American Chief Counsel Justice Robert H. Jackson Begins Opening Speech at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, November 21, 1945

“… one of the most significant tributes that power has ever paid to reason.” - From Robert H. Jackson’s opening statement on November 21, 1945.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson was appointed by President Harry Truman to serve as U.S. Chief Counsel for the prosecution of Nazi war crimes before the four-nation International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg, which is often considered to be the genesis of international criminal law. 

This audio recording contains the beginning of Jackson’s opening statement before the tribunal on November 21, 1945, the second day of the trial, which would last until the final sentencing of the defendants in October 1946. 

Listen to and download German Defendants Plead Not Guilty, American Chief Counsel Justice Robert H. Jackson Begins Opening Speech at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials in the National Archives Catalog. The recording is part of Record Group 238, National Archives Collection of World War II War Crimes Records, Series: Audio Recordings Relating to World War II War Crimes Trials. All audio recordings from the trial in NARA’s holdings are fully digitized and are available in the National Archives Catalog. 

The Moving Image and Sound Branch holds one of the largest and most accessible collections of Holocaust and World War II-era films and sound recordings in the world. You can explore more through the National Archives Catalog, through the Special Media Records Division blog, The Unwritten Record, on History Hub, or in person at our research room in College Park, MD.