Main telephone: 202.488.0400 Benjamin Ferencz: Well, I'm still a young man. The trials of leading German officials before the International Military Tribunal are the best known of the postwar war crimes trials. I've got here mass murder, mass murder on an unparalleled scale." Having witnessed the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis, Mr. Ferencz has fought tirelessly to build the architecture of international justice around deterrence, prevention, and accountability for mass atrocities. It was pure luck that he survived the war, he later said. My goal was clear: Grab the documents, he recalled. US Holocaust Memorial Museum. He was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II and the chief prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, one of the 12 military trials held by the U.S. authorities at Nuremberg, Germany. Hitler's top lieutenants were prosecuted first. He said, "OK. Jefferson: McFarland, 2013. Nobody goes in or out without my permission. In his role as war crimes investigator, Mr. Ferencz gathered evidence about the horrors perpetrated by the Nazis, visiting concentration camps as they were liberated. WebAccording to The Boca Newspaper and the Sun Sentinel newspaper, Heller has created a wide range of Judaica statues and busts, and figural statuaries such as the Fiddler on the Roof, Ben Ferencz at his home in in Delray Beach, Fla., in 2016. The Cold Warbetween the Eastern Bloc and the Western powers had begun, putting the horrors of World War II in the shadows. 27-year-old Ben Ferencz became the chief prosecutor of 22 Einsatzgruppen commanders at Nuremberg. Benjamin Ferencz: --recall if I'd ever been in a courtroom actually. But Ferencz knew they were guilty and could prove it. Lawyer And Pacifist This article was translated from German by Sarah Hucal, Auschwitz survivor Zilli Schmidt: Fearing new Nazis today, Ex-Nazi death camp guard faces German court reckoning, Ukraine updates: Zelenskyy calls for ICC Russia probe, More than mercenaries: Russia's Wagner Group in Africa, Russian troops step up fight to cut off Bakhmut supply lines, French court dismisses case against TotalEnergies, Pakistan: The school that's free for Afghan refugee children, New hurdles for sea rescuers in the Mediterranean, Tunisia: Presidential scapegoating stokes fear and support, Canada Soccer president resigns amid equal pay dispute, the first Nuremberg Trial, against the main Nazi war criminals, incriminating evidence from the extensive Nazi bureaucracy, also led to the founding of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Any institution, regardless of its area of focus, should refrain from taking Russian oligarchic money, Michel said. High Commissioner Dialogue with Ben Ferencz. After being honorably discharged from the army, Ferencz returned to the US andbeganlooking for a job as a lawyer, but he didn't search for long. 'I am heartbroken': Last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor on war in Ukraine. Benjamin B. Ferencz engaged in both of these critical tasks. From 1985 to 1996, he was adjunct professor of international law at Pace University. He often tells young people to never give up because the fight for peace and justice is worth the long struggle ahead. Find information on historical cases of genocide and other atrocities. Ferencz says his goal from the beginning was to affirm the rule of law and deter similar crimes from ever being committed again. Normally the ad cost for an Instagram ad post is based on the number of followers on the account. Thanks to Ferencz'sinvestigations, the prosecutors in the Nuremberg Trials, which opened on November 20, 1945, had sufficient evidence and documentation to prove the Nazis' crimes. I'm sitting here listening to you. Below his face, his motto: "law, not war.". He said, Never has moral authority been squandered that fast. After he graduated from Harvard Law School in 1943, he enlisted in the army. After the sentencing, Ferencz decided to meet with Ohlendorf in a courtroom holding cell. West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was first to sign the deal in Luxembourg in 1952, but his pen had run out of ink so he borrowed one of Ferenczs a pen that his wife, Gertrude, whom he had started dating as a teenager, had gifted him when he graduated from law school. After achieving the convictions at Nuremberg, he continued working toward international law. Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and billionare, businessman Oleg Deripaska (L) are seen visiting the RusVinyl Russian-Belgian joint polymer plant, near Nizhny Novgorod, 430 km. Benjamin Ferencz: He's not a savage. Produced by Shari Finkelstein and Nieves Zuberbhler. At the end of 1945, Mr. Ferencz was honorably discharged from the US Army with the rank of Sergeant of Infantry and returned to New York where he prepared to practice law. Ferencz said it took immense effort to keep his emotions in check. Yes. Putin is having a one-day trip to Nizhny Novgorod region. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. The scenes he witnessed would haunt him for the rest of his life. They had four children. The Allied invasion had begun and with it the end of Nazi rule. Screenshot from film showing the Einsatzgruppen at work. I'm a realist. At one meeting, West German officials balked at the suggestion that they should pay for the upkeep of the Jewish burial grounds in perpetuity. Nuremberg taught me that creating a world of tolerance and compassion would be a long and arduous task, Ferencz says on his website. Ferencz was also involved in pushing the Germans to agree to maintain cemeteries where Holocaust victims were buried. Would he like me to say that he was sorry that he brought disgrace on the family or something along those lines?. Ferencz attendedHarvard Law School on a merit scholarship. Some of his titles include: Mr. Ferencz lives in Florida and has four grown children. He added, The lamp went out when [President Trump] said no immigrants allowed unless they meet the rules that we laid down.. Lesley Stahl: Now, you've been at this for 50 years, if not more. And get your ass out of there.. The fact that Yad Vashem, a nonprofit, non-partisan foundation, would do the bidding for a man linked to corrupt financial activity and the Kremlin proves dirty money can soil even the cleanest of hands. But now that the U.K. announced it was freezing all of Abramovichs assets and imposing a travel ban on him and his one-time business partner, industrialist Oleg Deripaska, Yad Vashem responded that it was suspending the ambitious partnership. He continues to advocate for international law and global peace. They should remember, from me, it takes courage not to be discouraged. Along with his sanctioned cronies Avn and German Kahn (chairman of Russias third-largest oil company, TNK Oil), Fridman announced last week that the three are donating $10 million to Ukraines Jewish community. In 1943, Mr. Ferencz graduated from Harvard Law School and soon thereafter he joined an anti-aircraft artillery battalion. Good morning, he hollered. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, two New York Democrats, and Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) When Ferencz was ten months old, his family emigrated to the United States, which, according to his own account, was to avoid the persecution of Hungarian Jews by Romania after Romania gained formal control of Transylvania. The first and best-known trial in Nuremberg kicked off in November 1945. The progress has been remarkable. He didn't deny the killings -- he had the gall to claim they were done in self-defense. They [the Russian oligarchs and the businessmen who colluded with the Nazis] have a lot of common, said Ferencz. Well, see here, this-- they rounded 'em up. Please enter valid email address to continue. And you shouldn't-- you know-- be despairing because it's never happened before. If they tell me they want war instead of peace, I don't say they're naive, I say they're stupid. Ben Ferencz is an American lawyer. With the number of Holocaust survivors dwindling around the world, Ben Ferencz represents a link to one of the darkest chapters in history. Thus, Ferencz was named Chief Prosecutor for the United States in The Einsatzgruppen Case, proseucting 22 people charged with murdering more than a million people. Mikhail Fridman, co-founder of Alfa-Group and one of the creators of the Genesis Prize (which Time dubbed the Jewish Nobel Prize), who also funded the memorial at the Holocaust site Babin Yar (which was bombarded by Russian missiles), is throwing his charity rubles around to try to cover up the news that he found himself locked out of the company he founded in London last week. I applaud those who have since distanced themselves from oligarchs, like the Guggenheim, which announced the resignation of Vladimir Potanin from its board after a 20-year tenure, and pledged to return a portion of his donations. Ferencz is the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive today. Or as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskyy tweeted the day Russian missiles rained down on Babin Yarthe ravine where nearly 34,000 Jews were massacred over the course of two days during the Holocaust and whose oligarch-funded memorial was left miraculously unscathedwhy say never again while enabling 80-year old history to repeat itself? At the age of 101 years, Ben Ferencz weight not available right now. I know I'm right. One thing that people dont realize is how incredibly dangerous it was for these people, said Greg Schneider, executive vice president of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, or Claims Conference, an organization created to negotiate the agreements and later handle the dispersal of the money. Ferencz was born on March 11, 1920, in Csolt, Szatmr County, located in the historical Transylvania region in the Kingdom of Hungary (today part of omcuta Mare, Romania). And no amount of reparations can erase it., Or as Ferencz wrote in the preface for his book, Less Than Slaves, about his efforts to seek compensation for Holocaust survivors enslaved by I. G. Farben, Krupp, AEG, Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz, the German term for the varied restitution programs, Wiedergutmachung, literally means making good again. But it was a Mission Impossible since the harms sought to be remedied can never be made good again.. He recalls in his writingshow at the trial's start, the rows were packed with people, but as the trial progressed, the seats emptied out asthe Germans failed to keep upinterest. He holds that if you cry inside, it's better to laugh on the outside. Ferencz was not interested in revenge or retribution, despite his family being Jewish. A testament to his commitment to these efforts, Mr. Ferencz partnered with the Museum to launch the Ferencz International Justice Initiative in 2017 to coincide with the 70-year anniversary of the Einsatzgruppen Trial at Nuremberg, in which he was Chief Prosecutor. Ask your questions.. The U.K. announced sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs on Thursday, including Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich. On Wednesday he will enter the history books in a new way. Under General Patton,, Ben Ferencz: The Only Surviving Chief Prosecutor from the Nuremberg Tribunals, Presented by The International Humanitarian Law Clinic of Emory University School of Law January 25, 2015. Ferencz had stumbled upon reports sent back to headquarters by secret SS units called Einsatzgruppen, or action groups. No German, no American nobody. Mr. Ferencz served for the United States under General He says he's grateful for the life he's lived in this country, and it's his turn to give back. General Telford Taylor, in charge of the Nuremberg trials, asked him to direct a team of researchers in Berlin, one of whom found a cache of top-secret documents in the ruins of the German foreign ministry. Only one piece of film is known to exist of the Einsatzgruppen at work. Did you encounter any technical issues? When we first reported on him back in 2017, he was 97 years old, barely 5 feet tall, and he had served as prosecutor of what's been called the biggest murder trial ever. The budget had already been set and the Pentagon wasnt keen on any more trials. Benjamin Ferencz: You oughta get some more friends. Many people ask this question about the money Ben Ferencz makes from Facebook. Another company that was vital to the Nazis was I.G. Lesley Stahl: We've had Rwanda, we've had Bosnia. The former chief prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, has described Ferencz as a founding father of the court and one of her personal heroes. He declined very rapidly, his son, Don, said last week. There is no point in drowning in a lake of tears, Ferencz says in the introduction to a forthcoming book about him. You're not getting very far. It helps to already be famous to become a social media influencer, but he demonstrates that you need to have a raw or personal touch and engage with your followers if you want to do well on Instagram Facebook, Twiter, Youtube, etc. Ben Ferencz entered into evidence the defendants' own reports of what they'd done. This was the basis he and his team used to issuearrest warrants. Lesley Stahl: What turns a man into a savage beast like that? Benjamin Ferencz: Do you think the man who dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima was a savage? If these men be immune, then law has lost its meaning and man must live in fear.. Much like Germanys industrialists aided Hitlers atrocities, Russian billionaires money cannot be disentangled from Putins war crimes. According to the United Nations article accompanying the video interview with Ferencz, his motto was Never give up. The website calls him still a tireless, and fearless, fighter for human rights and justice. In 1947, at the age of 27, Ferencz served as chief prosecutor for the United States in the Einsatzgruppen Case at the Nuremberg Tribunal, in which 22 Nazi officials, including six generals, were charged with murdering more than, The Greatest Trial The World Has Ever Seen | Ben Ferencz | TEDxTeen, The last living prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials passes the torch to this generation. I don't. Instead, according to his website, he was asked to join the prosecution table at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials. Ferencz wasnt the prosecutor in charge of the highest-level Nazis, like Herman Goering. Since the agreement was finalized, roughly $90 billion has been distributed to Holocaust survivors, according to the Claims Conference. She warns of contemporary parallels and strikes a chord with many of her listeners. Ask your questions. Benjamin Ferencz and Barry Avrich at a screening of "Prosecuting Evil" in Los Angeles in 2019. Mr. Ferencz has published widely on issues pertaining to world peace generally and to international criminal law more specifically. His cheeks became more hollow. Ferencz was recruited to lead an effort to return property seized by the Nazis to its owners or their heirs a first-of-its kind endeavor that led him to stay in Germany for 10 years. The USfelt that the first Nuremberg Trial of the 22 top Nazis could not fully explain how crimes of that magnitude could have happened in a civilized country like Germany, he says in the film. As he wooed industrialists to his ambitious scheme of slave labor to the benefit of the Reich, his organizations profits skyrocketed.. The Nuremberg trials after World War II were historic -- the first international war crimes tribunals ever held. June 27, 2021 / 6:54 PM They want power and wealth, and are willing to look the other way as innocent people including mothers and children are killed, and thousands are dying. That is until sanctions were mentioned, and they suddenly became peacemakers, as Abramovich claims he isthough one has to wonder how he can broker peace with Putin if he also has nothing to do with him. War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. But what is the point of giving to a community while fueling the very mechanism of its destruction? I headed straight to the main office and closed it off. Chief prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz presents documents as evidence at the Einsatzgruppen Trial. His plans were to return to New York and work as a lawyer. I spoke with Polish journalist, Jewish activist and author of Living in the Land of Ashes Konstanty Gebert about Yad Vashems lobbying against sanctions. Lesley Stahl: Going on right this minute in Sudan. 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