Life After the Holocaust: Thomas Buergenthal — Oral History

Thomas Buergenthal
Born: 1934, Lubochna, Czechoslovakia

Describes the impact of Nuremberg on the development of international law [Interview: 2005]

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Transcript:

Nuremberg of course had a tremendous impact both on the development of international human rights law and on international criminal law. From a symbolic point of view it was a milestone in the sense that this was really the first time that one had an international tribunal which tried high government officials and held them responsible and made some law.

Nuremberg of course had a tremendous impact both on the development of international human rights law and on international criminal law. From a symbolic point of view it was a milestone in the sense that this was really the first time that one had an international tribunal which tried high government officials and held them responsible and made some law.

Now an international judge, Thomas Buergenthal was one of the youngest survivors of the Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen concentration camps. He emigrated to the United States at the age of 17. He has served as judge and president of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and as a member of the United Nations Truth Commission for El Salvador. Buergenthal was chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Committee on Conscience. Buergenthal became a member of the International Court of Justice in March 2000, a seat he still occupies.