Background
Harris, Whitney Robson was born on August 12, 1912 in Seattle, Washington, United States. Son of Olin Whitney and Lily (Robson) Harris.
educator lawyer military officer volunteer
Harris, Whitney Robson was born on August 12, 1912 in Seattle, Washington, United States. Son of Olin Whitney and Lily (Robson) Harris.
AB magna cum laude, University Washington, 1933. Juris Doctor, University California, 1936. Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), McKendree College, 1999.
Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), University Missouri, 2001.
He died at his home from cancer. He later became a lawyer in the Navy at the rank of Captain. After the end of World World War II, Whitney Harris was selected to be part of the legal team led by United States. Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson that began the prosecution of war criminals in Nuremberg, Germany.
Whitney Harris led the team"s case against Ernst Kaltenbrunner, the highest-ranking leader of the Nazi Security Police to face trial.
Whitney Harris was successful in winning a conviction against Kaltenbrunner for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was also responsible for interrogating Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Hoess, the former commander of Auschwitz concentration camp.
He stated "Following the trials, the Genocide Convention was adopted in 1948, criminalizing the Nazi"s attempt to exterminate European Jewry. The Geneva Conventions were elaborated in 1949, codifying the laws of war.
But crimes against humanityone of the most revolutionary and important elements of the Nuremberg Charter itself - were never set out in a treaty until the adoption of the International Criminal Court Statute in the summer of 1998.
Practically speaking, what that means is that the words uttered after Nuremberg “And never again” have but a hollow significance. My friends, this initiative of the Institute that bears my name is the first serious international effort to fill this gap, complete this work, and fulfill the Nuremberg legacy."
Mr. Harris spoke of the institutional evil of the Nazi regime in Germany during an interview in 2008, saying: "Society lays the groundwork, and we develop in that society," he said.
"We become part of that society, we"re captivated by it, and we might do evil, too.
lieutenant makes you wonder about where is the future of mankind -- is evil going to triumph ultimately, or is good going to triumph? You have to find the good instincts that are in all of us.".
( Condensing an avalanche of documents and trial transcri...)
(THE EVIDENCE AT NUREMBERG THE TRIAL OF THE MAJOR AXIS WAR...)
(The trial of the major Axis war criminals.)
(Book by Harris, Whitney R.)
Board Governors Winston Churchill Memorial and Library., since 1980. Trustee National Jewish Center Immunol. and Respiratory Medicine, 1980-1990. Member American Bar Association (chairman international law section 1953-1954, chairman administrative law section 1960-1961), Japan-American Society St. Louis (president 1978-1980, Distinguished Svc. award 1995), Naval War College Foundation (graduate level), Order of Coif, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Psi, Delta Theta Phi.
Married Jane Freund Foster, February 14, 1964 (deceased 1999). 1 child, Eugene Whitney. Married Anna Galakatos, January 8, 2000.