The second in a four-part series presented by Peter Taylor in which radical stances about the Second World War are proposed and challenged. In tonight's programme, investigative journalist Tom Bower questions the role played by Britain in the prosecution of Nazi war criminals.
Exposing what he sees as the myth of Britain's commitment to the spirit of Nuremberg, Bower argues that far from being a stalwart of international justice, the British government was negligent in its pursuit of Nazi war criminals. He claims that after the war's end, hundreds of Nazi criminals were allowed to settle in Britain, which became a haven for those taking-flight after the defeat.
An army chaplain to the forces that liberated Belsen in 1945, historians, lawyers and one man who was incorrectly accused of being a Nazi war criminal support, oppose or debate Tom Bower's controversial standpoint. Would it be possible, or desirable, to hold war-crimes trials in Britain?
Producer Paul Elston ; Series producer Laurence Rees
(Subtitled)