Michael Marrus Leads Symposium on Anniversary of Nuremberg Trials

Acclaimed scholar and author Michael Marrus will speak at the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum Feb. 21 as part of a two-day symposium recognizing the 60th anniversary of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trial. Marrus, the Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor of Holocaust Studies at the University of Toronto, will discuss the rhetoric and meaning of these influential trials. He is the author of The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial, 1945-46: A Documentary History, as well as The Holocaust in History and The Unwanted: European Refugees in the 20th Century. The public portion of this event begins at 6:45 p.m.; seating is free, on a first-come basis.
Marrus' visit will be coupled with a roundtable discussion Feb. 22 to address the legal, political, and ethical implications of the Nuremberg Trial. The discussion will be moderated by Jonathan Petropoulos, the John V. Croul Professor of European History and director of the Gould Center, and associate director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights at CMC. In addition to Marrus, the panel will feature scholars Juergen Matthaeus and Patricia Heberer, both historians at the Center for the Advanced Holocaust Studies at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and John Roth, CMC's Edward J. Sexton Professor of Philosophy and director of the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights.
The Nuremberg Trial, carried out by the International Military Tribunal in 1945-46, accented the concept of crimes against humanity. One of the 20th century's most important legal proceedings, these postwar trials and their implications continue to be of immense importance. "The precedents set by the Nuremberg Trials, along with other postwar trials, continue to influence the pursuit of justice in a world that is still scarred by ethnic cleansing and genocide," Roth says. "The symposium will call attention to issues that remain of crucial importance."
The two-day event is jointly sponsored by the Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum and the Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights.