The Mauthausen Trial: American Military Justice in Germany

by Tomaz Jardim

Overview

Shortly after 9:00 a.m. on May 27, 1947, the first of forty-nine men condemned to death for war crimes at Mauthausen concentration camp mounted the gallows at Landsberg prison near Munich. The mass execution that followed resulted from an American military trial conducted at Dachau in the spring of 1946—a trial that lasted only thirty-six days and yet produced more death sentences than any other in American history.

The Mauthausen trial was part of a massive series of proceedings designed to judge and punish Nazi war criminals in the most expedient manner the law would allow. There was no doubt that the crimes had been monstrous. Yet despite meting out punishment to a group of incontestably guilty men, the Mauthausen trial reveals a troubling and seldom-recognized face of American postwar justice—one characterized by rapid proceedings, lax rules of evidence, and questionable interrogations.

Although the better-known Nuremberg trials are often regarded as epitomizing American judicial ideals, these trials were in fact the exception to the rule. Instead, as Tomaz Jardim convincingly demonstrates, the rough justice of the Mauthausen trial remains indicative of the most common—and yet least understood—American approach to war crimes prosecution. The Mauthausen Trial forces reflection on the implications of compromising legal standards in order to guarantee that guilty people do not walk free.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674063129
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	01/02/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Tomaz Jardim is Assistant Professor of History at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Table of Contents

Contents Introduction 1. War Crimes Trials and the U.S. Army 2. American Investigators at Mauthausen 3. The Prosecution Crafts Its Case 4. The Defendants in the Dock 5. Judgment at Dachau Conclusion Appendix: The Mauthausen Trial Charge Sheet Notes Bibliography of Primary Sources Acknowledgments Index

What People are Saying About This

Devin Pendas

The United States Army prosecuted hundreds of Nazi criminals in the former concentration camp at Dachau. Jardim's fascinating book tells the story of the one of the most important of the tribunals: the Mauthausen trial. Demonstrating how unprepared the American military was to conduct war crimes trials, Jardim reveals for the first time how questionable many of the army's prosecutorial practices were. This valuable book offers not only significant insights into the way American military justice functioned after World War II, but also warns of the challenges military commissions face in the present.
— Devin Pendas, author of The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial, 1963-1965

Rebecca Wittmann

Through a brilliant exposition of the Mauthausen concentration camp trial, Jardim investigates the unique 'common design' charge that the US army used to prosecute Nazi perpetrators. Although this system had its flaws, he shows that it was ultimately more effective in exposing the criminality of the entire Nazi system than the charges used at other Nazi trials. Beautifully written and a thrilling read, The Mauthausen Trial is an invaluable contribution to the literature on Nazism, war crimes, and Allied punishment.
— Rebecca Wittmann, author of Beyond Justice

Lawrence R. Douglas

This book will take its place as the standard work on the Mauthausen trial in English. Jardim does an excellent job of showing how survivors participated in every aspect of the case and how the prosecution sought to use an innovative theory of responsibility that was ironically lost upon the court. He makes a convincing case for the continuing relevance of this largely overlooked trial, a point well taken now that military commissions are back in vogue.
— Lawrence R. Douglas, author of The Memory of Judgment