Glenn Flickinger sits down with legal historian John Q. Barrett to explore the origins, drama, and legacy of the Nuremberg trials, the unprecedented post–World War II prosecution of Nazi leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Barrett, a Professor of Law at St. John’s University and Elizabeth S. Lenna Fellow at the Robert H. Jackson Center, is one of the foremost experts on U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, Franklin Roosevelt’s close adviser who left the Court in 1945 to serve as chief U.S. prosecutor at Nuremberg. He is currently at work on a major Jackson biography and is the creator of The Jackson List, a long-running email and web project that shares stories and discoveries about Jackson, the Supreme Court, Nuremberg, and related topics with readers around the world.

In this program, Glenn and Professor Barrett will walk us through how Jackson came to lead the Nuremberg prosecution, what was at stake in the courtroom, how the trials were actually conducted day-to-day, and why Jackson later called Nuremberg “the most important work of my life.” They’ll also look at how the trials shaped modern ideas of international criminal law and individual accountability for state-sponsored atrocities, and why Nuremberg remains a touchstone in debates about war, justice, and memory today.

Whether you’re new to the subject or already familiar with Jackson and Nuremberg, this is an opportunity to hear from the scholar who has done as much as anyone to recover and explain this history.

We’re grateful to UPMC for Life  for sponsoring this event!