The Beaudrox Trials: 1945-1946
Excerpt from The Bordeaux Trials, Written by John P. Johnson, 2005
The Beaudrox Trials were a series of military tribunals held by the Allied Powers after the end of the Second World War, trying major war criminals of the Greater French State, for there crimes against humanity and war crimes against the world, held in the city of Beaudrox, France, from 1945-1946
The Defendents listening to evidence via headsets
The End of the Second World War brought about the knowledge of heinous acts committed, That First Citoyen Jean-Claude Geymere had ordered the systematic genocide of people's declared undesireables by the Fascist Ideology that had consumed France and sent it on the rampage for the better part of a decade, The Allied Powers had decided the war criminals of the Fascist French State Neded to pay for there crimes, Many plans were discussed over the course of several years, from mass executions, to poison gas, before deciding to host trials for the War Criminals, many cites had been discussed in terms of holding the Trials, The Americans had wanted the trials to take place in Paris, however a compromise between the Allied Powers agreed upon the following points.
1. The Tribunal Council's headquarters would be located within the city of Paris, France
and
2. The Trials would take place in Beaudrox, France
Beaudrox was chosen for a number of reasons, Mainly because the Palace of Justice, located within the city, was largely undamaged, and had a ajoining prison. and Beaudrox was the ceremonial birthplace of the Nasi Party, held annual rallies, and was the home of the Beaudrox Laws, and it felt fitting to be the ceremonial deathplace of the Fascist state.
The Trials began in the Palace of Justice in Beaudrox on October 25th, 1945, with the Allies bringing forward the following men to trie the Axis War Criminals, the Tribunal Council consisted of the following
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Judges
- Major General Iona Nikitchenko (Russian main), President of the Tribunal
- Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Volchkov (Russian alternate)
- Colonel Albert Nelt (Swiss main)
- Herbet Kraus (Swiss alternate)
- Francis Biddle (American main)
- John J. Parker (American alternate)
- Georg Fröschmann (German main)
- Otto Pannenbacker (German alternate)
Chief prosecutors
- Hans Flächsner (Switzerland)
- Robert H. Jackson (Union of American Socialst Republics)
- Lieutenant-General Roman Andreyevich Rudenko (Russian Republic)
- Attorney General Kurt Krauffman (German Empire)
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Augustte de Ribes Vuittan
However as it would turn out, First Citoyen Jean-Claude Geymere, Head of the SS, Augustte de Ribes Vuittan, and Minister of Propoganda Charles De Gaulle, were not tried, as those three had all commited suicide, and thus could not be tried. the highest ranking Nasi Offical at the trial was Henri de Vabres, General and Leader of the French Air Force, also Geymere's designated succsessor until April of 1945, when de Vabres fell out of favor with the First Citoyen, other notable officals tried in Beaudrox included Head Admiral of the Navy, and Geymere's succsessor, Yves Bordeauscu. The Foreign Minister who orchestrated the Hollande-Oppenheimer Pact in 1939, Nicholas Hollande. Racial Theory Ideologist Francois de Menthon, Architect Jacques Chamardine, the highest surviving leader of the SS, Valery Chicac, and the leader of the Rhineish Republic, a puppet of Paris, Heinrich Himmler (who would also be tried by a German court), Nasi Party Secretary Gaston Doumer was also tried, but in absentenia, in total, 24 men were charged with various Crimes against Humanity and War Crimes. 22 men were tried however, as one was deemed unfit for trial, and another commited suicide.
Over the course of the next several months and into 1946, the Prosecuters and the Defense worked tirelessly. the Prosecuters produced many pieces of evidence over the course of the next few months, detailing the actions of the men involved, and being tried. including various Axis documents, war plans, detaliling the many heinous acts of crime commited by the French, at the many concentration camps located throughout Africa and Europe, including the most notorious of them all, the Pied Noir camp in Southern Algeria, and the camp in Vonhalt, Germany. over 100 witnesses, including many of the defendents themselves would speak over the course of the next year, some would confess to there actions, some remained cold and heartless, most already knew the outcome of the trials beforehand, but the trials themselves cemented it. after a year of deliberations, as the evidence surmounted, the Jury convicted most of the man with alest one of the charges brought against them, this would result in death sentences for most, very few of the men put on trial would outlive 1946, those that did got life sentences, the lowest sentence was to Yves Bordeascu, who received 10 years, was brought upon charges of violating the Second Berlin Navy Treaty and used unrestricted submarine warfare, however Russia herself had also done so in the war, and thus, the crime was less punishable. the sentencing would be carried out on October 26th, 1946, when 2 Russians would hang 14 Nasi War Criminals that day. while the rest were imprisoned to serve there sentences.
Gaston Doumer, tried in Absentenia
And thus, the Beaudrox Trials were over, many other war crimes trials, including those for the various SS doctors who worked at the Death Camps, and Austrian and Italian War Criminals, would also take place. convicting those such as Benito Mussolini, the Kings of Saxony and Bavaria, and others.