From the foreword : This book examines three sets of trials relating to war crimes committed at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in Germany , Auschwitz extermination camp in Poland and elsewhere, conducted by British military tribunals between 1945 and 1 948, in the British Zone of Occupation and in the Bizone in Germany. It will consider how the British came to be prosecuting Germans and other foreign nationals in Germany for committing war crimes in Germany (and Poland) against people who were almost exclusively foreign nationals. After a survey of the relevant background literature and sources, the formation of British war crimes policy will be reviewed to reveal that the British lacked enthusiasm for war crimes trials and procrastinated over the issue as long as possible. There will be an examination of the legal framework that was improvised to allow war crimes trials to take place, the relevant provisions of international law and the defence of superior orders. A brief look at the camp system and the two main camps which featured in the trials, Belsen and Auschwitz, will set the scene for a study of the trials. These trials will be investigated to establish their subject matter, their outcomes and how various parties reacted to them. Changes in procedure to meet criticisms of the process will also be examined and there will be a discussion of sentencing issues. Two other relevant cases will be visited briefly, for comparison purposes. The attitude of the German public to the conviction and sentencing of war criminals will be viewed through three case studies. The end of the trial programme will be examined to show how these attitudes contributed to the British abandoning their war crimes policy when it became politically expedient to do so. The conclusion will be that, although the aims of the trials generally were not achieved, any perceived success was soon to be eroded by the change in British and Allied policy towards Germany.