I recently crossed the Continental Divide of Europe, all of 1,340’ while on the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal connecting the Main, a tributary of the Rhine, to the Danube, enabling a European commercial waterway connecting the Black Sea to the North Sea. Completed in 1992, the Canal is 106 miles long, with a long history of earlier unsuccessful attempts. There are 16 locks on the Canal itself, the 2 deepest are 82’of elevation gain. One of which is just before the European Continental Divide. The Panama Canal, which I transited with my husband in our sailboat near the beginning of our circumnavigation, gains 85’, but in 3 locks, not 1! Ironically, I live at 8,200’ on the eastern slope of the North American Continental Divide, which reaches 11,774’ closest to me.
Entering the deep lock close to the European Continental Divide
From a physical geographic perspective, this would be a fascinating rabbit hole to dive down. Nevertheless, I’m more interested in the lessons from Nuremberg, where I entered Courtroom 600, the home of the famous Nuremburg trials, November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946, after the successful defeat of the Nazis and fascism in Europe. Unfortunately, the courtroom was not restored to its original configuration, which would have been even more powerful. The crimes themselves and the legal and judicial process were recorded in a meticulous manner. After that, how anyone could deny the Holocaust is beyond belief. It was never just about Jews, but included Romani people (derogatorily referred to as Gypsies), mentally and physically handicapped people, and what has become known as the LGBTQ+ community, an attempt to make the German world white, Christian, and male-dominated, similar to what is happening today in the United States. We act as if history has no meaning, no lessons to be learned.
I could feel the aura of justice and how the intense legal, rule of law, well-documented crimes were tried and judged by a court of justices representing France, Russia, the UK, and the US. The US is shown to want a full legal process according to records, while Russia was most interested in getting the fascist Nazis executed as quickly as possible, as they found that ideology to be a direct threat to communism. It was, of course, a threat to humanity, but ignoring the rule of law was an even greater threat!
What I found most important is the progress made at creating an international (as far as possible at the time) judicial system and identification and definition of crimes against humanity. This was a major step toward an attempt at world peace. An advance the Trump Administration is currently trying to derail, not surprisingly since their crimes against humanity are numerous, not to mention those of the leaders of Turkey, Israel, Russia, and others, who are also guilty.
The crimes of the Trump administration are so numerous, that any attempt to even list them all is a futile exercise as new ones are added daily. Corruption, the obliteration of much of the U.S. Constitution, the dismantling of the 3 separate foundations of our government’s functions and checks and balances (Executive, Legislative, Judicial), the shattering of international responsibilities and agreements, the chaos brought to normal governance, the destruction of a functioning economic system so that now it only benefits the already wealthy, the demolition of reasonable public education and healthcare systems, the shunned consideration of climate change and the danger inherent in what science has been telling us for decades. I’m going to stop there even though it’s not the end. Please add your own concerns and observations.
This administration’s crimes against humanity are of special concern and require a well-researched and documented brief. There are many, running the gamut from his threats to annihilate a specific people, e.g., the Iranians, to “enforced disappearance by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) against both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals.” Foreign Policy, 10/8/2026.
The immediate solution is that we must vote Democratic or for other candidates you know to stand up to the illegal powers of the Trump Administration. After the election there will be more work to do!
Courtroom 600 as it was in November 1945. The door (not the ornate one to the far laft, but a smaller wooden door just behind the prisoners’ seats more visible in the courtroom photo below from today) by which prisoners were led in is on the left where a tunnel led from the prison next to the courthouse. The judges sat on the right. Each witness spoke from the center on the raised platform. There were numerous translators, documentalists, and journalists. Everything spoken officially in the courtroom was immediately translated into English, French, and Russian.
Courtroom 600 as I saw it in October 2026. The prisoners’ door is visible under the wall clock.
Without the rule of law, we become inhumane monsters.