National Archives Gets Nuremberg Laws For Its Collection

In a ceremony last Wednesday, the National Archives received Germany's original 1935 Nuremberg Laws, signed by Adolph Hitler, for its extensive collection of World War II documents. The laws were Germany's blueprint for its anti-Semitic racial policies. A National Archives press release reports that the documents came from California's Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens which had received them from Gen. George S. Patton. At the transfer ceremony, Huntington's president recounted:

These documents should have been part of the National Archives, had Gen. Patton followed instructions from his commander-in-chief in Europe, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Eisenhower directed that all documents related to the persecution of the Jews should be sent to a common collection point in Germany that was preparing for the Nuremberg War Crime Trials. These materials eventually were deposited at the National Archives.

The Archives also released a video on the documents and their background,