

But when U.S. troops caught him, Gustav Krupp was too old (now 77) and too ill to stand trial. So his son Alfred and eleven fellow Krupp directors were hauled into Nürnberg court and charged with...