What the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive wants the world to know

I wish we could start prosecutions like Nuremberg's once we topple the Venezuelan regime that has brought so much misery to our country. It is unbelievable how so many corrupt politicians are living large around the world and no country ever asks them about their billions of dollars in sudden fortunes, their yachts, ferraris and multiple properties. They have stolen trillions of dollars in almost two decades, but this is not only about the money, also the millions of displaced and hundreds of thousands killed at the hands of paramilitary motorized gangs armed and supported by the dictatorship.

There won't be closure until we hunt them down everywhere they hide, and the whole world has become much more smaller thanks to the internet.

> Lesley Stahl: He's a savage when he does the murder though.

> Benjamin Ferencz: No. He's a patriotic human being acting in the interest of his country, in his mind.

This quote stands out, in light of the Portland stabber, who, even when caught, seemed to stand by his killings in the courtroom [1]

"Patriotic correctness" [2] should never override the constitution or basic human rights.

[1] https://youtu.be/TTZJoCWuhXE?t=1m19s

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/12/07/...

Wow ... just wow

I can't possibly add anything to the story, provide additional insight or historical reference. All I can do is to be profoundly thankful that there are people like Ben Ferencz in the world and hope that, in my own small way, I'm leaving the planet a bit better than I found it.

The article summarizes his life, and how he got to be a prosecutor at Nuremberg, which is a fascinating read.

The baity title probably refers to this fragment:

Lesley Stahl: Did you meet a lot of people who perpetrated war crimes who would otherwise in your opinion have been just a normal, upstanding citizen?

Benjamin Ferencz: Of course, is my answer. These men would never have been murderers had it not been for the war. These were people who could quote Goethe, who loved Wagner, who were polite--

Lesley Stahl: What turns a man into a savage beast like that?

Benjamin Ferencz: He's not a savage. He's an intelligent, patriotic human being.

Lesley Stahl: He's a savage when he does the murder though.

Benjamin Ferencz: No. He's a patriotic human being acting in the interest of his country, in his mind.

Lesley Stahl: You don't think they turn into savages even for the act?

Benjamin Ferencz: Do you think the man who dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima was a savage? Now I will tell you something very profound, which I have learned after many years. War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. All wars, and all decent people.

So Ferencz has spent the rest of his life trying to deter war and war crimes by establishing an international court – like Nuremberg. He scored a victory when the international criminal court in The Hague was created in 1998. He delivered the closing argument in the court's first case.

We're all just people, yeah? Out there, somewhere is a rational reason for why people do the things they do. I'm not defending these actions, but if we could truly and completely empathize - we would understand.