In the aftermath of WWII, the court system in Germany underwent a dramatic shift as the Allies launched an initiative to rid German and Austrian society of any remnants of national socialism. This process was called denazification.
On this edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with Judy Hamilton Crockett, whose father Clarence E. Hamilton was head of all civil courts and prisons in Nuremberg after WWII.
Hamilton graduated from the University of Iowa Law School in 1921, served in WWI, and then reenlisted at the age of 50 to serve in WWII. He was put in charge of the denazification of the German state of Bavaria and reestablishing the postwar court system there.
“He was a man who always thought about others rather than himself. He was always a very giving person; he was humble,” Crockett says.
For Crockett, sharing her father’s experiences is deeply important. She regularly speaks to junior high school children, state bar associations, and other organizations about her father’s legacy.
“The stories of the men who fought in the war must be told and told again because there are lessons about courage and sacrifice that no generation can ever afford to forget,” Crockett says. “Since he was a part of it, I think it’s my responsibility to let those generations know what some men did.”
Crockett will be sharing memories of her father at the University of Iowa on March 29th at 12:40pm in the Boyd Law Building.
