![]() ![]() That was made mandatory upon this Tribunal in Article 19 because of the difficulty of ever trying this case if we used the technical rules of Common Law proof. The second is it must have some probative value. The first is that evidence must be relevant to the issue. Therefore the Charter sets up only two standards by which any evidence, I submit, may be rejected. We do not want to have a trial here that, like the trial of Warren Hastings, lasted 7 years. ![]() This Tribunal sits under a Charter which recognized the impossibility of covering a decade of time, a continent of space, a million acts, by ordinary rules of proof, and at the same time finishing this case within the lives of living men. Dodd, who had charge of the matter which is under discussion, left for the United States yesterday and I shall have to substitute for him as best I can. JUSTICE JACKSON: May it please the Tribunal, Mr. THE PRESIDENT: The Tribunal would like to hear counsel for the Chief Prosecutor of the United States. I mentioned it now in order to justify my suggestion. ![]() Kaltenbrunner himself, since it was not until the spring of 1943 that he became Chief of the Reich Security Main Office and since, in the opinion of the Defense, many, if not all, of his signatures were forged and the entire executive function attached to the concentration camps and the things connected with them lay exclusively in Himmler's hands. I should like to emphasize my suggestion particularly with regard to the Defendant Dr. What was valid then should be all the more valid at this stage of the Trial. For at this stage of the Trial the charges being made are even more terrible than those referring to wars of aggression, since the tortured lives and deaths of human beings are involved.Īt the beginning of the Trial the Tribunal refused to admit testimony of the witness Schuschnigg, and it is my opinion that Secondly, I should, therefore, like to suggest that at the present stage of the Trial the testimony of witnesses who live in Germany and whose appearance here in court is possible should not be read in the proceedings. Surely, Article 19 of the Charter does not envisage bringing about such a state of affairs. If weeks or months pass before such testimony is rectified, its initial effect can never be wholly eliminated but truth suffers and justice is endangered thereby. The Prosecutor clearly recognized the significance of this testimony and exposed the sorry documents in yesterday's proceedings. The consequences of such prejudiced statements are incalculable. In the meantime such statements make their way into the press of the whole world, and civilization is justly indignant. The contents of this testimony are so horrifying and so degrading to the human mind that one would like to avert one's eyes and ears. ![]() But until then the Tribunal and all members of the Prosecution and the Defense must be continually influenced by such dreadful testimony. It is, of course, possible to ascertain the complete facts by questioning the witness at a later stage of the Trial. The witness did not mention that the Camp Commander Koch and his inhuman wife were condemned to death by an SS court, among other things, on account of these occurrences. In many cases it does not appear whether his statements are based on personal observations or on hearsay, and therefore it is too easy to draw false conclusions. The witness himself will later have to be cross-examined, since his affidavit is fragmentary in most important points. KAUFFMAN: May I bring up two points with regard to yesterday's and in future presentation of evidence on the section dealing with Crimes against Humanity.įirstly, I request that the affidavit of the witness Pfaffenberger, which was submitted yesterday, be stricken from the record. ![]()
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