![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Benjamin_Ferencz_-_Chief_Prosecutor_in_1947_Einsatzgruppen_Trial_-_In_Courtroom_600_Where_Nuremberg_Trials_Were_Held_-_Palace_of_Justice_-_Nuremberg-Nurnberg_-_Germany_-_02_%2528cropped%2529.jpg/640px-thumbnail.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Benjamin B. Ferencz
American lawyer and pacifist born in Romania (Great Romania Kingdom) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Benjamin Berell Ferencz (March 11, 1920 – April 7, 2023)[1][2][3] was a Romanian-born American lawyer of Hungarian-Jewish descent.[4] 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 twelve military trials held by the U.S. authorities at Nuremberg, Germany.
Ben Ferencz | |
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![]() Ferencz standing in the courtroom where the Nuremberg trials were held, 2012 | |
Born | Benjamin Berell Ferencz (1920-03-11)March 11, 1920 |
Died | April 7, 2023(2023-04-07) (aged 103) Boynton Beach, Florida, U.S. |
Nationality | American |
Education | City College of New York (BA) Harvard University (LLB) |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Known for | Prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials |
Spouse |
Gertrude Fried
(m. 1946; died 2019) |
Children | 4 |
Allegiance | ![]() |
Service/branch | United States Army |
Years of service | 1943–45 |
Rank | Colonel |
Battles/wars | World War II |
Later, he became an advocate of the establishment of an international rule of law and of an International Criminal Court. From 1985 to 1996, he was Adjunct Professor of International Law at Pace University.
Ferencz was interviewed by Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes about his role at the Nuremberg Trials. He was 99-years-old at the time of the television interview.[5]
On March 4, 2022, he gave an interview in which he stated that President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin deserves to be behind bars as a war criminal.[6]
Ferencz died at an assisted living facility in Boynton Beach, Florida, on April 7, 2023, at the age of 103.[7] He was the last surviving prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials.[8][7]