If you live long enough, you may catch up to history plodding along around the next bend, perhaps dressed in new garb, but offering the same lessons.

In the human sense and not the gender sense, men are fascinating creatures. We can contemplate, think abstractly, look back into memory, and project forward into the future. But we also forget and find comfort in proactive ignorance. As a result, we often fail to recognize the lessons of our human experience even as their familiar echoes wash over us.

Although I was born after WWII, I have recently thought about the legacy of the Nuremberg and related trials that occurred in its aftermath. The atrocities that happened during the war characterize one of the darkest periods in human history. The rise to power of Adolf Hitler occurred throughout civil institutions and in large and small towns alike. Old and existing grievances were re-kindled, scapegoats identified, laws were passed to restrict the rights of citizens, and civil norms were ignored or swept away. I imagine it was frightening for those who continued to live by civilized standards while those very norms were swept away. Hitler was a popular figure, and the newsreels of the time captured the throngs of cheering people enthralled with his oratory as the march to war, and human depravity gained momentum.

This period in our history has been well studied as a worldwide military conflict and as a deep dive into our human nature. What led ordinary human beings to support or commit such atrocities to fellow human beings? When I think about that history, I am well aware that Hitler did not rise to power on his own; he had a lot of help. That is perhaps what surprises me most about that era. At some level, I can understand how an individual can be devoid of empathy and live a life of hubris. That loss of a moral center is an attribute of a dark and chilling soul. But what of all the people who existed around Hitler through which he acted? How could otherwise conscionable people condone or commit such unconscionable acts? Each of these people was a link in a chain; words were spoken, calls were made, orders were given, and salutes returned crisply down the line until bullets and gas chambers sprang into life to carry out the lethal intent of the spoken word. Every act along this chain of events was carried out by a person passing the deadly directive onward. Many would later claim that they were just following orders.

When the chaos and dread of this war finally settled, an attempt was made to hold people accountable. The downward spiral into inhumanity permeated all of the German social structures, and many awoke from this evil fever with guilt and shame that would last a lifetime and beyond.

Trials were held at the end of the war to bring justice to the worst of the worst, and a common defense strategy emerged; ‘We were following the orders of a superior.’ It is a position that argues that individuals are free to suspend their own moral and ethical responsibilities to carry out the immoral or unethical acts dictated by a superior. It proved to be a failed argument. From these trials, multiple principles were defined, known as the Nuremberg Principles. They are worth recalling, slightly re-cast for our time.

Principle I                  Any person who commits a criminal act is responsible and liable.

Principle II                 Lack of a criminal penalty does not release a person of responsibility.

Principle III               A person’s status as a Head of State or responsible government official does not release them from responsibility under the law.

Principle IV               Following orders from a government or superior does not release a person from responsibility under the law.

Principle V                 Any person has a right to a fair trial based on facts and law.

Principle VI               Unlawful crimes include; Crimes Against Peace, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity.

Principle VII              Complicity in crime is a crime itself.

Although these events took place at a different time and place or the participants spoke a foreign language, it makes little difference. This was a human experience. This is our human history.

As our experience rushes headlong down our current path, I can now see the trailing edges of these past events; I can see the banners waving and hear the roar of the crowds as a megaphoned voice urges the frenzy higher. My now urgent question is; Will we merge into this past, having forgotten its lessons, or will we awaken to acknowledge it, confront it, and learn from it as we evolve to a different future?

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Kevin Deeny