Greg Peterson, President of the Robert H. Jackson Center, announced today that Father Moritz Fuchs of Fulton, NY would be returning to the Jackson Center to participate in the upcoming visit by Chief Justice William Rehnquist on May 16th. Father Fuchs will give the benediction at the end of the dedication ceremony scheduled for the front porch of the Jackson Center at 11 a.m. that day.
“We are thrilled,” Mr. Peterson said, “that Father Fuchs will be with us to participate in the day’s ceremonies. Here is a man who knew Robert Jackson better than anyone during the Nuremberg War Trials. As an enlisted man in the U.S. Army, he was assigned to act as a body guard Jackson and he accompanied him everywhere on a daily basis. The stories and anecdotes he related when he spoke at the Jackson Center in March 2002 are irreplaceable and have become an important part of the Jackson Center archives.”
During his last visit to the Jackson Center Father Fuchs also related that his experiences as a soldier in World War II and what he saw at Nuremberg were instrumental in his decision to go to seminary and join the priesthood. He also visited Justice Jackson in Washington after he returned to the United States and been discharged from the Army. In speaking of Jackson, Father Fuchs said: “He knew himself to be human, but with his background of faith and learning, he is one who deserves high honor as a statesman who did his part well and is worthy of admiration and pride of our nation.”
The entire content of Father Fuchs’ speech at
the Jackson Center and the highlights of his experiences with Justice Jackson
are available on the Center’s website.