Radio 4

June 1945 and, with the Nazis under arrest, the Allies must now decide what to do with them.

Washington wants a trial while, in London, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is happy with a summary court martial. But if you put them on trial, what is the charge?

Seen through the eyes of Diana, a Whitehall secretary, the tortured negotiations unfold, edging towards the creation of a totally new sort of trial. Churchill wants the top 50 put against a wall and shot; Stalin wants them to have a show trial and then be shot. But following the sudden death of Roosevelt, the new US President Truman insists on formal justice.

Whose trial procedure should they adopt? Russia and France don’t use cross-examination and America is insisting on a charge of Conspiracy, unknown in France. But procedure is nothing compared to the problem of the Four Indictments. They end up having to invent new words – Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide.

Cast:

The Hon. Diana Ravenscourt - KATE PHILLIPS

Robert H Jackson - JOSEPH MYDELL

Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe - FORBES MASSON

Samuel Rosenman CLIVE WOOD

Murray Bernays - JOSEPH ALESSI

Iona Nikitchenko - HENRY GOODMAN

General Clay - NATHAN WILEY

Henri Gros - JONATHAN CULLEN

Joseph Stalin - JASPER BRITTON

Winston Churchill - ANDREW WOODALL

Sound Designer - ADAM WOODHAMS

Studio Manager - MARK SMITH

Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC

Writer and Director - JONATHAN MYERSON

Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON

A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds