"Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today," commissioned by the U.S. government to document the landmark 1945-46 Nazi war-crimes trials, finally is reaching American theaters more than 60 years after its completion.

Directed by Stuart Schulberg, who served in the Office of Strategic Services film unit commanded by director John Ford, "Nuremberg" was finished in 1948 and released in Germany, where it "played an important role in the de-Nazification of Germany conducted by (its) military government," said Sandra Schulberg, a film producer who with Josh Waletzky restored her father's documentary. Schulberg will appear with the film today at the Crest Theatre.

A planned release in the United States never happened. Sandra Schulberg recently viewed a letter, turned up by Nuremberg scholar John Barrett, dated 1948 and signed by the then-secretary of war, giving insight as to why.

The letter, addressed to Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson, who had been chief U.S. prosecutor at Nuremberg, informed Jackson that because U.S. policy toward Germany had changed, showing the film to U.S. audiences would no longer have served a purpose.

"There were people at the State Department who were worried about the fact that in 1948 and '49, we were committed to rebuilding Germany," Schulberg said. "They were afraid that if you showed this to Americans, it would remind them of how much they really hated the Nazis and Germany."

The film also had been rejected by at least one studio head for its graphic depiction of Jewish and other concentration camp victims.

Though a significant portion of "Nuremberg: Its Lesson for Today" is devoted to the Holocaust, its scope is far broader. It offers a step-by-step account, from "Mein Kampf" onward, of Adolf Hitler and top Nazi officers' planning and execution of a war of aggression.

The film is "extremely helpful in understanding how one frames war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression," said David Scheffer, a Northwestern University School of Law professor and former ambassador at large for war-crimes issues under the Clinton administration. Scheffer spoke last week at a screening of the film in Chicago.

"It establishes so many of the important precedents in both law and practice in prosecuting war criminals that we use today. This film gives you an understanding of the origins of laws and procedures that are far more common today than they were in the 1940s."

The "Lesson for Today" subtitle was included with the 1948 film as an acknowledgment of the two years between the trials' conclusion and the film's completion. Yet the principles of Nuremberg still are being reinforced – and tested – today.

"I think what happened (recently) with Osama bin Laden does challenge somewhat what occurred at Nuremberg," said Scheffer, who as ambassador participated in the creation of international criminal tribunals for war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia.

"Prior to Nuremberg, there was … tremendous pressure to simply summarily execute the Nazi leadership. I think it was a credit to the United States and (then-) War Secretary (Henry) Stimson to push back against the hand of vengeance (in favor of) accountability through a fair trial – and educate the world in the process."

"The film 'Nuremberg' reminds us how significant it is to have (the accused) have the right to defend themselves, and then in most cases, be convicted," Scheffer said. "That option was available (with bin Laden), but the decision was made that he would be considered a 'belligerent combatant' and that he was a fair target for killing."

(The United States is not a member of the permanent International Criminal Court, and that court covers only crimes committed after it was established in 2002).

As "Nuremberg" shows, having war criminals speak for themselves establishes precedent and adds to the historical record. It also, for film viewers, can be fascinating to watch, with the "Nuremberg" defendants' calm demeanor standing in sharp contrast to the monstrous acts of which they are accused.

"What is extraordinary is to hear these defendants, trying to show how they are apologetic – or not apologetic," Schulberg said.

Stuart Schulberg was a "junior member" of the OSS unit that sought Nazi-shot film footage to use as evidence, his daughter said, but his brother, Budd, was a top man in the unit. Budd Schulberg, a "Nuremberg" producer and a screenwriter who would win an Oscar for "On the Waterfront," also had been in charge of bringing propaganda filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl in as a material witness.

"He told me he thought she should be arrested, but that was not the warrant he had," Sandra Schulberg said of her uncle, who died in 2009. "He said she kept protesting that she was just an artist."

Sandra Schulberg, a New York-based film producer ("Quills," "Undisputed"), had seen only bits and pieces of "Nuremberg" when, while sorting through her mother's things after her death, she found her late father's records of making and researching "Nuremberg."

"They revealed this really amazing – and, I realized, untold – story not only about the making of 'Nuremberg,' but the hunt for the Nazi films that were shown at the trial," Schulberg said.

The discovery sparked an idea to preserve the film, though she had some reservations.

"I was worried that if you brought the film back, it would remind people how horrible the Nazis were, and I didn't want people blaming present-day Germany," Schulberg said. "Germany has learned the lessons of Nuremberg better than any other country. They are leaders in the world today in finding ways to resolve conflicts by peaceful means."

Since no negative existed, the filmmakers worked from the best existing print, which was in German. Actor and prolific documentary narrator Liev Schreiber recorded his narration from the original script, and the soundtrack was reassembled using in-house audio from the trials.

The restoration makes available to the public a film that, in its absence, "left a big hole in the historical record," Schulberg said. "This is a unique document because it is the one and only film about the trial that tells the whole story of the trial."

NUREMBERG: ITS LESSON FOR TODAY

The film opens today at the Crest Theatre, 1013 K St., Sacramento. Producer Sandra Schulberg will introduce all of today's showings (12:30, 3:05, 5:45 and 8 p.m.)

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