Five Brothers and a War

Nürnberg Trials

Arthur Seyß-Inquart at his trial of major war criminals in Nürnberg.

At the Nürnberg Trials, Seyß-Inquart was defended by Gustav Steinbauer and faced charges of conspiracy to commit crimes against peace; planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression; war crimes; and crimes against humanity. It was here that an American army psychologist, Gustave Gilbert, was allowed to examine the Nazi leaders who were tried at Nürnberg for war crimes. Among other tests, a German version of the Wechsler-Bellevue IQ test was administered. Arthur Seyß-Inquart scored 141, the second highest among the defendants, behind Hjalmar Schacht. Transcripts are quoted hereafter, but are edited for brevity as the trials went on for many months. At his trial in Nürnberg, Seyß-Inquart attempted to explain why he had the docks and mines blown up, as he was accused of having a “scorched earth” policy. On June 11, 1946, he testified: “Blastings were undertaken at the moment when the Netherlands again became a theater of war. As for port and dock installations and shipyards, the following is important: The port of Antwerpen fell almost undamaged into the hands of the enemy. I believe that that was of decisive importance for the further development of the offensive. Thereupon the competent military authorities in the Netherlands began to blow up such installations as a precautionary measure. I am only acquainted with the fact, not with the details; and I refused to watch the explosions. But my commissioner and I intervened with the Armed Forces offices, and I believe that in Rotterdam half of the installations were not blown up. This is

the war

Five Brothers and a War

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