World News for Students of English

21-11-2025 07:00

Eighty years ago, the Nuremberg Trials commenced shortly after World War II, putting surviving Nazi leaders like Hermann Göring on trial for horrific crimes.

Over ten months, the court heard from 120 witnesses, revealing the enormous scale of the Third Reich’s atrocities.

In the end, 12 defendants were sentenced to death, seven were imprisoned, and three were acquitted. Nuremberg was a visionary step that changed international law by holding individuals, not just abstract states, accountable for acts of state. It eventually led to the formation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and offshoot tribunals, such as those that prosecuted war criminals like Radovan Karadžić from the former Yugoslavia.

Today, the ICC continues this legacy, having recently issued arrest warrants for leaders of Hamas and Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, regarding actions in and around Gaza. However, critics note that political pressure and sanctions, particularly from the US, have caused some ICC investigations to slow down. Nuremberg’s message is that those who order or commit genocide must face justice.

Difficult words: atrocity (a very cruel and violent act), acquit (to officially state that someone is not guilty of a crime), visionary (thinking about or planning the future with imagination and wisdom), offshoot (something that has developed from a larger or earlier thing).

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