the lost history of prosecuting Axis war crimes Plesch, Daniel creator text bibliography dcu 2017 monographic eng spa

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xx, 251 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm Human Rights after Hitler is a groundbreaking history about the forgotten work of the UN War Crimes Commission (UNWCC), which operated during and after World War II in response to Axis atrocities. He explains the commission's work, why its files were kept secret, and demonstrates how the lost precedents of the commission's indictments should introduce important new paradigms for prosecuting war crimes today. The UNWCC examined roughly 36,000 cases in Europe and Asia. Thousands of trials were carried out at the country-level, and hundreds of war criminals were convicted. This rewrites the history of human rights in the wake of World War II, which is too focused on the few trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo. Until a protracted lobbying effort by Plesch and colleagues, the UNWCC's files had been kept out of public view in the UN archives under pressure from the US government. The US initially wanted the files closed to smooth the way for post-war collaboration with Germany and Japan, and the few researchers who did gain permission to see the files were not permitted to even take notes until the files' recent release. Now revealed, the precedents set by these cases should have enormous practical utility for prosecuting war crimes today. Prosecuting rape : the modern relevance of World War II legal practices -- A new paradigm for providing justice for international human rights violations -- When the allies condemned the Holocaust -- Pursuing war criminals all over the world -- The Holocaust indictments : prosecuting the "foot soldiers of atrocity" -- Fair trials and collective responsibility for criminal acts -- Crimes against humanity : the "freedom to lynch," and the indictments of Adolf Hitler -- Liberating the Nazis -- The legacy unleashed. Dan Plesch. Includes bibliographical references and index. United Nations War Crimes Commission History Comisión de Crímenes de Guerra de las Naciones Unidas Historia War crime trials History 20th century Procesos por crímenes de guerra Crímenes de guerra Procesos Nuremberg 1945-1946 World War, 1939-1945 Atrocities Guerra Mundial II, 1939-1945 Atrocidades Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Historiography Holocausto judío (1939-1945) Historiografía KZ 1174.5 P726h 2017 341.6/9 Plesch, Daniel, author. Washington, DC : Georgetown University Press, 2017 (DLC) 2016040144 9781626164314 (hbk : alk. paper) DGU/DLC 160715 20230410142417.0 eng