WASHINGTON: Benjamin Ferencz last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials of Nazis, has passed away at the age of 103, CNN reported on Sunday.
Following the end of World War II, a series of trials known as the Nuremberg trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, between 1945 and 1946. The International Military Tribunal indicted and tried former Nazi leaders for their actions as war criminals.
Before going to the courts, Ferencz participated in combat in Europe during the Second World War and assisted in the liberation of various concentration camps.
According to CNN, Benjamin Ferencz at 27 years of age, was named Chief Prosecutor for Nuremberg’s Einsatzgruppen trial, trying 22 Nazis for crimes against humanity.
Nuremberg is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich. After Germany was conquered in 1945, the allies held the Nuremberg trials in an effort to prosecute Nazis for crimes committed during World War II.
While the Einsatzgruppen trial was his first legal proceeding, Benjamin Ferencz was able to conclude the case in just two days thanks to evidence he found perfectly preserved and documented in the Nazi headquarters, CNN reported.
The death of Ferencz, who had lived in the United States, at age of 27 secured guilty verdicts against 22 Nazis for war crimes. His death was also confirmed by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.
“Today the world lost a leader in the quest for justice for victims of genocide and related crimes. We mourn the death of Ben Ferencz–the last Nuremberg war crimes prosecutor. At age 27, with no prior trial experience, he secured guilty verdicts against 22 Nazis,” the museum tweeted. (ANI)