Bennett to speak on Nuremberg trials, nature of war crimes

Bennett to speak on Nuremberg trials, nature of war crimesSeptember 27, 2006Mary Beth Hintonmbhinton@syr.edu

David Bennett, Meredith Professor of History in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, will speak on “Nuremberg: Nazi Atrocities, World War II, and the Question of War Crimes” Wednesday, Oct. 4, at 4 p.m. in the Peter Graham Scholarly Commons on the first floor of Syracuse University’s E.S. Bird Library. This event, sponsored by Syracuse University Library Associates, is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the lecture. Paid parking is available in the Marion visitor lot.Because of the scale and monstrous nature of Nazi war crimes, the Nuremberg Trials (1945-1949) were different from subsequent war tribunals. Yet Nazi crimes — like crimes committed during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and other wars — raise several questions: How do you win a war? Is it by terrorizing the enemy and breaking his courage, by killing women and children? Are these war crimes or collateral damage?Bennett specializes in modern American history and modern military history. A noted scholar and teacher, he has won numerous awards, including the Chancellor’s Citation for Exceptional Academic Achievement (1991). Among his publications is “The Party of Fear: The American Far Right From Nativism to the Militia Movement” (Vintage Books, 1995).