At 103 years old, Benjamin Ferencz was the last living prosecutor from the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal. He died on 7 April 2023.

He collected the evidence of Nazi genocide, in particular the crimes perpetrated by the special “action groups,” or Einsatzgruppen. Twenty-two defendants were charged with murdering over a million people. He was only twenty-seven years old. It was his first case.

Ferencz was a life-long advocate of the global rule of law and world government. He co-wrote the book Planethood with Ken Keyes, an inspiring book where he says: "Nuremberg taught me that creating a world of tolerance and compassion would be a long and arduous task. And I also learned that if we did not devote ourselves to developing effective world law, the same cruel mentality that made the Holocaust possible might one day destroy the entire human race”. Asked by David Gallup, President of World Service Authority (founded by Garry Davis in 1954), about his thoughts about the creation of a World Court of Human Rights, he replied: “Dear David, I appreciate your letter asking for my brief comments regarding the creation of a World Court of Human Rights. My views are similar to those you cite from my friend Judge Tom Buergenthal. As the last surviving Nuremberg war crimes Prosecutor, of course it would be desirable to have a  World Court of Human Rights. Most of my life I have campaigned for “Law Not War”. I am now in my 102^nd year and I have worked with many of those who sought a world government. The closest we have come to the desired goal has been to create the new International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Rome Statute that laid the foundation for the court not only punishes war crimes but also Crimes against Humanity. Certainly, this newborn babe has difficulties, but the main difficulty which a proposed world court would surely encounter is the fact that many States are not prepared to accept the jurisdiction of any foreign court. Those who dream of a world court should join me, and many others, in screaming against this attempt to subvert the rule of law”.

Bibliography

Defining International Aggression-The Search for World Peace, 1975
An International Criminal Court-A Step Toward World Peace, 1980
Enforcing International Law-A Way to World Peace, 1983
A Common Sense Guide to World Peace, 1988
Planethood, The Key to Your Survival and Prosperity, 1988
Less Than Slaves: Jewish Forced Labor and the Quest for Compensation, 1975, 2002