International: The Accused

Although prisoner pens throughout western Europe bulged with the criminals of World War II, no courts had yet been set up to try them.

Nevertheless the War Crimes Commission in London was hard at work, checking the latest prisoner lists against its bulky catalogues of charges. The Commission has no power to act, can only list the accused and compile evidence. But it had made some progress in broadening its concept of war crime.

The new concept: that all those who decreed, directed or participated in the policies which resulted in planned undernourishment, slave labor, concentration camps and organized prostitution should be considered criminals. Under this definition, Germans could be tried and punished for crimes against other Germans, as well as against Poles, Russians, etc.

The new interpretation vastly increased the scope of future trials. German and satellite war criminals might total between four and six millions. The physical difficulties involved were staggering. So were the moral and psychological problems. How, for instance, would U.S. and British soldiers react if they were called upon to execute thousands upon thousands of the guilty?

With these difficulties in mind, President Truman last week had Judge Samuel Rosenman approach United Nations leaders at San Francisco with a four-point program:

¶I International criminals such as Goring and Himmler should be dealt with quickly and justly by an international court representing all the victorious powers. (So far Russia has held aloof, refusing even to discuss war-crimes procedure.)

¶J Criminal organizations such as the Gestapo and the SS should be judged as groups, possibly by the same international court. Once blanket punishment had been decreed, individuals could be tried only on the question of membership.

¶Minor figures whose crimes had been committed against the people of occupied nations should be tried in and by those nations (as provided in the Moscow declaration of Nov. 1, 1943).

¶ The personnel of concentration camps should be tried by the occupying power controlling the district where the camp was located.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, recently appointed chief U.S. counsel, was on record with another, fundamental suggestion. Said he: do not burden established courts with prejudged cases. Let political and military judgments be handed down only by political and military agencies.