The British witnesses at the Leipzig War Crimes Trials of 1921

Abstract

This article draws together a final piece of research of the late Professor Peter J Rowe, LLD, an eminent figure in the field of the law of armed conflict. Professor Rowe’s interest in the post-World War I trials of German military personnel in Leipzig lay in the role of the British witnesses, which he researched extensively and meticulously up to mid-2018. The outcome was a draft article which has now been completed and prepared for publication by his last doctoral student Dr Caroline Kittelmann (née Harvey). Professor Rowe’s interest in the Leipzig trials lay in their relative obscurity by comparison with the subsequent Nuremberg trials after World War II. His examination of the Leipzig trials covers the process of identifying British witnesses, their travel to Germany and giving of testimony, and the role of their testimony in the decisions of the Reichsgericht. It is shown that although the trials were not well-received by public or political opinion at the time, they held significance for several reasons: first, demonstrating (prior to the Nuremberg trials) that individuals could be tried for violations of the laws of war, second, demonstrating that superior orders did not need to be followed at all costs, and finally and perhaps most importantly, demonstrating adherence to the rule of law in that it was possible for the post-war courts of a defeated power to hear evidence given by soldiers of the victor power and (still) assess this as credible.