What was the defense counsel like during the Nuremberg trials? Who were they, and what kind of job did they do?

by SigmundFreud

I was just thinking about this in the shower, and have a lot of questions that weren't immediately obvious from a quick google:

  • Did the defendants have legal representation in the first place?

  • If so, were their lawyers public defenders or privately retained?

  • In either case, were the lawyers Nazi sympathizers, anti-Nazi activists, or just regular lawyers doing their jobs?

  • Were any of the lawyers Jewish, or otherwise members of demographics that had been victimized by Germany?

  • Did the defendants share a lawyer / legal team, or did everyone have their own separate representation?

  • If any of the lawyers were public defenders, which country or countries did they hail from? Were they provided directly by their home countries' governments, or via some international body?

  • How competent was the legal representation? Were they genuinely advocating on their clients' behalf in good faith to the fullest extent of the law? Would a modern-day lawyer (with relevant background on the historical context and contemporary international law) watching the trials walk away with a positive opinion of them?

Holy_Shit_HeckHounds

While certainly not a complete answer this response by u/kieslowskifan touches upon some of your questions, namely the first and last listed queries.