1959 April 16

“Just Don’t Mention Gas Chambers;” CBS Censors TV Program on Nuremberg Trials

In a grotesque example of television censorship, the CBS television drama series Playhouse 90 broadcast Judgment at Nuremberg on this day, based on the 1945–46 trials of German Nazi leaders for war crimes. The broadcast, however, did not include any references to gas chambers in the Holocaust. The omission was in deference to the sponsor of the program, The American Gas Company. The broadcast became the basis for the widely acclaimed 1961 film, Judgment at Nuremberg.

Learn more about the Nuremberg trials: Joseph Persico: Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial (1994) Learn about the film at IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055031/ Watch the verdict scene in Judgment at Nuremberg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3BwK51YFgQ Watch a documentary on the Nuremberg trials: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-A0JJjN5OE

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