Soggy Moose Travels : Nuremberg

Nuremberg:

Our ship is sailing on the Main - Danube Canal.

We arrived and were docked by 0600. Albeit dark out side I know the skies are an over cast grey as a fine mist is falling.

We have learned one other ship has made the transit to Budapest as the water levels are rising. We hope these conditions hold. Well, down stream it is helping but we learned we will be doing another ship swap.

In Nuremberg we chose to do the WWII optional tour. I am glad we did as this was a very good and enlightening experience.

We found Nuremberg to be a very industrial city, factories and rail and river transportation readily available. Hence Nuremberg is considered to the the Heart of German Industry. As such Hitler saw Nuremberg as the most German town in Germany.

Our first stop was the Rallying Grounds, many will recognize this location as the location for the Nazi Party rallies. The architect Albert Speer designed these buildings at the direction of Hitler. Yet, Hitler thought himself all knowing and a master of all. The Rally Grounds were used to stage the massive events promoting the Nazi beliefs and further brainwash the German population into the good and the might of the German people. These Rally Grounds, the Zeppelin Field, can hold 400,000. Many images of this location were captured in the propaganda film “Triumph of the Will”. This film is considered to be the best propaganda film ever. Hitler’s Image is seen in this film one third of the time. Interestingly the Rally Grounds were not used during WWII as all resources in Germany were used for the war effort.

It was interesting to learn the use of the “Hitler Salute” and Swastika are now illegal to use, and a heavy fine is imposed on those who do.

There is an attitude I discovered as I chatted with our tour guides who are historians. In essence they seem embarrassed and truly saddened by the events of WWII, yet they impart the information so the world does not make the same mistake again. They are to be applauded for this effort.

From the Rally Grounds we made our way to the Documentation Center. This is located in the remains of the Congress Hall. As one approaches the Documentation Center, one can not but help to think of the Coliseum in Rome. Yet this structure is much larger, and was planned to be even larger when completed.

The Symphony orchestra and the Documentation Center are housed in this building. Here is housed a most informative exhibit. They describe the causes, coherence, and the consequences of National Socialism. The exhibits take on on a chronological journey of the events from the rise of the Socialist Party to the Trails at the Palace of Justice. There are frank presentations of the atrocities of criminal exercise of power.

Personally, I feel that even if a person does not have any interest in this period of time in the history of many, they must experience this.

From the Documentation Center we made our way to the Nuremberg Palace of Justice. This is the building where the war trials were held. Before these trials and to this day it is a working court room complex.

The trails were held here for many reasons, the location in the US sector being one. The tribunal was to follow the legal process used in Great Britain and the United States, which had evolved from common law. The Russians, filled with anger, wanted to simply execute the accused, which is understandable when one examines the death and destruction rained upon the Russian people by Hitler.

It was also chosen as it had been relatively undamaged by allied bombing. Also, consider this was the city which hosted the great Nazi Rallies. There was a symbolic value in making this the location of the war trials.

The importance of these trials is significant in legal history. This was the first tribunal of its kind. There were two judges from each of the allied powers, from Russia, Great Britain, France, and the United States. Courtroom 600 was chosen for the trial. This courtroom was rather small and the needs of this trail would require the courtroom to be modified. There was a balcony installed for spectators, and the Defense and Prosecution positions were modified.

The Nuremberg Palace of Justice has it’s own prison where the accused were housed during the trials. A covered passageway was built to transport the prisoners to the courtroom.

The trial started on November 20, 1945. Robert H. Jackson delivered the opening statements. This opening is considered a classic and is well worth a read. The trial concluded on September 30 and October 1, 1946 with the sentencing.

The indictments were for:

1. Participation in a common plan of conspiracy for the accomplishment of a crime against peace.

2. Planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression and other crimes against peace.

3. War crimes.

4. Crimes against humanity.

We were to have visited the Courtroom 600, but as it was the 70th anniversary of the start of then trials, we were only able to view the court room thru a window on the upper floor. Still impressive to be in such a historical location.

I had known Walter Cronkite had been a correspondent during these trials, but did not know John Steinbeck was also there as a correspondent.

Our guide gave a great presentation on the events of the trial. His passion to impart information about the sad days of German history is very evident.

We returned to the ship for lunch. After lunch we returned to the old section of Nuremberg for Operation Gingerbread. We only had about 1.5 hours and we strolled about the center of town and found the prized gingerbread. It was raining so I opted to just use Lynn’s camera. The preparations for Christmas Markets is ongoing and my excitement is growing to see one.

We returned to the ship for dinner and the bed.