99-Yr.-Old Nuremberg Prosecutor: Trump Detention of Children A 'Crime Against Humanity'

"99-Year-Old Nuremberg Prosecutor Calls Trump's Detention of Children a 'Crime Against Humanity,' What Could Cause More Great Suffering Than What They Did In The Name of Immigration Law?," By Andrea Germanos, Common Dreams, Aug. 8, 2018.



- "Nobody wins in war; the only winner is death," Ben Ferencz told United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein.

The last surviving prosecutor at the Nazi Nuremberg trials just offered harsh criticism for the Trump administration's family separation crisis resulting from its cruel immigration policies, calling it "a crime against humanity."

Ninety-nine year old Ben Ferencz made the comments in a recent lengthy interview with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, which was posted online Tuesday. When he learned of the family separations, "it was very painful for me," Ferencz told Zeid.

"I knew the Statue of Liberty. I came under the Statue of Liberty as an immigrant." Ferencz was a baby when his family came to the United States from Romania.

He referenced lines from Emma Lazarus's poem inscribed at the base of the monument, including its ending: "I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" But "the lamp went out when [Trump] said no immigrants allowed unless they meet the rules that we laid down," Ferencz said. "It was outrageous. I was furious that anybody would think that it's permissible to take young children—5, 4, 3 years of age—and take them away from their parents and say the parents go to another country and the children go to another country, and we'll get you together, maybe, at some later date."

"It's a crime against humanity. We list crimes against humanity in the Statute of the International Criminal Court.
We have 'other inhumane acts designed to cause great suffering.' What could cause more great suffering than what they did in the name of immigration law? It's ridiculous. We have to change the law if it's the law," he said.- Ferencz was just 27 years old when he was chief prosecutor at the Einsatzgruppen trial, at which 22 Nazi officials were convicted of murdering more than 1 million people. More...
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/08/08/99-year-old-nuremberg-prosecutor-calls-trumps-detention-children-crime-against

- Watch the Fuller Interview:

- Ben Ferencz made comments on the detention of children in a recent lengthy interview with United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, Aug. 7, 2018.
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- "Inspiring Wisdom From Last Surviving Nuremberg Prosecutor, 'It Takes Courage Not To Be Discouraged': 97-Yr.-Old Ben Ferencz,", Newser, May 10, 2017.

He was front and center at what some call the biggest murder trial in history. That would be the Nuremberg hearings, which brought German SS soldiers forward to face the consequences for their role in the massacre of more than a million people outside of the concentration camps. Lesley Stahl interviews 97-year-old Ben Ferencz, the last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor, for 60 Minutes, and she's astounded that this man who's witnessed "the ugliest side of humanity" is the "sunniest man I've ever met."

Ferencz, a Romanian immigrant who settled in New York as a child, never let his short stature hold him back, receiving a law scholarship to Harvard and enlisting in the US Army. He eventually became part of a war crimes unit and was sent into concentration camps as they were liberated to scoop up evidence. Now, Ferencz wants to impart what he learned. More.. http://www.newser.com/story/242565/last-living-nuremberg-prosecutor-sunniest-man-youll-meet.html



- 2:53 mins. Ben Ferencz talks about taking on Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg Trials and describes what he saw at the concentration camps. *Incudes period photos and film footage of the camps and inmates.

- Benjamin Ferencz, seated left, at the Nuremberg, Germany Trials in 1947.