The Milch Trial (officially, ''The United States of America vs. Erhard Milch'') was the second of the twelve trials for
war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
after the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. These twelve trials were all held before U.S. military courts, not before the
International Military Tribunal
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
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* ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
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, but took place in the same rooms at the
Palace of Justice. The twelve U.S. trials are collectively known as the "
Subsequent Nuremberg Trials" or, more formally, as the "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" (NMT).
In the Milch trial, former
Generalfeldmarschall
''Generalfeldmarschall'' (from Old High German ''marahscalc'', "marshal, stable master, groom"; en, general field marshal, field marshal general, or field marshal; ; often abbreviated to ''Feldmarschall'') was a rank in the armies of several ...
of the ''
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
''
Erhard Milch
Erhard Milch (30 March 1892 – 25 January 1972) was a German general field marshal ('' Generalfeldmarschall'') of Jewish heritage who oversaw the development of the German air force (''Luftwaffe'') as part of the re-armament of Nazi Germany fo ...
was accused of having committed
war crimes and
crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...
. The
indictment
An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a legal person, person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felony, felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concep ...
was presented on November 14, 1946. The charges against Milch were summarized by
Michael A. Musmanno (one of the tribunal judges) as follows:
#Erhard Milch is charged with having knowingly committed war crimes as principal and accessory in enterprises involving slave labor and having also willingly and knowingly participated in enterprises involving the use of prisoners of war in war operations contrary to international convention and the laws and customs of war.
#The defendant is accused of having knowingly and willfully participated in enterprises involving fatal medical experiments upon subjects without their consent.
#In the third count the defendant is charged with responsibility for slave labor and fatal medical experiments, in the same manner as indicated in the first two counts, except that here the alleged victims are declared to be German nationals and nationals of other countries.
The judges in his case, heard before Military Tribunal II, were Robert M. Toms (presiding judge) from
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
, Fitzroy Donald Phillips from
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
,
Michael A. Musmanno from
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, and John J. Speight from
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
(as an alternate judge). The Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution was
Telford Taylor
Telford Taylor (February 24, 1908 – May 23, 1998) was an American lawyer and professor. Taylor was known for his role as lead counsel in the prosecution of war criminals after World War II, his opposition to McCarthyism in the 1950s, and his o ...
, and the Chief Trial Counsel was Clark Denney. The assistant counsel for the prosecution included James S. Conway, Dorothy M. Hunt,
Henry T. King, Jr., Raymond J. McMahon, Jr., and Maurice C. Myers. The defense counsels were Friedrich Bergold and
Werner Milch (the brother of the defendant).
Milch pleaded "not guilty" on all charges on December 20, 1946. The trial lasted from January 2, 1947 until April 17, 1947. The tribunal found Milch guilty on counts 1 and 3, but acquitted him on count 2 of the indictment. On April 17, 1947, Milch was sentenced to life imprisonment at Rebdorf Prison, near Munich. The sentence was commuted by
John J. McCloy
John Jay McCloy (March 31, 1895 – March 11, 1989) was an American lawyer, diplomat, banker, and a presidential advisor. He served as Assistant Secretary of War during World War II under Henry Stimson, helping deal with issues such as German sa ...
, High Commissioner of Germany, to 15 years of imprisonment in 1951. Milch was
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
d in June 1954.
During his incarceration, Milch filed an application for leave to file a petition for a writ of ''
habeas corpus
''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...
'' before the United States Supreme Court. The Court denied leave on jurisdictional grounds by a vote of 4-4, with four justices (JJ. Black, Douglas, Murphy, and Rutledge) voting for a full hearing on the issue of jurisdiction, and Justice Jackson, who was the lead prosecutor during the Nuremberg war crimes trials, recusing himself.
[''Milch v. United States,'' 332 U.S. 789 (1947).]
References
Ismael Sambrano
External links
Description of the trialfrom the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
in particular low pressure (high altitude) and freezing experiments.
{{Authority control
United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals
1947 in Germany