The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials 1946-1949: Digitalization project launched
Milestone for the digital humanities and the historical reappraisal of the most important processes of the post-war period in Germany
A new research project is making the extensive documentation from the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials from 1946-1949 available digitally – a milestone for digital humanities and the historical reappraisal of the most important trials in post-war Germany. The “Digital Nuremberg Military Tribunals” (DgiNMT) is a collaboration between the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) and the Directorate General of the Bavarian State Archives.
The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials started immediately after the Nuremberg Trials against the main war criminals of the Second World War. Unlike the main trials that were heard by an international tribunal, these trials that were held in Nuremberg between 1946 and 1949 were heard entirely by US military tribunals. 185 high-ranking jurists, doctors, industrialists, SS and police leaders, members of the military, civil servants and diplomats were tried in a total of 12 trials. The trials indicated the extent to which the German elite had contributed to the Nazi’s tyrannical system of power. Of the 185 defendants, 24 were sentenced to death, 20 were sentenced to life imprisonment, and 98 were given at times lengthy prison sentences. 35 of the accused were declared not guilty. In the 1950s, pardons led to all condemned Nazi war criminals leaving prison by 1957. Of the 24 death sentences, a total of 13 were actually enforced.
New standards in the academic reappraisal of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials.
During the trials, approximately 2.5 million pages of case files were created, the originals of which are kept in the Nuremberg State Archive: witness statements, indictments, shorthand minutes, defense documents, records of interrogation and other official and private documents. With their project “Digital Nuremberg Military Tribunals” (DigiNMT), the BAdW, FAU and the General Directorate of the Bavarian State Archives are paving the way for an academic reappraisal of the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials. Their aim is to fully digitalize the case files, that are at danger of disintegration due to the poor quality of the paper they are written on, before indexing them in a clear structure and making them available worldwide on an interactive platform. This will make a considerable contribution towards protecting resources and retaining the original documents.
“DigiNMT is an innovative flagship project for Digital Humanities,” stresses Christoph Safferling, Chair of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure and International Law and one of the project managers. “The aim of the project is for researchers and interested members of the public to be able to systematically access and take an interdisciplinary approach to analyzing all the documents.” By connecting artificial intelligence (AI) and natural language processing (NLP) with scientific approaches focusing on legal and historical aspects, research on the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials that has been rather fragmented up until now will receive a new foundation. “Digital humanities remain a key research priority for the BAdW and we will continue to reinforce them wherever possible. I am pleased that this project allows us to make a significant contribution to ongoing legal and historical research into the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials,” explains Academy President Markus Schwaiger.
Tapping into data for research
The project focuses on the digital presentation of historical files that progress through three steps of processing: from digitalization to indexing to adding bilingual comments.
“Providing this huge compilation of documents in digital form will give researchers and the general public new and considerably improved possibilities for accessing and evaluating the content,” stresses General Director Bernhard Grau (General Directorate of the Bavarian State Archive).
Using AI-based analysis should allow new insights to be gained regarding biographical networks, legal accountability models and the dynamic processes of post-war justice. One particularly innovative aspect included in the project is the possibility to create interactive visualizations that highlight the complex connections between stakeholders, evidence and legal concepts.
Significance for international research
The digital platform aims to provide researchers across the globe with open access and inspire new research questions. The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials are both a legal and a historical milestone,” explains Simone Derix, FAU Chair of Modern and Contemporary History. “With DigiNMT we are creating a basis that will allow researchers to analyze the significance of the trials for the development of international criminal law and the processing of National Socialist crimes in greater depth than ever before.”
The project follows the FAIR and CARE principles, ensuring data are findable, interoperable and reusable while also taking aspects concerning ethics and collective responsibility into consideration. The data architecture also ensures that the data will remain accessible for future research projects and facilitates collaboration with international institutions.
The index of the case files from the Weizsäcker trial
Further information:
Prof. Dr. Christoph Safferling
School of Law
Email: Str1@fau.de