Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)

But to be logical is not to be right.

We can't do anything that's out of order. There are no Nazis in Germany. Didn't you know that, Judge? The Eskimos invaded Germany and took over. That's how all those terrible things happened. It wasn't the fault of the Germans. It was the fault of those damn Eskimos.

— Would you tell us from your own experience... the position of the judge in Germany prior to the advent of Adolf Hitler.
— The position of the judge was one of complete independence.
— Now, would you describe the contrast, if any after the coming to power of National Socialism in 1933?
— Judges became subject to something outside of objective justice. They became subject to what was necessary for the protection of the country. <...> The first consideration of the judge... became the punishment of acts rather than objective consideration of the case.

— Those people... those millions of people... I never knew it would come to that. You must believe it.
— Herr Janning... it came to that the first time you sentenced a man to death... you knew to be innocent.

But this trial has shown... that under a national crisis... ordinary, even able and extraordinary men... can delude themselves into the commission of crimes... so vast and heinous that they beggar the imagination.

You know, there's one thing about Americans. We're not cut out to be occupiers. We're new at it. We're not very good at it.