what if Hitler had been captured alive?

Exactly, Nuremberg was not about Justice as much as was about proving the absolute defeat of Germany and more importantly Nazism as an ideology. Nazism was so downgraded as to become criminal.

Quoted for truth.

I was reading a legal article which mentioned as an example the Nuremburg Trials. Count one was Conspiracy to Wage Aggressive War. The author used this as an example of the kind of pre-ordained guilt and highly propagandarised charge that was endemic in that court. I’m not condoning any of the defendents, nor their actions, and neither was the author. Just that, as the author states, this was hardly legal history’s finest hour. In fact, a lot of the trial was legal nonsense. And a lot of the aspects of the case were illegal, even for the norms of the late 1940’s. As he pointed out, the main charge itself was unique to history and hardly any of the victorious nations would survive that charge themselves!

Under those criteria and charges, I think it pretty obvious what Hitlers fate was to be.

I doubt it, James.

The whole point of the Nuremburg Trials was that the Nazi leadership should be seen to be a group of utterly crushed and defeated criminals, so as to help reduce the chance of any post-war resurgence of militarism and/or nationalism within Germany.

Hitler’s trial and (inevitable) execution would have been a potent symbol of that utter defeat.

Exactly, Nuremberg was not about Justice as much as was about proving the absolute defeat of Germany and more importantly Nazism as an ideology. Nazism was so downgraded as to become criminal.

All this makes you wonder what would of happened if Hitler won the war 😮 But if the Russians got hold of him would they shot him dead? :confused:

I doubt it, James.

The whole point of the Nuremburg Trials was that the Nazi leadership should be seen to be a group of utterly crushed and defeated criminals, so as to help reduce the chance of any post-war resurgence of militarism and/or nationalism within Germany.

Hitler’s trial and (inevitable) execution would have been a potent symbol of that utter defeat.

All this makes you wonder what would of happened if Hitler won the war 😮 But if the Russians got hold of him would they shot him dead? :confused:

Could make a good Hollywood movie, Mr Speilberg.

Some great films of Hitler already out is Hitler:Rise of Evil and Downfall

James

I think the experience of WW2 would have been enough for most people to make a special exception when it comes to the death penalty.

One wonders what would have become of the high ranking Nazis if Europe had its current no capitol punishement climate?

Life for everyone?

Or would that have been quickly forgotten due to the scale of their acts?

Interesting question.

Let us assume that broadly the same coalition of powers had defeated the Nazis.

The two “senior partners” – ie, the USSR/Russia and the USA – would both still have capital punishment on their statute books and would certainly have had the final say in the punishments to be meted out to those found guilty.

That being the case, I feel that the outcome would have been much the same.

One wonders what would have become of the high ranking Nazis if Europe had its current no capitol punishement climate?

Life for everyone?

Or would that have been quickly forgotten due to the scale of their acts?

Ah! Speer. His architecture bureau Albert Speer & Partners was quite successful in post-war Germany. The banking quartier of Frankfurt for example. And nowadays they are hugely successful in the Gulf States and China.

I thought you were winding me up at first, but I’ve Googled and it’s not actually the Notorious Nazi, but his sons practice, I bet they’re good at town planning, but some of their reinforced concrete could be a bit suspect, they obviously taught you just more than a few knots in the Hitler Youth.
It would seem that every male member of the Speer family is called Albert and is/was an architect, I think that when THE Albert came out of Spandau he was too busy bleating his innocence on TV interviews to put his backside next to a drawing board, ( see World at War episodes 1-100 ).
Actually, I was very surprised that Mossad didn’t get to him, or perhaps they did, they sure as anything would have got into any prison to sort out Mr Adolf.

I have always been of the opinion that for his plethora of horrific failings he did quite well at handling stress. Let be honest about it, he oversaw the total defeat of one of the most powerful countries on earth, armies who he despised with every fiber of his being were marching towards him with every intent of extracting revenge and he did not need to take six months paid leave for stress.

It’s fairly obvious what would have happened if he was captured alive. The actual charges at Nuremburg reflect and were designed for that.

Was he a coward, possibly, who knows for sure, being a ‘little’ unhinged towards the end doesn’t neccessarily mean that he was.
Perhaps he would have stated the same case as Albert Speer at the Nuremburg trials, pleaded guilty and got away with it as Speer did, just think how many lives our pleasant ‘Architect Albert’ snuffed out when he ran the Organisation Todt.
The interesting scenario would have been if Hitler had actually set up the so called SS last redoubt in Bavaria, with every army trying to get to him, it would have got quite nasty between the Allied powers I reckon, refer to the particular episode in Band of Brothers when our heroes were looking at every way to get to Berchtesgarten before the French, or was it a battle over Goerings wine.
I can just imagine Hitler on that stunning terrace at Berchtesgarten, pouring down fire on to the advancing troops below, who are weighed down with bottles of Chateux de Plonk 1894 in their kitbags, bodies of loyal SS troops piled either side, but good old Eva Braun feeding ammo into that steaming MG, despite her plaits getting jammed in the mechanism.
Could make a good Hollywood movie, Mr Speilberg.

Ah! Speer. His architecture bureau Albert Speer & Partners was quite successful in post-war Germany. The banking quartier of Frankfurt for example. And nowadays they are hugely successful in the Gulf States and China.

But being the coward he was he chose the easy option and left others to face the music

Was he a coward, possibly, who knows for sure, being a ‘little’ unhinged towards the end doesn’t neccessarily mean that he was.
Perhaps he would have stated the same case as Albert Speer at the Nuremburg trials, pleaded guilty and got away with it as Speer did, just think how many lives our pleasant ‘Architect Albert’ snuffed out when he ran the Organisation Todt.
The interesting scenario would have been if Hitler had actually set up the so called SS last redoubt in Bavaria, with every army trying to get to him, it would have got quite nasty between the Allied powers I reckon, refer to the particular episode in Band of Brothers when our heroes were looking at every way to get to Berchtesgarten before the French, or was it a battle over Goerings wine.
I can just imagine Hitler on that stunning terrace at Berchtesgarten, pouring down fire on to the advancing troops below, who are weighed down with bottles of Chateux de Plonk 1894 in their kitbags, bodies of loyal SS troops piled either side, but good old Eva Braun feeding ammo into that steaming MG, despite her plaits getting jammed in the mechanism.
Could make a good Hollywood movie, Mr Speilberg.

But being the coward he was he chose the easy option and left others to face the music

Hitler was no coward. His First World War combat record testifies to that. He regularly volunteered for the most dangerous missions. Whatever else he was, well….

what if Hitler had been captured alive

But being the coward he was he chose the easy option and left others to face the music

lols, a thread that godwins itself…..

D’oh!

It’s not a Godwin if the thread is actually about Hitler or the Nazis…… 😎

lols, a thread that godwins itself, he would have been tryed for war crimes just like the other dudes were, i am 99% certain of this as the law would not treat him differantly just because he was #1 ,he might have been a monster but under the legal system he would still have faced trial – then executed as a sentence i should would think. The internets, serious buisness!

Tried and executed at Nuremberg along with the others. I doubt there is any evidence to suggest that his postwar story would have been any different from the other Nazi leaders.

This analysis is correct. The Soviets would have settled for nothing else.

Tried and executed at Nuremberg along with the others. I doubt there is any evidence to suggest that his postwar story would have been any different from the other Nazi leaders.