Dorothea ("Dottie") Grater Minskoff (1910–1986) was a lawyer who participated in the Ministries Trial in Nuremberg, Germany.[1] She was born in Pennsylvania and attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School at a time when few women were in law school.[2]
Dorothea Grater Minskoff | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 20, 1910 Pennsylvania, US |
| Died | March 11, 1986 (aged 76) Brevard County, Florida, US |
| Alma mater | Penn Law |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Known for | Prosecutor at Nuremberg |
Personal life
editMinskoff attended law school in the 1930s at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She graduated from law school in 1934.[2] Minskoff met her husband, Emanuel E. Minskoff, in law school and both were in the graduating class of 1934.[3][4] They lived in New York for eight years before moving to Washington, D.C.[5] She had two sister-in-laws and no children.[5] Minskoff lost her husband in 1965 after a long battle with illness.[5]
By 1978, she had moved to Florida where she died in 1986.[6]
Early career
editMinskoff could not find a job as a lawyer after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Instead, she took a job as a secretary for the American Bankers Association.[7]
Law practice
editMinskoff and her husband were recruited to join the prosecution team for the Ministries Trial by their friend, Josiah E. DuBois Jr., who served as the Chief Prosecutor.[8] The Ministries Trial was the largest, longest, and last of the Nuremberg trials where the U.S. Military prosecuted Hitler's government officials for crimes against humanity.[9] She was one of thirty-four prosecution attorneys.[10] She helped prosecute twenty-one Nazi officials.[11] Her job included reviewing trial documents, including secret memos.[11] The trials presented difficult legal questions when there was no precedent for an international criminal trial.[12]
It was not common for women to practice law in the 1940s, let alone practice law on the international stage with a high profile trial. As a result, it was unusual that there were multiple women on the prosecution trial team.[13]
References
edit- ^ "Dorothea Minskoff photographs - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ a b "EMANUEL E. AND DOROTHEA G. MINSKOFF PAPERS, 1944-1985 1997.A.0254" (PDF). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives. Biographical note. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ Law Alumni Society of the University of Pennsylvania (Fall 1965). "Law Alumni Journal".
- ^ "Dorothea Minskoff photographs - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ a b c "Emanuel E. and Dorothea G. Minskoff papers - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. (Series 3, File 2, Document 7). Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Emanuel E. and Dorothea G. Minskoff papers - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. (Series 5, Document 1). Retrieved 1 December 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ "Dorothea Minskoff photographs - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "EMANUEL E. AND DOROTHEA G. MINSKOFF PAPERS, 1944-1985 1997.A.0254" (PDF). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ Sweeney, Bridget (31 March 2021). "3/8: International Women's Day: Women in the International Military Tribunal by Sara Harvel | Dodd Human Rights Impact". Archived from the original on 2021-04-17.
- ^ Taylor, Telford (15 August 1945). Final Report to the Secretary of the Army on Nuernberg War Crimes Trials Under Control Council Law, Vol. 10. Washington, D.C.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b "Emanuel E. and Dorothea G. Minskoff papers - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". collections.ushmm.org. (Series 3, File 2, Document 20). Retrieved 1 December 2021.
- ^ "Nuremberg Trials". history.com. A&E Networks. 7 June 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ "EMANUEL E. AND DOROTHEA G. MINSKOFF PAPERS, 1944-1985 1997.A.0254" (PDF). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives. Retrieved 1 December 2021.