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37 Colum. J. Transnat'l L. 669 (1998-1999)
Impressions of Telford Taylor at Nuremberg

handle is hein.journals/cjtl37 and id is 677 raw text is: Impressions of Telford Taylor at Nuremberg CELIA GOETZ* The recent death of Telford Taylor put a coda to a critically important chapter of international law: the trials at Nuremberg of private individuals for breaching international law prohibiting torture and murder, and for breaches of the rules of war. It was there that I met him, when I worked on the American prosecution team. Although General Taylor-as he will always be known to me-played a significant part in the international trial against Goering and other well-known Nazi leaders (the so-called IMT, from 1945-46), he played the critical and dominant role in the later trials of major but less well-known participants in the war crimes of the German state. He was the heart and soul of the Subsequent Proceedings at Nuremberg (1946-49) in the American Zone of Occupation. These twelve trials applied the principles developed in the first Nuremberg trial to the leaders of significant segments of the German polity which had facilitated, participated in, and profited from the Nazi offenses. It was General Taylor who gave leadership and guidance to these trials of bureaucrats, judges, industrialists, military men, and SS murderers who carried out the Nazi program. I first became aware of General Taylor when I learned that he was recruiting attorneys to staff the prosecution to pursue Nazi war crimes. At the time, I was an attorney in the Civil Division of the Department of Justice in Washington. I had followed with great attention the history of German conquests and some of the abuses of civilians during World War II, and I sought out the opportunity to participate in bringing those responsible to justice. I was made more eager by General Taylor's reputation in Washington as a charismatic and brilliant lawyer. Unfortunately, I encountered an immediate bar. General Taylor, who was recruiting staff through Charles Horsky, a prominent Washington attorney, was willing to employ me in light of my credentials. The War Department, however, which was his employer, did not want any women at the senior level, at which I would have to function at Nuremberg to work as an attorney. General Taylor did not hesitate to waive this bar for me and a few other similarly-disadvantaged female would-be prosecutors. Today, when gender bias is prohibited, * Deputy Chief Prosecutor in US v Krupp et al and former federal bankruptcy judge, Eastern District of New York.

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