Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book proposes the thesis that the continuation of earnest efforts at prosecuting fugitive Nazi war criminals is an urgent moral imperative. It explores certain aspects of the aftermath of the defeat of Adolph Hitler's Third Reich, including the Nuremberg trials and related legal and political issues such as the charge of "victor's justice" and the overall fairness of the concept and proceedings. The book discusses a rights-based, democratic concept of the rule of law and provides some core features of the Nazis' legal system. It deals with the Nazi fugitives and their post-war escape from accountability. The book also explores the questions about responsibility: Who is responsible for prosecuting Nazi war criminals, and who was responsible for the Holocaust and, in the end, who is to blame, morally and legally.