"-there was of course a good deal of controversy surrounding the trial. Many did not approve of the trial being moved to The Hague, the loudest criticism coming from the political opponents of the Kennedy administration, who resented the idea of foreign powers getting "a say" in what was done with a terrorist who had struck on their soil. Similar criticsm came from members of the Israeli government, who claimed that Zemo's crime had struck their people the hardest, and thus his fate should be left up to them. Both these claims were harshly condemned both in their home nations, and across the world, with critics pointing out that his atrocities had affected far more than any one nation or people, and that the defendant should face charges for crimes against all of mankind. There were also some parties who criticized the seemingly rushed nature of the trial, taking place over little less than a month, with a seemingly foregone conclusion making it a farce.
Of course, with Heinrich Zemo's crimes already proven far beyond any sort of possible doubt, the question was never IF he would be found guilty, just a matter of when...
As for the Baron himself, there is surprisingly little to be said. Kept well out of the publics eye during his entire incarceration following that fateful day in Dallas, and the trial held behind closed doors in the hopes of preventing any sort of sensationalism to form around him, with only a scant few reporters and writers being allowed access, Zemo was an enegmatic, inscrutable figure, something made even more so thanks to the mask permanently affixed to his face since the second World War. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Baron Heinrich Zemo not only refused any sort of defence, he also coldly admitted to every single crime he had been accused of with a frankly unsettling level of clinical detachment. There was no appeal to the orders of his superiors, which there had been few of at any rate, as Zemo is recorded as being one of the personal favorites of Adolf Hitler himself. Neither was there the sort of slavering, rabid fury and theatrics like what was seen during the trial and execution of Julius Streicher. Rather, he seemed to hold himself to the standard that his work was all for the betterment of the Third Reich, rather than any sadistic indulgences for himself. That his victims were necessary sacrifices for the Fatherland.
It would also be a lie.
While none of us can truly say what the soul of Heinrich Zemo might have been like, if he believed what he tried to project to the world, it's simply a matter of record that his actions went far beyond even what his own countrymen considered acceptable, most notably his massacre of his hometown of Liepzig, using the citizens as a convenient testing ground for his inventions, an action that earned him the nickname The Most Hated Man in Europe, forcing him to hide his face from the world forever behind his iconic mask.
Zemo remains a mystery, even now. There are only scant few remaining records of his pre-war life, his life before the mask. His actions during the war is all too well known. And then, he vanished, believed dead in some nameless grave in Europe for 20 years, only to resurface to resume his reign of terror against the world. As someone who was there to observe the last days of Heinrich Zemo, 12th Baron of Liepzig, sometimes it seemed like there had never been a time before the mask at all.
All men may be capable of great evil, but in some cases... it almost feels like that's all they ever were."
- Excerpt from The Mask Of Evil: The Trial of Heinrich Zemo, by Hannah Arendt, Viking Press, 1964
...
International Court of Justice, The Peace Palace, Hague, The Netherlands, December 23d 1963
"All rise!!"
The words echoed across the court room, the normally crowded hall looking almost desolate now, with only a handful of judicial personnel and a few scattered reporters inhabiting it, the rest gathered outside the locked doors of the court, forced to be content with whatever second-hand accounts were given to them from the privileged few who had been allowed inside. At the back of the room, a line of men dressed in blue jumpsuits lined the wall next to the door and beneath the windows, the familiar SHIELD symbol on their chest. Two other men dressed the same stood flanking another man, this one dressed in grey prison overalls and a purple hood, with his arms secured behind his back in a pair of reinforced shackles around his lower arms, a metal bar between them.
Heinrich Zemo glared coldly at the elevated platform in front of him, at the five men who thought that they, the wretched scum of the Earth, were fit to pass judgement on him.
The vermin had gone all-out, he had to admit. The prosecutors had been invited from across the world, from any nation that had bawled loud enough over being victims of his so-called crimes. The judges had even included one of the Slavic Untermensch from the Sovet pig sty, the Americans apparently willing to put aside their ridiculous power struggles with the bolshevics just to gain a bit of prestige inviting their sworn enemies to take part in this farce. The accusing judge had been a Jew of course, that part had been pathetically predictable, the scum drooling at the thought of getting their pound of flesh from their better.
There had been no defender. Zemo had rejected it outright, some charlatan named Servatius from the picked-over remains of his Fatherland. It no longer meant anything to him. The only people still there were either traitors or cowards, and Zemo wanted nothing to do with any of them. Regardless, he needed no defence, because he had done no wrong, not that he expected any of the human refuse in this hall to give him a fair judgement regardless. Like any of them could even grasp the grand work he had done.
Atop the platform, Benjamin Halevy, a tall, almost gaunt, elderly man with white hair, rose from his seat, adressing the court. "Heinrich Zemo, throughout this trial, you have shown nothing but a sickening contempt not just for this tribunal, but for the crimes you were accused of, your victims, and the very law itself! You've refused any sort of legal defence, and you refused to answer to any of the accusations against you. Before this court passes judgement upon you, do you have anything, ANYTHING AT ALL, to say in your own defence?!"
Zemo shot the man a contemptuous look "This court? This isn't a court, this is a verdammte show for the apes outside, and you know it! I do not recognize this court, I do not recognize the corrupt governemnts that empower you, and I do not recognize your authority in any sense of the word! None of you are fit to judge me, NONE OF YOU!! I am ZEMO, I am of the Ubermensch, and you wretched filth are not worthy to even look upon me, much less believe yourselves right to pass judgement upon me! I will-NGH!!" He was cut off as one of the SHIELD agents by his side shoved the butt of his rifle into the side of his ribs, the pain shooting through his side.
Halevy leaned forward, pointing at the agent "NO! Agent, you will not lay a hand upon the prisoner! He is here under the rule of law, no matter how little he may think of it, and he is afforded the same protection as any other would. Do that again, and I'll have you removed, is that clear?"
The agent frowned sourly, but muttered an apology to the judge. Halevy nodded, before turning back towards the defendant. "I'd apologize on behalf of the court, Baron Zemo, but somehow I doubt it would matter to you."
Zemo gave a dark chuckle as the pain ebbed away "Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. You can pretend all you want, Juden, but a pig in a judges robe will still never be anything other than a pig."
"If that's all you have to say, then I believe there is no more point in trying to appeal to whatever humanity you may possess." Halevy turned away from Zemo, instead straightening up to adress the entire court. "You have all heard the witness testimonies. I know cede the floor to my German colleague..."
As Halevy sat back down, a younger man with greying hair wearing a military uniform rose up from his seat at the end of the platform. "On behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany, I, Otto Kranzbuhler, hold Heinrich Zemo responsible for civilian deaths numbering in the thousands, the intentional destruction of German infrastructure, medical experiments performed on unwilling subjects, and smaller transgressions too numerous to mention. Heinrich Zemo is hereby declared a traitor to the Republic, and is formally stripped of his baronage and nobility titles, which will be rescinded to the government! The Republic cedes further sentencing to this tribunal, and give the floor to my American colleague..."
A short, balding man with a mustache spoke next "On behalf of the United States of America, I, Judge Francis Biddle, hold Heinrich Zemo responsible for the attempted assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the President of the United States and Lyndon Johnson, Vice-President of the United States, the murder of Governor John Connally, as well as 23 other American citizens, the injuring of 132 others, and the destruction of American property. The United States cedes judgement to this tribunal, but requests that the punishment fit the severity of the crimes. Thank you..."
Halevy rose, meeting Zemo's cold gaze from across the chamber "Heinrich Zemo, this tribunal finds you guilty of crimes against humanity, and hereby declare you an Enemy of All Mankind. For your monstrous deeds, we hereby sentence you to death, to be carried out through hanging. Your remains shall be burned, and your ashes consigned to the winds, so that there will be no gravesite to carry your memory..." Halevy slammed his gavel down on the bench, concluding the sentence. He gave the doomed man one last withering glare.
"May your actions haunt you forever..."472