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Ben Ferencz

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Ben Ferencz
Colour photograph taken in 2012 of Ben Ferencz standing in the courtroom where the Nuremberg trails took place. He is dressed smartly in a jacket, shirt and tie, and is wearing glasses, and his hands are clasped in front of him.
Ferencz standing in the courtroom where the Nuremberg trials were held, 2012
Born
Benjamin Berell Ferencz

(1920-03-11) March 11, 1920 (age 104)
Transylvania, Kingdom of Hungary
NationalityAmerican
EducationCity College of New York
Harvard Law School
OccupationLawyer
Known forProsecutor at the Nuremberg trials
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service / branchUnited States Army
Years of service1943-45
RankSergeant
Battles / warsWorld War II

Benjamin Berell Ferencz (born March 11, 1920)[1][2][3] is an American lawyer. He was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II and the chief prosecutor[4] for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, one of the 12 military trials held by the U.S. authorities at Nuremberg, Germany. Later, he became an advocate of the establishment of an international rule of law and of an International Criminal Court. From 1985 to 1996, he was adjunct professor of international law at Pace University.

Biography

Early life, education, and army service

Ferencz was born in Transylvania, which was part of Hungary at that time. A few months later, it was ceded to Romania under the Treaty of Trianon (1920), the result of World War I. When Ferencz was ten months old, his family emigrated to the United States which, according to his own account, was to avoid the persecution of Hungarian Jews by the Romanians after they had gained formal control of Transylvania.[5] The family settled in New York City, where they lived on the Lower East Side in Manhattan.[6]

Ferencz studied crime prevention at the City College of New York, and his criminal law exam result won him a scholarship to Harvard Law School. At Harvard, he studied under Roscoe Pound[7] and also did research for Sheldon Glueck who, at that time, was writing a book on war crimes. Ferencz graduated from Harvard in 1943.[8] After his studies, he joined the U.S. Army, where he served in the 115th AAA Gun Battalion, an anti-aircraft artillery unit.[6] In 1945, he was transferred to the headquarters of General Patton's Third Army, where he was assigned to a team tasked with setting up a war crimes branch and collecting evidence for such crimes. In that role, he was sent to the concentration camps that had been liberated by the U.S. army.[6]

Nuremberg trial prosecutor

Benjamin Ferencz

On Christmas 1945,[7] Ferencz was honorably discharged from the Army with the rank of sergeant. He returned to New York, but was recruited only a few weeks later to participate as a prosecutor in the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials in the legal team of Telford Taylor. Taylor appointed him chief prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen Case—Ferencz's first case.[6] All of the 22 men on trial were convicted; 13 of them received death sentences, of which four were eventually carried out.

In a 2005 interview for The Washington Post he revealed some of his activities during his period in Germany by way of showing how different military legal norms were at the time:

Someone who was not there could never really grasp how unreal the situation was ... I once saw DPs beat an SS man and then strap him to the steel gurney of a crematorium. They slid him in the oven, turned on the heat and took him back out. Beat him again, and put him back in until he was burnt alive. I did nothing to stop it. I suppose I could have brandished my weapon or shot in the air, but I was not inclined to do so. Does that make me an accomplice to murder?[9]
You know how I got witness statements? I'd go into a village where, say, an American pilot had parachuted and been beaten to death and line everyone one up against the wall. Then I'd say, "Anyone who lies will be shot on the spot." It never occurred to me that statements taken under duress would be invalid.[9]

Ferencz stayed in Germany after the Nuremberg Trials, together with his wife Gertrude,[6] whom he had married in New York[10] on March 31, 1946.[2] Together with Kurt May and others, he participated in the setup of reparation and rehabilitation programs for the victims of persecutions by the Nazis, and also had a part in the negotiations that led to the Reparations Agreement between Israel and West Germany signed on September 10, 1952[11] and the first German Restitution Law in 1953.[6] In 1956, the family—they had four children by then—returned to the U.S., where Ferencz entered private law practice[10] as a partner of Telford Taylor.[12]

Role in forming the International Criminal Court

Experiences just after World War II left a defining impression on Ferencz.[10] After 13 years, and under the impression of the events of the Vietnam War, Ferencz left the private law practice and henceforth worked for the institution of an International Criminal Court that would serve as a worldwide highest instance for issues of crimes against humanity and war crimes.[10] He also published several books on this subject. Already in his first book published in 1975, entitled Defining International Aggression-The Search for World Peace, he argued for the establishment of such an international court.[8] From 1985 to 1996, Ferencz also worked as an adjunct professor of international law at Pace University at White Plains, New York.[5]

An International Criminal Court was indeed established on July 1, 2002, when the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court came into force. Under the Bush administration, the U.S. signed the treaty, but didn't ratify it. The administration of George W. Bush concluded a large number of bilateral agreements with other states that would exclude U.S. citizens from being brought before the ICC.[13]

Ferencz has repeatedly argued against this procedure and suggested that the U.S. join the ICC without reservations, as it was a long-established rule of law that "law must apply equally to everyone", also in an international context.[10] In this vein, he has suggested in an interview given on August 25, 2006, that not only Saddam Hussein should be tried, but also George W. Bush because the Iraq War had been begun by the U.S. without permission by the UN Security Council.[10] In 2013, Ferencz stated once more that the "use of armed force to obtain a political goal should be condemned as an international and a national crime."[14]

Later years

In 2009, Ferencz was awarded the Erasmus Prize, together with Antonio Cassese; the award is given to individuals or institutions that have made notable contributions to European culture, society, or social science.[15]

On May 3, 2011, two days after the death of Osama bin Laden was reported, The New York Times published a Ferencz letter which argued that "illegal and unwarranted execution – even of suspected mass murderers – undermines democracy."[16][17] Also that year he presented a closing statement in the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo in Uganda.[18]

On March 16, 2012, Ferencz, in another letter to the editor of the New York Times, hailed the International Criminal Court's conviction of Thomas Lubanga as "a milestone in the evolution of international criminal law."[19]

On May 7, 2017, Ferencz was interviewed on CBS's 60 Minutes.[20]

In 2018, Ferencz was the subject of a documentary on his life, Prosecuting Evil, by director Barry Avrich, which was made available on Netflix.[21]

On January 16, 2020, the New York Times printed Ferencz's letter denouncing the assassination of the Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, unnamed in the letter, as an "immoral action [and] a clear violation of national and international law."[22]

He turned 100 in March 2020.[23]

Naming of street in The Hague

In April 2017, the municipality of The Hague announced that the city will honor Benjamin Ferencz by naming the footpath next to the Peace Palace after him as "one of the figureheads of international justice": the Benjamin Ferenczpad (Benjamin Ferenczpath). The city's Deputy Mayor Saskia Bruines (International Affairs) travelled to Washington to symbolically present the street sign to Ferencz.[24]

Selected bibliography

  • Ferencz, B.: "The 'Immoral' Killing of the Iranian General", New York Times Letter to Editor, January 16, 2020.
  • Ferencz, B.: "Kriegsverbrechen, Restitution, Prävention. Aus dem Vorlass von Benjamin B. Ferencz", ed. by Constantin Goschler, Marcus Böick, Julia Reus, Göttingen 2019 (collection of documents, open access).
  • Ferencz, B.: Mémoires de Ben, procureur à Nuremberg et avocat de la paix mondiale, (an autobiography), Michalon, Paris, 2012.
  • Ferencz, B.: New Legal Foundations for Global Survival: Security Through the Security Council, Oceana 1994; ISBN 0-379-21207-2.
  • Ferencz, B.: Keyes, K. Jr.: Planethood: The Key to Your Future, Vision Books 1988. Reprint 1991; ISBN 0-915972-21-2.
  • Ferencz, B.: A Common Sense Guide to World Peace, Oceana 1985.
  • Ferencz, B.: Enforcing International Law: A Way to World Peace, Oceana 1983.
  • Ferencz, B.: Less Than Slaves: Jewish Forced Labor and the Quest for Compensation, Harvard 1979. Reprint 2002, Indiana University Press & USHMM; ISBN 0-253-21530-7.
  • Ferencz, B.: An International Criminal Court: A Step Toward World Peace, Oceana 1980. ISBN 0-379-20389-8.
  • Ferencz, B.: Defining International Aggression: The Search for World Peace, Oceana 1975. ISBN 0-379-00271-X.

Lectures

Awards

  • 1980: National Jewish Book Award in the Holocaust category for Less Than Slaves: Jewish Forced Labor and the Quest for Compensation[25]
  • 2011: Cinema for Peace Honorary Award for his lifelong work to fight justice at the Justice Gala in New York

See also

References

  1. ^ Gale Reference Team: Biography - Ferencz, Benjamin B(erell) (1920-):, Thomson Gale, April 6, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Logli, Ch.:"Benjamin Ferencz". Archived from the original on 2006-01-13. Retrieved 2006-12-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, 1999? URL last accessed 2006-12-12.
  3. ^ Ferencz, B.: Photos. One of the captions reads "On March 11, 2003, his 83rd birthday, ..." URL last accessed 2006-12-13.
  4. ^ Jazz Tangcay (22 Jan 2020). "'Prosecuting Evil' Director Barry Avrich on the Race to Complete Nuremburg Trial Doc". Variety. Retrieved 2 Dec 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Benjamin B. Ferencz, A Prosecutor's Personal Account: From Nuremberg to Rome, September 23, 1998". Archived from the original on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2006-12-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  6. ^ a b c d e f USHMM: Chief prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz presents his case at the Einsatzgruppen Trial[permanent dead link‍], USHMM photograph #41618. URL last accessed 2006-12-12.
  7. ^ a b The Legal History Project: Interview with Benjamin Ferencz, May 2006. URL last accessed 2006-12-12.
  8. ^ a b Ferencz, B.: (Auto-)Biography. URL last accessed 2006-12-12.
  9. ^ a b Matthew Brzezinski, Giving Hitler Hell Washington Post Sunday, July 24, 2005; Page W08
  10. ^ a b c d e f Harvard Law School: Benjamin Ferencz Archived September 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine : Speaker's biography from the Pursuing Human Dignity: The Legacies of Nuremberg for International Law, Human Rights & Education Archived January 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine conference, November 2005. URL last accessed 2006-12-12.
  11. ^ USHMM: Chancellor Konrad Adenauer signs the reparations agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and Israel Archived 2008-01-20 at the Wayback Machine, USHMM photograph #11019. URL last accessed 2006-12-13.
  12. ^ Ferencz, B.: Telford Taylor: Pioneer of International Criminal Law Archived February 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Columbia Journal of Transnational Law 37(3), pp. 661 – 664; 1999. URL last accessed 2006-12-13.
  13. ^ Coalition for the International Criminal Court: 2006. Status of US Bilateral Immunity Acts. 2006. URL last accessed 2006-12-12.
  14. ^ "Benjamin Ferencz". Quellen zur Geschichte der Menschenrechte. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  15. ^ Stichting Praemium Erasmianum: 2009: Antonio Cassese, Benjamin Ferencz. URL last accessed 2012-11-15.
  16. ^ Ferencz Weighs in on Bin Laden Killing Archived May 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine 2011-05-03
  17. ^ Letter to NY Times re: Bin Laden's Killing Archived May 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine 2011-05-03
  18. ^ "The improbable story of the man who won history’s ‘biggest murder trial’ at Nuremberg". Washington Post, By Karen Heller August 31, 2016.
  19. ^ Letter to NY Times re: Crimes Against Humanity 2012-03-16
  20. ^ "The Nuremberg Prosecutor".
  21. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (February 21, 2019). "'Prosecuting Evil' Review: At 98, His Passion for Justice Hasn't Dimmed". The New York Times.
  22. ^ Ferencz, Benjamin (16 January 2020). "'Immoral' Killing of Iranian". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 17 January 2020.
  23. ^ Benjamin Ferencz: The last surviving Nuremberg prosecutor
  24. ^ Haag, Den. "Peace Palace path named for Nazi war crimes prosecutor". www.denhaag.nl.
  25. ^ "Past Winners". Jewish Book Council. Retrieved 2020-01-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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