A conference commemorating the anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials will bring to Chautauqua County some of the world's leading figures in international law along with an eclectic mix of experts, four of whom took central stage in the drama that unfolded in a German courtroom 60 years ago.

For three days starting Tuesday, Sept. 27 at the historic Athenaeum Hotel on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution, "Sixty Years after the Nuremberg Trials: Crimes against Humanity and Peace," will examine today's incidences of war crimes in the light of the famous prosecution at Nuremberg.

Sponsoring the conference are SUNY Fredonia, the Robert H. Jackson Center and Chautauqua Institution.

"This may be one of the few remaining conferences about the Nuremberg trials in which we can hear from actual eyewitnesses," SUNY Fredonia President Dennis Hefner said.

At a pre-conference event Monday evening, Sept. 26, the man who was chief interpreter of the Nuremberg trials will speak at 8 p.m. Richard Sonnenfeldt was a German born Jew in the U.S. Army when he was tapped to translate for such notorious Nazis as Hermann Goering during what became known as "the trial of the century." Other American prosecutors in the courtroom in Nuremberg who are on the conference schedule are Robert Donihi, the only person still living who helped prosecute both Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg and Japanese war criminals in Tokyo; Henry T. King, author of the book, Two Worlds of Albert Speer; and Whitney R. Harris, author of Tyranny on Trial.

The conference opens Tuesday morning with a talk by a lawyer and scholar who is a candidate for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. Michael P. Scharf will frame the conference theme starting at 9:15 a.m. with the talk, "Sixty Years after Nuremberg: the Living Legacy of Robert H. Jackson." A founder of the Cox International Law Center and War Crimes Research Office, Scharf is a law professor at Case Western Reserve University who helped train Iraqi judges for the upcoming trial of Saddam Hussein.

Also, Abby Mann, the Academy Award winning author of the screenplay Judgment at Nuremberg, will speak Wednesday at 8 p.m. The 1961 film starring Spencer Tracy brought home to succeeding generations of World War II the pain and pathos of a nation struggling with its horrible descent into mass murder. Mr. Mann's careful portrayal of moral complexity has made both the play and the film versions of Judgment at Nuremberg, timeless in its relevance to society.

"This subject is beyond the Holocaust," Mr. Mann said earlier this year. "It's what people do in the name of patriotism. Patriotism is the antagonist. The Nazis killed people because they loved their country."

As chief American prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trial, Supreme Court Justice and Chautauqua County resident Robert H. Jackson, recognized this and became the architect in establishing new standards of international law, which he considered to be the crowning achievement of his life. Justice Jackson is buried in Frewsburg, a town just outside Jamestown, N.Y., where he grew up and practiced law prior to being tapped to various posts in Washington. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Jackson U.S. Solicitor General, U.S. Attorney General and, ultimately, an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Robert H. Jackson Center (www.roberthjackson.org) works to preserve and further his legacy with "living history" programs such as this symposium co-sponsored by SUNY Fredonia and Chautauqua Institution.

SUNY Fredonia Political Science Professor Richard Jankowski explained that Justice Jackson's work was significant. "The Nuremberg Trials introduced the idea that citizens may, by following the law of their nation, violate international law," he said. "Previously, the standard operative assumption was that sovereigns had total control over their indigenous peoples."

For information on attending conference events, call the SUNY Fredonia grants and research services office at 716-673-3528, or visit the website at: www.fredonia.edu/jacksonsymposium.

For more information:
 
Catherine Kilpatrick, SUNY Fredonia, 716-673-3528
Rolland Kidder/Rebecca Robbins, Jackson Center, 716-483-6646
Michael Sullivan, Chautauqua Institution, 716-357-6200