So he finished at Harvard then enlisted as a private in the Army. Lesley Stahl reports. WebBen Ferencz net worth 2.13 Million Millions of dollars 84% Net worth score Disclamer: Ben Ferencz net worth displayed here are calculated based on a combination social factors. The first and best-known trial in Nuremberg kicked off in November 1945. Exhibit 111: "In the last 10 weeks, we have liquidated around 55,000 Jews." Ben Ferencz has led an extraordinary life. Tom Hofmann. Not to elicit a confession or probe his mind. Ferencz graduated from Harvard in 1943. But it's a reality today. Learn How much net worth Ben is in this year and how he spend his expenses? Ferencz eventually moved his wife and four children to the U.S. and set up a law practice in New York focused on civil rights and civil liberties. Benjamin Ferencz: Never in my life. I hear it here for the first time." The fact that Yad Vashem, a nonprofit, non-partisan foundation, would do the bidding for a man linked to corrupt financial activity and the Kremlin proves dirty money can soil even the cleanest of hands. The Nazis were well known for keeping detailed records. Benjamin Ferencz: Well, if it's naive to want peace instead of war, let 'em make sure they say I'm naive. Ferencz attended the City College of New York, which was free for bright immigrants, earned a scholarship to Harvard Law School and enlisted in the Army after graduation as World War II engulfed Europe. I knew the Statue of Liberty. After he graduated from Harvard Law School in 1943, he enlisted in the army. If they tell me they want war instead of peace, I don't say they're naive, I say they're stupid. Even pro-democracy think tanks like the Atlantic Council and the Council of Foreign Relations have taken oligarchs cash. Or as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskyy tweeted the day Russian missiles rained down on Babin Yarthe ravine where nearly 34,000 Jews were massacred over the course of two days during the Holocaust and whose oligarch-funded memorial was left miraculously unscathedwhy say never again while enabling 80-year old history to repeat itself? Ben Ferencz entered into evidence the defendants' own reports of what they'd done. Benjamin Ferencz: When I reached over a million people murdered that way, over a million people, that's more people than you've ever seen in your life, I took a sample. Benjamin Ferencz: Of course, is my answer. 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. Dont tell me we cant put them on trial., He said, Well, can you do it in addition to your other work?, I said, Sure. Thats how I got my first case.. The father had died just as we were entering the camp. 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. Benjamin Ferencz: Going on right this minute, yes. 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. In the years after the trial, he didnt recede into private life. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Ferencz is one of the most iconic voices in the field of international justice. 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. Nuremberg taught me that creating a world of tolerance and compassion would be a long and arduous task. And you're full of energy and passion. The book, entitled Parting Words: 9 Lessons for a Remarkable Life,willbe published in English on December 31, 2020. 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? 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.". Another company that was vital to the Nazis was I.G. West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer was first to sign the deal in Luxembourg in 1952, but his pen had run out of ink so he borrowed one of Ferenczs a pen that his wife, Gertrude, whom he had started dating as a teenager, had gifted him when he graduated from law school. And you know what keeps me going? Stupid to an incredible degree to send young people out to kill other young people they don't even know, who never did anybody any harm, never harmed them. They should remember, from me, it takes courage not to be discouraged. The 93-year-old defendant has rejected any guilt throughout the trial, but admitted knowing about the gas chambers in the Stutthof death camp. The network of camps she and my mother barely survived isnt well known. Its a form of reparations without any admission of guilt or wrongdoing, and thats something Ferencz, who helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, establishing every human beings inalienable rights to freedom, dignity and equality, and negotiated the terms of restitution to victims of Nazi slave labor after the Holocaust, would know. Ben Ferencz is an American lawyer. By the time Ferencz found the Einsatzgruppen records, the U.S. had already finalized plans for the other trials. Created the World's Greatest Money Laundering Scheme in History. Reviewed by Stephen Levitt (Nova Southeastern University) Published on H-Law (June, 2014) Commissioned by Charles L. Zelden. As detractors criticized the Holocaust museum for its tone-deafness at a time when much of the world cut ties with Russian money, Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan stood by his decision, asserting Abramovich hadnt been sanctionedyet. So many dead bodies in some cases stacked like firewood in front of the still-burning crematoriums. 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. Rich Schapiro is a reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit. It is as if the Vatican had interceded in favor of the Gambino [crime] family because they are all good Catholics.. In life, there are those who lead by their example; those whose contagious optimism and sense of purpose bring the seemingly impossible within reach, she said in December 2020 when a bust of Ferencz was unveiled at the court. Throughout his career, he has made use of every tool in the justice toolbox: collecting evidence and documenting the atrocities of the Holocaust; prosecuting cases against war criminals; representing victims in their restitution claims; developing new norms, laws, and treaties; helping to build the political will for new international courts; and writing, teaching, and inspiring the next generation of justice champions. Darryl Hinton 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. He is a treasure of humanity, Schneider said of Ferencz. 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. Part of an artillery battalion, he landed on the beach at Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. And you shouldn't-- you know-- be despairing because it's never happened before. Ask your questions.. And you're very wise. 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. Then a series of subsequent trials were mounted against other Nazi leaders, including 22 SS officers responsible for killing more than a million people -- not in concentration camps -- but in towns and villages across Eastern Europe. Ben Ferencz in court: The charges we have brought accuse the defendants of having committed crimes against humanity. Prosecutors said that he choose to "look away" instead of leaving his post. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Ferencz wanted to extend a favor. After the trial, Mr. Ferencz fought for compensation for victims and survivors of the Holocaust, the return of stolen assets, and other forms of restitution for those who had suffered at the hands of the Nazis. Militant Jewish groups and others angry over the dealings with the Germans resorted to death threats and letter bombs to deter the people involved in the negotiations. In the spring of 1947, a team member happened to come across three thick folders in the filing cabinets of the foreign officelabeled "Event dispatchesfrom the Soviet Union Reports from the Eastern Front." Ferencz traveled to multiple concentration camps Buchenwald, Mauthause, Flossenburg, Ebensee often within days and sometimes hours of their liberation. Thetribunal prosecutesindividuals for war crimes; even heads of state are held legally accountable. Benjamin B. Ferencz, 27, presents his case in Nuremberg in 1947 at what the Associated Press called the biggest murder trial in history.. Ferencz called only one witness a man who verified the authenticity of the records that documented the cleansing of Jews in cities across Europe. He told himself: Just get on with the job, Benny. And he's been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. Lesley Stahl: Ben? He was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II and the chief prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, one of the 12 military trials held by the U.S. authorities at Nuremberg, Germany. From 1985 to 1996, he was adjunct professor of international law at Pace University. Benjamin Ferencz: A father who, his son told me the story. 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW Those bones clinched the argument, he said in a documentary about him, Prosecuting Evil. Without those bones, it would not have happened, Im sure.. Benjamin Ferencz: And I'm still in there fighting. Camps like Buchenwald, Mauthausen, and Dachau are vividly imprinted in my minds eye. The family settled in New York City, where they lived on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. I said, "Look. Others crawling around garbage piles, digging for scraps of food. The Royal Academy of London also tendered the resignation of its trustee, Alfa-Bank head Petr Aven. Along with his sanctioned cronies Avn and German Kahn (chairman of Russias third-largest oil company, TNK Oil), Fridman announced last week that the three are donating $10 million to Ukraines Jewish community. He was previously married to Gertrude Fried. Some people say I'm crazy. The Kennedy Center, MIT, the Museum of Modern Art and the Clinton Foundation all reported that they stopped receiving donations from oil tycoon Viktor Vekeslberg when he was sanctioned in 2018 for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. 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. But now that the U.K. announced it was freezing all of Abramovichs assets and imposing a travel ban on him and his one-time business partner, industrialist Oleg Deripaska, Yad Vashem responded that it was suspending the ambitious partnership. 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Einsatzgruppen D was the unit of Ferencz's lead defendant Otto Ohlendorf. He landed on the beaches of Normandy and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. As per our current Database, Benjamin Ferencz is still alive (as per Wikipedia, Last update: May 10, 2020). Currently, Benjamin Ferencz is 102 years, 10 months and 7 days old. Benjamin Ferencz will celebrate 103rd birthday on a Saturday 11th of March 2023. They had four children. The U.S. decided to hold 12 more trials in Nuremberg against Nazi judges, doctors and other top figures. Ferencz says his goal from the beginning was to affirm the rule of law and deter similar crimes from ever being committed again. I came under the Statue of Liberty as an immigrant, said Ferencz during the interview. Ferencz was also involved in pushing the Germans to agree to maintain cemeteries where Holocaust victims were buried. I'm a realist. Benjamin Ferencz: They were 3,000 SS officers trained for the purpose, and directed to kill without pity or remorse, every single Jewish man, woman, and child they And look at you. The world has still not learned the lessons of Nuremberg., What was his secret to living such a long life? Would Ohlendorf like him to deliver a message to his family? Tells His Amazing Story Of How Became a Prosecutor At The Nuremberg Trials At Only 27 Years Old And the stories he heard in those camps. Although he witnessed atrocities as a US soldier in the Second World But the trials were already underway, and prosecution staff was stretched thin. Many of the Nazi criminals in East and West Germany served short prison sentences, and some were released early. As he wooed industrialists to his ambitious scheme of slave labor to the benefit of the Reich, his organizations profits skyrocketed.. Find information on historical cases of genocide and other atrocities. For the past two weeks, Yad Vashem has defended its new long-term strategic partnership with Abramovich, which was announced on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Instead, according to his website, he was asked to join the prosecution table at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials. Ben Ferencz Nuremberg Einsatzgruppen Case #9 Opening. So Ferencz has spent the rest of his life trying to deter war and war crimes by establishing an international court like Nuremburg. If only the world had responded to Hitler in the same way. Under General Patton,, Ben Ferencz: The Only Surviving Chief Prosecutor from the Nuremberg Tribunals, Presented by The International Humanitarian Law Clinic of Emory University School of Law January 25, 2015. I am naive? We've had genocide since then. Just get your evidence. Just put 'em in the ditch. After achieving the convictions at Nuremberg, he continued working toward international law. The USinvestigative team was headquartered in the war-ravaged capital of Berlin. On Wednesday he will enter the history books in a new way. He was proud of that. Mikhail Fridman, co-founder of Alfa-Group and one of the creators of the Genesis Prize (which Time dubbed the Jewish Nobel Prize), who also funded the memorial at the Holocaust site Babin Yar (which was bombarded by Russian missiles), is throwing his charity rubles around to try to cover up the news that he found himself locked out of the company he founded in London last week. Disclamer: Ben Ferencz net worth displayed here are calculated based on a combination social factors. But only four were executed, including Otto Ohlendorf, a notorious SS commander. They [the Russian oligarchs and the businessmen who colluded with the Nazis] have a lot of common, said Ferencz. Luck!. I want complete control of the archives, which I got.. Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, found itself somewhat flat-footed by the news. Main telephone: 202.488.0400 His cheeks became more hollow. He said, "OK. Many people ask this question about the money Ben Ferencz makes from Facebook. At the very least, their names shouldnt be gracing the boards of our most respected institutions. While Yad Vashems initial press release lauded Abramovich as one of its esteemed circle of friends, who has given more than $500 million to Jewish causes worldwide, it didnt mention the term oligarch, nor the dual Russian-Israeli citizens close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, nor the questionable ways in which he acquired his great wealth (reported to be around $13 billion according to Bloomberg). I don't. A few months later, Transylvania was ceded to Romania under the Treaty of Trianon (1920), the result of World War I. Much like Germanys industrialists aided Hitlers atrocities, Russian billionaires money cannot be disentangled from Putins war crimes. We've now seen the result [of enabling Western institutions to be bought by Putins henchmen], with the bodies continuing to pile up in Ukraine following Russia's invasion, says Michel. I got a little bit indignant, Ferencz recalled. But, as Ferencz recalls,noone knew what thosewere at the time. Benjamin Ferencz and Barry Avrich at a screening of "Prosecuting Evil" in Los Angeles in 2019. Since childhood, Mr. Ferencz has felt a burning desire to press for global peace; this same desire continues to motivate him today. I know I'm right. He went on to play a crucial role in securing compensation for Holocaust survivors and in the creation of the International Criminal Court at The Hague. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Ferencz told us he is still haunted by the things he saw. In their hands lay overwhelming evidence of Nazi genocide by German doctors, lawyers, judges, generals, industrialists, and others who played leading roles in organizing or perpetrating Nazi brutalities, says his bio. Look what's happened to the same-sex marriages. Ferencz married his teenage sweetheart Gertrude, in New York in 1946, and they stayed married for more than 70 years, until Gertrudes death in 2019. 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. One of these-- my defendants said-- He gets up, and he says, "[GERMAN]," which is, "What? Taylor immediately appointed Ferencz to his team. 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. Ferencz was not interested in revenge or retribution, despite his family being Jewish. Gypsies, communist functionaries, and Soviet intellectuals suffered the same fate. Benjamin Ferencz, who turned 100 in March, remains a fundamentally optimistic person. After the war concluded, Ferencz received an honorable discharge as an Army Sergeant of Infantry. Benjamin Ferencz: Of course. I get that this is a hard time for cultural institutions like Yad Vashem, whose public funding has weathered two years of a global pandemic at a time of surging anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and far-right extremist violence. Link Copied! Ferencz had immigrated to the U.S. as a baby, the son of poor Jewish parents from a small town in Romania. We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous lawyer and pacifist. They think that they can get away with murder, but murder is murder, and they should be put on trial.. Lesley Stahl: He's a savage when he does the murder though. But he is still in good spirits, still has his sense of humor and, when not too tired, is still perfectly cogent and well-reasoning.. All Rights Reserved. 0. As for the oligarchs claims that they have nothing to do with Putin or his war in Ukraine, Ferencz adds: I dont buy it. Would love your thoughts, please comment. Without calling a single witness, he entered into evidence the defendants' own reports of what they'd done. September 21, 2021 Isnt it time to stop pretending theres anything benevolent about men whose fortunes are enabling one of the worst humanitarian disasters to hit Europe since World War II? Ferencz attendedHarvard Law School on a merit scholarship. US Holocaust Memorial Museum. They want power and wealth, and are willing to look the other way as innocent people including mothers and children are killed, and thousands are dying. That is until sanctions were mentioned, and they suddenly became peacemakers, as Abramovich claims he isthough one has to wonder how he can broker peace with Putin if he also has nothing to do with him. 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. The International Military Tribunal identification card of Benjamin Ferencz, the chief prosecutor of the Einsatzgruppen Trial. The appreciation for Ferencz has been going on for years . At Harvard, he studied under Roscoe Pound and also did research for Sheldon Glueck who, at that time, was writing a book on war crimes. I thought of Ferencz and Altmans words as President Joe Biden announced sanctions last week, and the world rallied to enforce them, isolating Putin and Russian businesses to the point where the ruble has lost its value. They included detailed reports on the Einsatzgruppen, special SS units that roamed Nazi-occupied Europe and killed more than 1 million people. Benjamin Ferencz: We're marching forward. Benjamin Ferencz: --recall if I'd ever been in a courtroom actually. The scenes he witnessed would haunt him for the rest of his life. Ben Ferencz. Now he tells Amanpour it pains him to once again see atrocities in Europe. I hope that Ive done some good during that lifetime.. 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The Holocaust Memorial Museum says on its website that Ferencz has published books on the top of world peace, listing the following publications: Defining International Aggression: The Search for World Peace (Oceana Publications, 1975), An International Criminal Court: A Step Toward World Peace (Oceana Publications, 1980), Enforcing International Law: A Way to World Peace (Oceana Publications, 1983), A Common Sense Guide to World Peace (Oceana Publications, 1985), PlanetHood by Ben Ferencz and Ken Keyes (Mass Market Paperback, 1988).. He quickly recognized the importance of the find. Three officers shot, standoff follows in Kansas City, Mo., police say, Vanessa Bryant, family settles claims over Kobe crash site photos for $28.5M, What the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive wants the world to know. But on his 100th birthday, an email landed in his inbox from a descendant of one of the men he had prosecuted. Nearly 75 years had passed since Ferencz secured convictions against 22 Nazi death squad commanders responsible for the murder of more than 1 million Jews and others. 2. But Telford said it wasnt possible. Lesley Stahl: Now, you've been at this for 50 years, if not more. Ben Ferencz receives the Legion of Honor Insignia at an awards ceremony to honor World War II veterans in New York in 2015. Benjamin Ferencz: Yes. Please enter valid email address to continue. Benjamin Ferencz: I was so young. Ferencz'sexperiences in postwar Germany were formative. But that didn't last long. 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. And I can't believe you're 97 years old. Its name, Organization Schmelt, sounds more like a type of herring than the SS Oberfuhrer and former Gestapo head from Wroclaw, Poland, after whom it was named. 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. Those businesses have blood on their hands, Altman said of the German industrialists that gave Hitler the raw materials he needed to kill millions. This March, Ben Ferencz turned 101 and he's still in there fighting. Death was their tool and life their toy. It also raises the question: should nonprofits be taking money from those linked to criminal enterprises, let alone lobby for them? War makes murderers out of otherwise decent people. Born on March 11, 1920 in United States, Ben Ferencz started his career as lawyer and pacifist . For him, it was about justice. Benjamin Ferencz: I don't think I'm an idealist. Lesley Stahl: Had you prosecuted trials before? CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. His earliest memories are of his small basement apartment in a Manhattan district appropriately referred to as Hells Kitchen. Even at an early age, he felt a deep yearning for universal friendship and worldpeace., He went to college at Harvard Law School, graduating in 1943, according to his bio. Over the years, Ferencz has received a boatload of awards and honors. Since the agreement was finalized, roughly $90 billion has been distributed to Holocaust survivors, according to the Claims Conference. 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. This dental device was sold to fix patients' jaws. 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.. Benjamin Ferencz: Well, don't say that. Thats where Ferencz came in.
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