Genocide on Trial

Discusses the American and British roles in the Nuremberg war crimes trials. Focuses not on the punishment aspect but rather on the aims of deterrence and education. Stresses the role of the trial medium and of the Allies' values in creating views about the essence of Nazism that affected the subsequent historiography of the Holocaust. Notes the trials' focus on concentration camps and the Wehrmacht as exemplifying the Holocaust and the involvement in it of the German people. Contends that some Holocaust historians have been "overinformed" by Nuremberg historiography. Concludes that for decades the murder of Jews hardly impinged on postwar consciousness. This is partially explained by the way the World War II story was used by the Allies to further their goal of reeducating Germans, as well as punishing war criminals.