That Justice Be Done
1946 film directed by George Stevens
That Justice Be Done was a one-reel American propaganda film directed by George Stevens and made in 1945 by the Office of War Information for the US Chief of Counsel at Nuremberg and the War Crimes Office of the Judge Advocate General's Corps.
Content
The film opens with a shot of the Jefferson Memorial and a voice over of Thomas Jefferson declaring his opposition to all forms of tyranny, then slowly fades to footage of Adolf Hitler making a speech soon dubbed into English "We have the right to do anything which benefits the German race, including complete expulsion of inferior peoples." The camera then moves to the crowds of people shouting "Sieg heil" and the soundtrack continues over pictures of war crimes.
The narrator describes how the various classes of war criminals, traitors, and people who committed specific acts are dealt with, then moves on to the major Nazi war criminals. The narrator states that we cannot torture or poison them like they did to their victims, but must uphold a higher standard of justice, exemplified by George Washington. The film states that 1945 must be the year of not only Germany's military defeat but also that of a trial and therefore a public exposure and repudiation of the ideas of Nazism itself.
Cast
William J. Donovan as Self(as Gen. William J. Donovan)
Hans Frank as Self - Minister of Justice(as Dr. Hans Frank)
Adolf Hitler as Self(archive footage)
Robert Jackson as Self(archive footage)
Vidkun Quisling as Self
Jack H. Taylor as Self(as Lt. Jack H. Taylor)
Harry S. Truman as Self(archive footage)
John M. Weir as Self(as Brig. Gen.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “That Justice Be Done” is 1946 film directed by George Stevens. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Justice, Done and film, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1946 film directed by George Stevens” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7711215. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1945.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “That Justice Be Done”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow That Justice Be Done primary sources, That Justice Be Done archive and Justice research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “That Justice Be Done”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “That Justice Be Done” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.