Was Justice Seen to Be Done? Mass Observation and Public Reflections on Nazi Atrocities in the Aftermath of the Nuremberg Tribunal.

TY - CHAP

T1 - Was Justice Seen to Be Done? Mass Observation and Public Reflections on Nazi Atrocities in the Aftermath of the Nuremberg Tribunal.

AU - Sharples, Caroline

PY - 2024/7/29

Y1 - 2024/7/29

N2 - Historians have long debated the legacy of the 1945-46 International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg which prosecuted surviving members of the Nazi leadership for war crimes, crimes against peace, conspiracy and crimes against humanity. Aside from its crucial precedents for shaping international law, the hearings have frequently been depicted as a major media event and the ‘first comprehensive definition and documentation to a non-Jewish audience of the persecution and massacre of European Jewry’.[1] To what extent, though, did the courtroom proceedings resonate with the British public? This chapter focuses on Mass Observation’s Directive of September 1946, a survey disseminated in the immediate aftermath of the tribunal’s verdicts that asked participants to share their thoughts on both this particular case, and the prospect of war crime trials in general. Qualitative analysis of the written responses provides insights into just how far ‘ordinary’ Britons had been following the proceedings (examining, for instance, their ability to name specific defendants), and highlights emotional responses to Nazi atrocities. It also, however, reveals a preoccupation with British war losses, significant concern regarding the long-term repercussions of ‘victors’ justice’, and a general silence around the Nazis’ particular persecution of European Jews. At the same time, this chapter reflects critically on methodological challenges posed by the September 1946 Directive. Within this survey, Nuremberg was just one out of five set questions posed to participants – a topic juxtaposed with questions on attitudes to spiritualism, beliefs in ghosts, and newspaper reading habits. Although 198 responses were ultimately returned to Mass Observation, it quickly becomes apparent that not everyone cared to comment on the trial. Historians are thus left with tantalising glimpses of public opinion which have to be set alongside a wider pattern of war fatigue by 1946.

AB - Historians have long debated the legacy of the 1945-46 International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg which prosecuted surviving members of the Nazi leadership for war crimes, crimes against peace, conspiracy and crimes against humanity. Aside from its crucial precedents for shaping international law, the hearings have frequently been depicted as a major media event and the ‘first comprehensive definition and documentation to a non-Jewish audience of the persecution and massacre of European Jewry’.[1] To what extent, though, did the courtroom proceedings resonate with the British public? This chapter focuses on Mass Observation’s Directive of September 1946, a survey disseminated in the immediate aftermath of the tribunal’s verdicts that asked participants to share their thoughts on both this particular case, and the prospect of war crime trials in general. Qualitative analysis of the written responses provides insights into just how far ‘ordinary’ Britons had been following the proceedings (examining, for instance, their ability to name specific defendants), and highlights emotional responses to Nazi atrocities. It also, however, reveals a preoccupation with British war losses, significant concern regarding the long-term repercussions of ‘victors’ justice’, and a general silence around the Nazis’ particular persecution of European Jews. At the same time, this chapter reflects critically on methodological challenges posed by the September 1946 Directive. Within this survey, Nuremberg was just one out of five set questions posed to participants – a topic juxtaposed with questions on attitudes to spiritualism, beliefs in ghosts, and newspaper reading habits. Although 198 responses were ultimately returned to Mass Observation, it quickly becomes apparent that not everyone cared to comment on the trial. Historians are thus left with tantalising glimpses of public opinion which have to be set alongside a wider pattern of war fatigue by 1946.

M3 - Chapter

BT - Mass Observation Critical Series

PB - Bloomsbury

ER -