Gavel used to close postwar Nordhausen war crimes trial
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 11.000 inches (27.94 cm) | Width: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm)
Creator(s)
- David H. Thomas (Subject)
Archival History
The gavel was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014 by David H. Thomas II, the son of David H. Thomas.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of the Estate of Col. David H. Thomas
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Gavel used by Lieutenant Colonel David H. Thomas to close the Dachau and Nordhausen war crimes trials in 1947. Col. Thomas was one of seven officers designated by the Headquarters of the European Command to constitute the court for the Kurt Andrae case. He was also a lawyer for the Judge Advocate General during the Dora war crimes trials.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Varnished and stained, turned, lightweight, brown wooden gavel with a cylindrical handle with a knob end, with a short extension, then a recessed band that extends into a smooth handle that tapers, expands, then tapers to attach to the barrel shaped head. The head has a series of ridges and grooves and slightly rounded ends.
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
- War crime trials--Germany--Dachau--Biography.
- Judge advocates--United States--Biography.
- Nordhausen Trial, Dachau, Germany, 1947.
- Lawyers--United States--Biography.
- War crime trials
- War crime trials--United States--Biography.
Genre
- Object
- Tools and Equipment