Nuremberg and the Waffen-SS: An analysis of the charge of organizational criminality.

Abstract

This study will investigate each of the four major categories of conclusions arrived at by the Nuremberg Tribunal about the nature and activities of the Waffen-SS military organization and its war-time members, and analyse their accuracy based on the findings of subsequent historical research. It will also attempt to explain the political pressures in 1945-46 which caused the primarily military Waffen-SS to be tried and convicted as a criminal organization, and clarify what the rulings of the Nuremberg Tribunal actually said about members of organizations declared criminal by the latter. For the purposes of this study the Waffen-SS is being defined as consisting of all "armed" SS units except those belonging to the German police or performing largely police functions, and those assigned to the maintenance and guarding of concentration camps. The time-frame covered by this study will extend from September 1, 1939 to May 1945. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)