What methods were employed to extract confessions presented at a number of the war crimes trials of 1945 and later?
Torture, ranging from forcing the accused persons to eat feces to destroying their reproductive organs in a most painful manner. All sorts of psychological tricks and duress
were also employed. Some years before his untimely and enigmatic death U.S. Senator Jseph R. McCarthy (1908-1957) gave the following statement to the press with regard to
the war crimes trials: "I have heard evidence and read documentary proofs to the effect that the accused persons were beaten up, maltreated and physically tortured
by methods which could only be conceived by sick brains. They were subjected to mock trials and pretended executions, they were told their families would be
deprived of their ration cards. All these things were carried out with the approval of the Public Prosecutor in order to secure the psychological atmosphere necessary for
the extortion of the required confessions. If the United States lets such acts committed by a few people go unpunished, then the whole world can rightly criticize us severely and forever doubt the correctness of our motives and our moral
integrity."
