He jailed Nazis as act of law, not war
Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz
(out of 4) Documentary on Ben Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals. Directed by Barry Avrich. Opens Friday at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. 83 min. 14A “Law, not war” is Ben Ferencz’s mantra, and there’s no person alive who can advance this argument more persuasively than this 99-year-old lawyer.
The U.S. lawyer and activist is, without doubt, the world’s most dedicated seeker of justice. He’s spent the past 72 years (and counting) doggedly pursuing truth on behalf of the planet.
The remarkable subject of Barry Avrich’s new documentary Prosecuting Evil is the last surviving prosecutor from the post-World War II Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals.
The lesson Ferencz learned from that experience, at the age of 27, is that genocide ensues when war trumps justice.
He’s spent the years after Nuremberg helping to create the UN’s International Court of Justice in The Hague, a mechanism he deems all the more essential today, as the spectres of global conflict and revived Nazism loom large once again.
His energy never seems to flag, in a film that pays full tribute to him — while also sounding the alarm that his work is more urgent than ever.