"By prosecuting war crimes, the Nuremberg trials sought to educate West Germans about their criminal past, provoke their total rejection of Nazism, and convert them to democracy. More than all of the other Nuremberg proceedings, the High Command case against fourteen of Hitler's generals embraced these goals, since the charges -- the murder of POWs, the terrorizing civilians, the extermination of Jews -- also implicated the 20 million ordinary Germans who had served in the military. This trial was the true test of Nuremberg's potential to inspire national reflection on Nazi crime ... H?bert's study ... draws extensively on the voluminous trial records to reconstruct these proceedings in full ... Crucially, she also examines the West German reaction to the trial and the intense debate over its fairness and legitimacy, ignited by the sentencing of soldiers who were seen by the public as having honorably defended their country"--Jacket.

From war crimes to war crimes trials : the evolution of American judicial policy, 1942 to 1948 -- The response to the trials : attacks on all sides, 1946 to 1949 -- Prosecuting Hitler's high command : U.S. v. Wilhelm von Leeb et al. -- The soldiers' defense -- Presiding Judge John Carlton Young and the high command case judgment -- The debate over imprisoned soldiers and the politics of punishment, 1949 to 1952 -- Setting the war criminals free : the interim and mixed clemency and parole boards, 1953 to 1958 -- Conclusion -- Appendix 1: The high command case -- Appendix 2: German Army field formations and basic command structure -- Appendix 3: Wartime positions of the high command case field commanders -- Appendix 4: The high command case defendants' sentence expiration and parole and clemency release dates.