In a landmark move for historical preservation and public access, the complete official records of the Nuremberg trials have been digitised and launched online. This monumental project, completed by Harvard Law School Library, coincides with the 80th anniversary of the groundbreaking legal proceedings established to bring leading Nazis to justice.
A Quarter-Century Preservation Effort
The launch this week culminates a 25-year endeavour by a dedicated team of 30 historians, metadata curators, and librarians. The project began in 1998 with the painstaking task of removing staples and paper clips from delicate documents to prepare them for scanning. Paul Deschner, who led Harvard’s Nuremberg trials project, stated the aim was twofold: to preserve the disintegrating documents and to make them accessible in the dawn of the internet era.
Deschner explained the urgency, noting the documents were printed on 1940s-era acid-based mimeographed paper that was starting to literally disintegrate upon touch. The library's collection, previously kept in boxes and rarely seen, contains more than 750,000 pages of transcripts, briefs, and evidence exhibits from all 13 Nuremberg cases.
Unprecedented Access to History
For the first time, from Thursday, open access to every official document is available to all researchers, whether amateur or professional. The collection covers the trials held between 1945 and 1949, which were brought against Nazi military and political leaders held responsible for atrocities against humanity, most notably the Holocaust.
In the first and main proceedings, 19 of the most influential Nazis, including Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, and Albert Speer, were tried. In the 12 subsequent trials, almost 200 others faced justice. The final tally saw only three found not guilty, with twelve receiving death sentences and others given life or shorter prison terms.
The digital trove includes verbatim transcripts of all courtroom activity, source documents used by lawyers, and evidence exhibits submitted by both prosecution and defence teams. Deschner highlighted that ordinary users can now discover a far wider range of information, using transcripts as a roadmap or searching by keyword.
Relevance for the Modern Era
The documents provide a chillingly detailed account of how the Nazis first hatched and then developed their plans for the Holocaust. Deschner noted they give a clear picture of how comparatively innocuous things might have looked in the early 1930s compared to just a few years later.
He emphasised the collection's contemporary significance, stating it has enormous utility for people who have eyes to see, ears to hear in the context of every period of time, including our own. It could make people aware to be on the lookout for the dynamics as they are portrayed in these archives.
At a time when academic freedom is perceived to be under threat, Deschner said the project has taken on even more importance. He addressed the challenge of Holocaust denial, asserting it is absolutely essential to offer buttressing evidence that proves the authenticity of what users are looking at. The extensive documentary trail behind each exhibit—from government documents to translations and summaries—provides this verifiable chain of evidence.
Amanda Watson of Harvard Law School’s library and information services stated that robust preservation of the documents as digital surrogates was not enough on its own—the knowledge had to be shared. She affirmed that this collection stands as an answer to one of history’s more critical questions: How can law rise to meet moments of international crisis? By making justice visible, we make it possible for all.
