Editing Nuremberg trials (section)

===American and British prosecution===
[[File:Nazi Concentration Camps.webm|thumbtime=2|thumb|''[[Nazi Concentration and Prison Camps]]'' (1945)]]
[[File:Proces Neurenberg, Bestanddeelnr 901-2078.jpg|thumb|Presenting information on German aggression, 4 December]]

On 21 November, Jackson gave the opening speech for the prosecution.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=106}} He described the fact that the defeated Nazis received a trial as "one of the most significant tributes that Power has ever paid to Reason".{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=107}} Focusing on aggressive war, which he described as the root of the other crimes, Jackson promoted an [[functionalism and intentionalism|intentionalist]] view of the Nazi state and its overall criminal conspiracy. The speech was favorably received by the prosecution, the tribunal, the audience, historians, and even the defendants.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=107–108}}

Much of the American case focused on the development of the Nazi conspiracy before the outbreak of war.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=111}} The American prosecution became derailed during attempts to provide evidence on the first act of aggression, [[German annexation of Austria|against Austria]].{{sfn|Douglas|2001|pp=20–21}} On 29 November, the prosecution was unprepared to continue presenting on the [[Occupation of Czechoslovakia|invasion of Czechoslovakia]], and instead screened ''[[Nazi Concentration and Prison Camps]]''. The film, compiled from footage of the [[Nazi concentration camps#Death marches and liberation|liberation of Nazi concentration camps]], shocked both the defendants and the judges, who adjourned the trial.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=104–105}} Indiscriminate selection and disorganized presentation of documentary evidence without tying it to specific defendants hampered the American prosecutors' work on the conspiracy to commit crimes against humanity.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=116}} The Americans summoned {{lang|de|[[Einsatzgruppen]]}} commander [[Otto Ohlendorf]], who testified about the murder of 80,000 people by those under his command, and SS general [[Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski]], who admitted that German [[anti-partisan warfare]] was little more than a cover for the mass murder of Jews.{{sfn|Douglas|2001|pp=69–70}}{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=118–119}}

[[File:Evidence about Ernst Kaltenbrunner's crimes is presented at the International Military Tribunal.jpg|thumb|Evidence about [[Ernst Kaltenbrunner]]'s crimes is presented, 2 January 1946.]]

The British prosecution covered the charge of crimes against peace, which was largely redundant to the American conspiracy case.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=102}} On 4 December, Shawcross gave the opening speech, much of which had been written by Cambridge professor [[Hersch Lauterpacht]].{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=89, 108}}{{sfn|Musa|2016|p=384}} Unlike Jackson, Shawcross attempted to minimize the novelty of the aggression charges, elaborating its precursors in the conventions of [[Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907|Hague]] and [[Geneva Convention|Geneva]], the [[League of Nations Covenant]], the [[Locarno Treaty]], and the [[Kellogg–Briand Pact]].{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=108}}{{sfn|Sellars|2013|pp=121–122}}{{sfn|Musa|2016|pp=380–381}} The British took four days to make their case,{{sfn|Musa|2016|p=382}} with Maxwell Fyfe detailing treaties broken by Germany.{{sfn|Musa|2016|p=383}} In mid-December the Americans switched to presenting the case against the indicted organizations,{{sfn|Hirsch|2020|p=185}} while in January both the British and Americans presented evidence against individual defendants.{{sfn|Hirsch|2020|pp=199–200}} Besides the organizations mentioned in the indictment, American, and British prosecutors also mentioned the complicity of the German [[Reich Foreign Office|Foreign Office]], [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|army]], and [[Kriegsmarine|navy]].{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=119}}