Although modern Holocaust deniers claim the atrocities of the war did not happen or try to minimize them, the defendants did no such thing. They did not refute the evidence. Some did say they did not know what was happening or complained they were singled out for doing the same things as others who escaped arrest. Others hid behind the argument that they were only following orders and were therefore not responsible for their actions or those of their subordinates.

Though public attention naturally gravitated toward the individual defendants, they were not the only ones on trial. The prosecutors also decided to use these top officials to establish that German organizations such as the Gestapo, the military high command, and the SS were themselves criminal. The prosecutors believed, though this was one of the more heatedly debated tactics in the trial...