War crimes prosecutor to speak on campus

A former member of the legal team that prosecuted Nazi criminals after World War II will deliver a guest lecture Thursday (Oct. 8) at the Law School.

Walter Rockler, now a prominent Washington, D.C., attorney, will speak in Law Professor Frank Tuerkheimer’s course on “The Holocaust: Facts, Trials, Verdicts and Post Verdicts.” Rockler will discuss his experiences and answer questions. The class is open to the public and will meet in Room 2260 of the Law School, 975 Bascom Mall, from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Rockler is a senior tax partner in the Washington, D.C., law firm of Arnold and Porter. From 1947 to 1949 he worked with the war crimes prosecution team at Nuremberg and led the trial team that prosecuted various banking, economic and industrial defendants.

Rockler continued to pursue justice in connection with the Holocaust after he returned to the United States from Germany. In 1979-80 he was the first director of the Office of Special Investigations in the Department of Justice. The office is responsible for identifying Nazi war criminals in the United States, with a view to denaturalizing and deporting them.

The Oliver S. Rundell Lecture Fund is supporting Rockler’s visit to UW–Madison. For more information on the lecture contact Tuerkheimer at 262-3093 or frankt@cs.wisc.edu.