Whitney Robson Harris (August 12, 1912 – April 21, 2010) was an American attorney, and one of the last surviving prosecutors from the

Nuremberg Trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

Early life and education

Harris was born in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. His father was a car dealer. He attended the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

and earned a law degree from the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. He later became a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

in the Navy at the rank of captain.Tim O'Neil. "Whitney R. Harris, 97; prosecuted Nazi crimes after WWII". ''The Washington Post''
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Career

After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Harris was selected to be part of the legal team led by U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Robert H. Jackson Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1941 until his death in 1954. He had previously served as Un ...

that began the prosecution of war criminals in

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Harris led the team's case against

Ernst Kaltenbrunner Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was an Austrian high-ranking SS official during the Nazi era, major perpetrator of the Holocaust and convicted war criminal. After the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in 1942, and a ...

, the highest-ranking leader of the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Security Police to face trial. He was successful in winning a conviction against Kaltenbrunner for war crimes and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

. He was also responsible for interrogating Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Hoess, the former commander of the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

. For his work in the

Nuremberg trials #REDIRECT Nuremberg trials {{redirect category shell, {{R from other capitalisation{{R from move ...

, Harris was decorated with the Legion of Merit. In February 2002,

Washington University School of Law The Washington University School of Law (WashU Law) is the law school of Washington University in St. Louis, a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1867, it is the oldest continuously operating law school west of the ...

's "Institute for Global Legal Studies" was renamed to the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute in honor and recognition of Harris' lifelong achievements in the field of international justice, and his support of legal education and research. He was a member of the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute's International Council. During an Experts' Meeting of The Crimes Against Humanity Initiative of the Institute in 2010 at the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

, Harris made a plea just prior to his death to the legal experts, members of civil society and diplomats who were present. He stated. "Following the trials, the Genocide Convention was adopted in 1948, criminalizing the Nazis' attempt to exterminate European Jewry. The Geneva Conventions were elaborated in 1949, codifying the laws of war. But crimes against humanity- one 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." Harris spoke of the institutional evil of the Nazi regime in Germany during an interview in 2008: "Society lays the groundwork, and we develop in that society... We become part of that society, we're captivated by it, and we might do evil, too. It 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." Seeing environmental conservation as another important component in promoting good in the world, Harris was also a founding member of the Development Board of the International Center for Tropical Ecology at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. The center was renamed the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center after a significant donation in 2006."About the center: Introduction". ''Harris World Ecology Center''
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Personal life

Harris was married three times. His first wife was Gerda Harris of Hidden Hills, California. She died in 2012. He married his second wife, with whom he had a son, his only child, in 1964. They were married until her death, in 1999. Harris married his third wife in 2000. He died at his home from cancer in 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Whitney Robson Prosecutors of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg University of Washington alumni UC Berkeley School of Law alumni Southern Methodist University faculty American Bar Association Lawyers from Seattle People from St. Louis County, Missouri Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1912 births 2010 deaths Deaths from cancer in Missouri 20th-century American lawyers