Mr. Ferencz deserves our respect and appreciation. Beginning with his time as an investigator in World War II and chief U.S. Army prosecutor during the Nuremberg Trials, through his long, outstanding career as an advocate of the international rule of law. What Dayan failed to disclose was that two weeks prior to the Russian invasion, he and other beneficiaries of Abramovichs largesse in Israel petitioned the U.S. embassy to keep him from being sanctioned. Not to elicit a confession or probe his mind. Benjamin Ferencz: He gave me a bunch of binders, four binders. And they're chasing them. This is Ferencz making his opening statement in the Nuremberg courtroom 73 years ago. Ask your questions. That sort of posturing reminds Ferencz of his dealings with Alfred Krupp, who reigned over an empire of slave labor camps while pleading innocent to war crimes. What does $10 million in charity mean when it comes from men whose combined net worth is estimated to be $21 billionaccrued at the expense of Russian citizens whose average annual income hovers below $11,000? And you shouldn't-- you know-- be despairing because it's never happened before. He fought in every campaign in Europe, according to his website, and he was later tranferred to the War Crimes Branch of the Army that was charged with documenting Nazi atrocities and arresting those responsible. 1894 shipwreck found in Lake Huron, confirming "powerful, tragic story", Garland to face Congress amid ongoing special counsel investigations, FBI chief says agency feels pandemic likely started with Chinese lab leak. By Laya Anasu April 18, 2013. Please enter valid email address to continue. I hear it here for the first time." And I see the progress. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much While at Harvard, he joined the military, serving under General Patton. So Ferencz has spent the rest of his life trying to deter war and war crimes by establishing an international court like Nuremburg. Tells His Amazing Story Of How Became a Prosecutor At The Nuremberg Trials At Only 27 Years Old Lesley Stahl: He's a savage when he does the murder though. Ferencz wasnt the prosecutor in charge of the highest-level Nazis, like Herman Goering. Most recently, he was selected in December to receive the Congressional Gold Medal, Congresss highest civilian honor. Your legs won't reach the pedals." And bodies. Germanys business elites met with Hitler before the March 1933 election, intoxicated by his vow to eradicate trade unions and communists (code for Jews). He's a patriotic human being acting in the interest of his country, in his mind. I knew the Statue of Liberty. Exhibit 179, from Kiev in 1941: "The city's Jews were ordered to present themselves about 34,000 reported, including women and children. No German, no American nobody. The UN posted the interview on its website. Now he tells Amanpour it pains him to once again see atrocities in Europe. Ferencz was born on March 11, 1920, in Csolt, Szatmr County, located in the historical Transylvania region in the Kingdom of Hungary (today part of omcuta Mare, Romania). Benjamin Ferenczs story will be featured June 30, 2019 on an episode of 60 Minutes. However, according to Ferenczs bio, the United States decided to hold a wider swath of Nazis responsible than just Hitlers highest profile henchmen. On January 19 th , Benjamin Ferencz, the legendary Nuremberg Chief Prosecutor was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal the nations highest expression of appreciation for achievements and contributions. Benjamin Ferencz: I was so young. It ended with the conviction of Herman Goring and 21 other top Nazi lieutenants. But not long after that interview in November, Ferenczs health took a turn for the worse. Since childhood, Mr. Ferencz has felt a burning desire to press for global peace; this same desire continues to motivate him today. Ben Ferencz speaks at the Annual Days of Remembrance Ceremony to honor the victims of the Holocaust in Washington, D.C., in 2018. He scored a victory when the international criminal court in The Hague was created in 1998. Benjamin Ferencz was just 27 when he successfully prosecuted 22 defendants for war crimes. After graduating in 1943, he joinedthe US Army. His mission was to gather credible evidence that could be used in a court of law to try and convict persons responsible for international crimes. I am naive? This includes his steel company, Evraz, which supplies the Russian military with materials for its tanks, the same ones currently invading Ukraine, something his spokesperson has denied. Abramovichs proactive use of Yad Vashem to get ahead of the sanctions and sanitize his world standing is reputation laundering, as Casey Michel called it in his book America Kleptocracy: How the U.S. Ferencz was tasked with securing them before they were destroyed. Luck!. Benjamin Ferencz: Do you think the man who dropped the nuclear bomb on Hiroshima was a savage? Please only use it for a guidance and Ben Ferencz's actual income may vary a lot from the dollar amount shown above. The world has still not learned the lessons of Nuremberg., What was his secret to living such a long life? The last Nuremberg prosecutor still alive, Ferencz is turning 100. They contributed a combined 3 million reichsmarks (roughly $30 million today) to the Nazi cause. That's insane. War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot loses reelection bid, Fiery train crash in Greece kills dozens, many of them students. Getty Ben Ferencz: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Mr. Ferencz served for the United States under And these were daily reports from the Eastern Front-- which unit entered which town, how many people they killed. Many people ask this question about the money Ben Ferencz makes from Facebook. Lesley Stahl: You've really seen evil. In the years after the trial, he didnt recede into private life. But on his 100th birthday, an email landed in his inbox from a descendant of one of the men he had prosecuted. Ferencz'sexperiences in postwar Germany were formative. Benjamin Ferencz: --recall if I'd ever been in a courtroom actually. And no amount of reparations can erase it., Or as Ferencz wrote in the preface for his book, Less Than Slaves, about his efforts to seek compensation for Holocaust survivors enslaved by I. G. Farben, Krupp, AEG, Rheinmetall and Daimler-Benz, the German term for the varied restitution programs, Wiedergutmachung, literally means making good again. But it was a Mission Impossible since the harms sought to be remedied can never be made good again.. He was carrying out his government's instructions. Ben is a phenomenal celebrity influencer. Maher: 'It's not wrong' to have debate about transgender issues, See why 'Dilbert' comic strips got dropped from US newspapers, Hit horror film is inspired by real events. Prosecutors said that he choose to "look away" instead of leaving his post. The story of the Holocaust isnt of great suffering and mass extermination, the late survivor Kitia Altman once told me as she tried to explain the mechanisms of the Nazi slave labor enterprise that imprisoned her and my own mother. What does $10 million in charity mean when it comes from men whose combined net worth is estimated to be $21 billionaccrued at the expense of Russian Benjamin Ferencz: Well, I'm still a young man. he is one of famous lawyer and pacifist with the age 101 years old group. But Ohlendorf wasnt interested. Many of the Nazi criminals in East and West Germany served short prison sentences, and some were released early. It was classified, so many Jews, so many gypsies, so many others--. Watching Ben Ferencz during his daily swim, his gym workout and his morning push-up regimen is to realize he isn't just the sunniest man we've ever met -- he may also be the fittest. The Berlin Gestapo headquartersparticularly proved to be a haven of German thoroughness. The defendants were 24 men from the "SS Einsatzgruppen,"representing a total of 3,000 members. Without pity or remorse, the SS murder squads killed every Jewish man, woman, and child they could lay their hands on. Benjamin Ferencz, who turned 100 in March, remains a fundamentally optimistic person. They're not real. Benjamin Ferencz: No. And we know that they have spent years attempting to launder their reputationsand the reputation of the Kremlinthrough their donations to Western nonprofits., There is no sanitation possible for the invasion, Ben Ferenczthe only remaining prosecutor from the Nuremberg war crimes trial and the chief prosecutor for the U.S. Army at the Einsatzgruppen trialtold me. Ben Ferencz is the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive and he has a far-reaching message for todays world. In the 2015 documentary A Man Can Make a Difference, by director Ullabritt Horn, Ferencz recallshow Taylor initiallytasked him with going to Berlin and collecting evidence of the monstrous Nazi crimes. Bradley Dredge Wiki, Biography, Age, Family, NetWorth & Know More, Kingdom of Hungary (now Ciolt, omcuta Mare, Romania). At the age of 101 years, Ben Ferencz weight not available right now. By the time Ferencz found the Einsatzgruppen records, the U.S. had already finalized plans for the other trials. Also learn about how he is rich at the age of 49 years old? It also raises the question: should nonprofits be taking money from those linked to criminal enterprises, let alone lobby for them? Below his face, his motto: "law, not war.". Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. With the allied forces closing in on the center of Nazi power in Berlin, he was transferred to a unit responsible for gathering evidence of war crimes. The former chief prosecutor of the ICC, Fatou Bensouda, has described Ferencz as a founding father of the court and one of her personal heroes. And the father had routinely saved a piece of his bread for his son, and he kept it under his arm at He kept it under his arm at night so the other inmates wouldn't steal it, you know. Lesley Stahl: Did you meet a lot of people who perpetrated war crimes who would otherwise in your opinion have been just a normal, upstanding citizen? So, how much is Benjamin Berell Ferencz networth at the age of 101 years old? Ben Ferencz. Holocaust Memorial Museum and other organizations that promote peace, vowing to end his life the way it started as a poor boy. And he traveled the world into his 90s, spreading his motto of law, not war., I was damn lucky to live this long, said Ferencz, who turns 103 in March. The first and best-known trial in Nuremberg kicked off in November 1945. Indelibly seared into my memory are the scenes I witnessed while liberating these centers of death and destruction. From 1985 to 1996, he was adjunct professor of international law at Pace University. Even today, when I close my eyes, I witness a deadly vision I can never forget []. Produced by Shari Finkelstein and Nieves Zuberbhler. Benjamin Ferencz, Nuremberg Prosecutor and Peace Advocate. Thus, Ferencz was named Chief Prosecutor for the United States in The Einsatzgruppen Case, proseucting 22 people charged with murdering more than a million people. Lesley Stahl: We've had Rwanda, we've had Bosnia. But it's a reality today. And that's just the beginning. The Nuremberg trials after World War II were historic -- the first international war crimes tribunals ever held. After being honorably discharged from the army, Ferencz returned to the US andbeganlooking for a job as a lawyer, but he didn't search for long. Exhibit 111: "In the last 10 weeks, we have liquidated around 55,000 Jews." All Rights Reserved. Benjamin Ferencz: Of course, is my answer. He launched into a diatribe defending the Nazis, saying they were right to resist the communists seeking to take over Germany and the rest of the world. It is not often you get the chance to meet a man who holds a place in history like Ben Ferencz. If everyone thought the way we do it would be a more humane and peaceful world, he wrote, according to a copy of the email shared with NBC News. He grew up in a tough New York City neighborhood where his father found work as a janitor. When he was ten months old his family moved to America. The stock, which was direct listed on the NYSE this morning, closed at $69.47, 54% above its reference price of $45. The omcuta Mare March 11, 1920-born lawyer and pacifist expert is arguably the worlds most influential Ben Ferencz is expert, with a wide-ranging social media outreach. Would Ohlendorf like him to deliver a message to his family? With appreciation to the Planethood Foundation. Through coalition-building, education, research, and outreach, the Ferencz Initiative equips and empowers survivors of atrocities to seek redress and to hold perpetrators to account. I got on the next plane, flew from Berlin down to Nuremberg, and I said to Taylor, "General, we've gotta put on a new trial.". I knew that what I was seeing was horror, he said. Although he witnessed atrocities as a US soldier in the Second World Benjamin Ferencz: A father who, his son told me the story. Wage growth is slowing. The International Military Tribunal identification card of Benjamin Ferencz, the chief prosecutor of the Einsatzgruppen Trial. Just as Hitler used Krupp to soften his image among Germanys elites, Putin has dispatched his oligarchs to be his cultural emissaries, buying influence in our top-tier political, cultural and social institutions and desensitizing us to his ultimate goalsundermining Western democracy and numbing us to his crimes against humanity. From immigrant to lawyer to WWII soldier to Nuremberg prosecutor the amazing life of Ben Ferencz, 60 Minutes wrote in its promotion for the segment. Look at the emancipation of woman in my lifetime. So you see these human stories which are not -- they're not real. No regrets.. You're not getting very far. Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is seen on the stand during the Barclays Premier League match between Chelsea and Sunderland at Stamford Bridge on December 19, 2015 in London, England. Referring to family separations, he accused Trump of committing a crime against humanity., According to The Independent, Ferencz made the remark during a recent interview with outgoing United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Raad Al Hussein., He described how he found it painful to hear about the family separations at the U.S. border with Mexico. Hitler's top lieutenants were prosecuted first. Death was their tool and life their toy. Not guilty. He soon received a telegram from the Pentagon summoning him to see General Telford Taylor, an esteemed lawyer who had been appointed by President Truman as the person responsible for subsequent Nuremberg Trials that were to pick up where thefirst one had left off. Ben Ferencz is an American lawyer. Ferencz was also involved in pushing the Germans to agree to maintain cemeteries where Holocaust victims were buried. All wars, and all decent people. He was proud of that. If only the world had responded to Hitler in the same way. As he wooed industrialists to his ambitious scheme of slave labor to the benefit of the Reich, his organizations profits skyrocketed.. Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, found itself somewhat flat-footed by the news. And look at you. BREAKING:Eli Lilly caps the cost of insulin at $35 a month, Ben Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials, answered the phone in bright spirits. Things got serious for Ferencz in the spring of 1944, whenhis combat unit was sent to the United Kingdomto fight in World War II. Soon thereafter, the US Government recruited Mr. Ferencz to join the team working on the Nurember tribunals, a novel independent court established to try top-ranking Nazi officials for crimes perpetrated during the Holocaust. There's the rabbi coming along there. They should remember, from me, it takes courage not to be discouraged. Ferencz is legendary in the world of international law, and he's still at it. Farben, whose huge cash infusions4.5 million reichsmarks by the end of 1933 also aided Hitlers rise. Benjamin Ferencz and Barry Avrich at a screening of "Prosecuting Evil" in Los Angeles in 2019. She warns of contemporary parallels and strikes a chord with many of her listeners. Benjamin Ferencz: Yes. He grew up poor on the rough and tumble streets of Hells Kitchen, where his father worked as a janitor-turned-house painter. Even today, when I close my eyes, I witness a deadly vision I can never forget-the crematoria aglow with the fire of burning flesh, the mounds of emaciated corpses stacked like cordwood waiting to be burned. Ferencz said it took immense effort to keep his emotions in check. with lot of social media fan he often posts many personal photos and videos to interact with her huge fan base social media plateform. In that role, he was sent to the concentration camps that had been liberated by the U.S. army. / CBS News. Benjamin Ferencz: Well, this is typical operation. Nothing new ever happened before. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. A testament to his commitment to these efforts, Mr. Ferencz partnered with the Museum to launch the Ferencz International Justice Initiative in 2017 to coincide with the 70-year anniversary of the Einsatzgruppen Trial at Nuremberg, in which he was Chief Prosecutor. We've had genocide since then. But what is the point of giving to a community while fueling the very mechanism of its destruction? He landed on the beaches of Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW But Ferencz knew they were guilty and could prove it. The trial began on Sept. 29, 1947. Benjamin Ferencz, who turned 100 in March, remains a fundamentally optimistic person. Although he witnessed atrocities as a US soldier in the Second World War, gathered evidence of Nazi war crimes after the war ended, and prosecuted Nazis in the subsequent Nuremberg Trials, his rosy outlook on life didn't change. Chief prosecutor Benjamin Ferencz presents documents as evidence at the Einsatzgruppen Trial. Mr. Ferencz was born in Transylvania in 1920. Ohlendorf like him to deliver a message to his family is legendary in the interest of country! Should nonprofits be taking money from those linked to criminal enterprises, let alone for! 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