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Whitney R. Harris, man of awards

By Sheila Frayne Rhoades

Whitney R. Harris sat at his desk in the impressive private library/office of his Frontenac home.

“My wife Anna created this room just for me. It used to be the garage,” Harris said.

The walls are lined with precious mementos, including some Oriental war masks.

War is something Harris knows all too well.

At age 95, Harris is one of two surviving prosecutors appointed to the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, Germany. Following World War II, Navy Lt. Harris was the youngest assistant prosecutor at the trial of major Nazi Germany leaders, who were charged with thousands of war crimes against humanity.

“I was in the Navy throughout the war and ended up in London working for British Intelligence, assigned to war crime investigations to gather and compile documents and evidence against the Nazi criminals,” Harris said.

Harris said that much to his amazement, there had been no organized plan by the Gestapo and other Third Reich security agencies to destroy such evidence.

“I thought that they would have destroyed all those incriminating documents, but fortunately, I found them,” Harris said.

Subsequently, Harris was invited to join the staff as one of the first lawyers to go to Nuremberg. There, Harris questioned Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s deputy minister.

“While in British custody, Hess ridiculously contended that he was suffering from amnesia,” Harris said. “It was not easy to get confessions.”

One of Harris’ key witnesses was Otto Ohlendorf, a chief in one of Germany’s Special Action groups.

“Ohlendorf coldly described how 90,000 men, women and children were killed in gas wagons in 1941,” Harris said. “It was chilling. Here was evil with a capital ‘E.’”

Harris later recorded his detailed recollections in “Tyranny on Trial: The Evidence at Nuremberg,” published in 1954.

Harris’ 50-year legal career included work in government, corporate and private practice as well as teaching. Born in Seattle, Wash., he graduated from the University of Washington in 1933, and in 1936, he passed the Bar exam in California. In 1945, after working in general practice, Harris went to work for the U.S. Supreme Court. He was invited to teach law at Southern Methodist University from 1946-48 and worked there as a lawyer for Southwestern Bell until 1965. He chaired the American Bar Association International Law Section (1953-54) and its Administrative Law Section (1960-61). Privately, Harris practiced law in St. Louis from 1965-89 and was appointed as a senior counselor for the Missouri Bar Association in 1987. In 1998, he was a delegate to the United Nations-sponsored Rome conference that resulted in the International Criminal Court.

The medals and awards that decorating Harris’ office tell of a meritorious and philanthropic life. They include the Legion of Merit, Order of Merit, Officer’s Cross (Germany), and Medal of the War Crimes Commission (Poland).

There are awards from the National Society of Fund Raising Executives, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Arthritis Society, Asthma and Allergy Society, National Jewish Hospital, and Washington University.

A sculpture of Harris by Chesterfield artist Don Wiegand was installed at Washington University.

Numerous places are named for Harris and his deceased wife, Jane Harris. They include a research library in Fulton, Mo.; a reading room at Washington University; a garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden; and a child care room at the Junior League of St. Louis.

The Whitney and Anna Harris Conservation Forum (University of Missouri-St. Louis) is named for Harris and his present wife, to whom he has been married for 12 years. In 2001, the Washington University Institute for Global Legal Studies was renamed as the Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute at Washington University. The University of Missouri-St. Louis is home to the Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center.

Harris still holds an avid interest in international law relating to war crimes against humanity and has been invited to speak on the subject all over the world. But after a lifetime of adventures, now there is time to relax.

“I‘m able to enjoy 12 grandchildren from our combined families,” Harris said. “They all live within five minutes from our home.”