Now 96, Frenchman Yves Beigbeder was 26 when he traveled to Nuremberg in 1946 to attend the trial of Nazi criminals.

He remembers the defense of the main defendants, who denied any responsibility and took refuge behind Hitler's role. 

TESTIMONY

He is one of the last witnesses of this trial which marked history.

At 26, in 1946, Yves Beigbeder, just graduated in law, was able to attend the Nuremberg trial which tried the Nazi criminals.

Now 96 years old, he did not realize until later that he had been able to witness a historic moment, which marked the first steps in international justice. 

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In 1946, Yves Beigbeder therefore arrived in Nuremberg, this ruined Bavarian town, to accompany his uncle Henri Donnedieu de Vabres, who had just been appointed to try Nazi criminals in Nuremberg.

For six months, he will serve as an assistant, write summaries for the judge, make summaries of the debates.

While attending the hearings, a few meters from him, in the box, he sees Göring, number two of the Reich, as well as Kaltenbrunner, the head of the Gestapo.

They are there, in full jackets, without uniform, without medals.

He also sees the ex-commander of the Auschwitz camp.

Yves Beigbeder, remembers an atrocious testimony, because the commander described the operation of the camp in detail, but without emotion.

21 of the main Third Reich officials charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity were present, with headphones on their ears to hear the proceedings in the four official languages ​​of the trial.

"They all pleaded not guilty," Yves Beigbeder later told an AFP journalist.

“Their defense was to say, 'It wasn't me, it was Hitler.' 'I'm not guilty', or 'I didn't know'."

Nuremberg guest of honor in 2015

At the time, the young Yves Beigbeder was unaware that he was going through a historic moment.

And besides, in Paris, we then found this trial too long, and we wondered what it was for.

And even before the verdict, he left for the United States to continue his studies.

Now, looking back, he says that for the time, organizing an international tribunal was a good idea.

In 2015, he was also guest of honor at Nuremberg with a handful of survivors.