Whitney Harris American lawyer, prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials Date of Birth: 12.08.1912 Country: USA

1. Biography of Whitney Harris
2. Involvement in the Nuremberg Trials
3. Advocacy for Human Rights
4. Early Life and Career
5. Personal Life

Biography of Whitney Harris

Whitney Harris, an American lawyer and prosecutor, was the last surviving American prosecutor who participated in the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals. He passed away on Wednesday, April 21, 2010, at the age of 97, in his home in the suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri. His stepdaughter, Teresa Galakatos, revealed that Harris had battled cancer for three years, but ultimately succumbed to the disease.

Involvement in the Nuremberg Trials

Harris served as the Chief Prosecutor at the first International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg in 1945. He interrogated Ernst Kaltenbrunner, an arrested American, who was the Chief of the Main Security Office of the SS. Harris also assisted in cross-examining Hermann Göring, the Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe and the second most powerful man in the Nazi Party after Hitler. He played a vital role in obtaining the confession of Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss, the Commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, who was subsequently hanged by the Polish Supreme National Tribunal next to the crematorium in Auschwitz. For his participation in the Nuremberg Trials, Harris was awarded the Legion of Honour.

Advocacy for Human Rights

In his later years, Harris became an outspoken advocate for human rights. In 1980, he established a collection dedicated to the history of the Third Reich at his alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, the Global Law Institute at Washington University was named after him. Harris authored the book "Tyranny on Trial, the Evidence at Nuremberg," which provides a comprehensive historical and legal analysis of the Nuremberg Trials. His son, Eugene Harris, stated that his father devoted his life to developing an international system of justice to combat war crimes against humanity and genocide. He also noted that people tend to forget the past, and with the passing of important participants in historical events, a significant amount of knowledge disappears.

Early Life and Career

Whitney Harris was born on August 12, 1912, in Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1933 and obtained his Juris Doctor degree from the prestigious law school at the University of California, Berkeley in 1936. Soon after the outbreak of World War II, Harris joined the U.S. Navy and subsequently investigated war crimes. In August 1945, he became one of the initial members of the court trying the top military criminals in Germany. The tribunal prosecuted 22 high-ranking Nazis, with 12 sentenced to death and 19 to imprisonment. Harris was the only prosecutor present at the executions.

After the war, Harris served as a professor of law at Southern Methodist University and held the position of Chairman of the International Law Section of the American Bar Association from 1953 to 1954.

Personal Life

Whitney Harris is survived by his wife Anna, his son, stepdaughter, three adopted sons, four grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.