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Tuesday, May 23, 2017

What the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive wants the world to know

At 97, Ben Ferencz is the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive and he has a far-reaching message for today’s world

It is not often you get the chance to meet a man who holds a place in history like Ben Ferencz. He's 97 years old, barely 5 feet tall, and he served as prosecutor of what's been called the biggest murder trial ever. The courtroom was Nuremberg; the crime, genocide; the defendants, a group of German SS officers accused of committing the largest number of Nazi killings outside the concentration camps -- more than a million men, women, and children shot down in their own towns and villages in cold blood.

Ferencz is the last Nuremberg prosecutor alive today. But he isn't content just to be part of 20th century history -- he believes he has something important to offer the world right now.
"If it's naive to want peace instead of war, let 'em make sure they say I'm naive. Because I want peace instead of war."

Lesley Stahl: You know, you-- have seen the ugliest side of humanity.

Benjamin Ferencz: Yes.

Lesley Stahl: You've really seen evil. And look at you. You're the sunniest man I've ever met. The most optimistic.

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1 comment:

  1. These are words to heed well, from one of the last remnants of this bit of history.

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