Nuremberg

On 8 May 1945, one day after Nazi Germany surrenders to the Allies, Reichsmarshall Hermann Göring, Hitler's former second-in-command, surrenders with his family to U.S. forces in Austria. At the same time, Associate Justice Robert Jackson is informed of Göring's arrest, which prompts a discussion with his secretary, Elsie Douglas, about establishing an international tribunal to charge the surviving Nazi leadership with war crimes. Douglas is conservative, noting that such potential action has no legally-established international precedent; however, Jackson is enthusiastic, envisioning the tribunal as an opportunity of establishing one. Initially, the U.S. is reluctant to support Jackson's plans in favor of summary executions, however, Jackson persists by winning the support of Pope Pius XII by implying his knowledge of the latter's controversial relationship with the Nazi regime.