Description:

(TOKYO WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL) ASSOCIATE COUNSEL DAVID M. SUTTON'S CHINA ATROCITIES INVESTIGATION TRAVEL PAPERS, NOTES AND EPHEMERA
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), popularly known as the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, convened in April 1946 to try leaders of the Empire of Japan for their crimes against peace, conventional war crimes, and crimes against humanity, leading up to and during World War II. Presented here is a fine grouping of documents and ephemera related to American associate counsel for the prosecution DAVID NELSON SUTTON (1895-1974), who was responsible for gathering witness testimony related to Japanese war crimes in China. The items included here here specifically relate to Sutton's travels to China in March and April of 1946 to meet with witnesses and secure documents in order to provide evidence for the upcoming tribunal against 28 high-level Japanese defendants, in relation to their knowledge and culpability of atrocities committed against Chinese civilians. The grouping consists of: three passes issued by Chinese officials allowing Sutton to travel within the country and conduct his investigations, one with a typed English translation dating the pass to March 25, 1946 and reading, in part: ‘This is to certify that Mr. David Nelson Sutton, member of the International Prosecution Section of the International Military tribunal for the Far East… is at present in China, making inspection tours of Japanese war atrocities at various parts of China, questioning witnesses and collecting evidence and material, all for the purpose of prosecution against the major Japanese war criminals…'; Sutton's passport photo and two calling cards, each of the latter with Chinese translations on the Verso; the calling card of Justice Radhabinod Pal, the judge representing India for the IMTFE who would issue a dissenting opinion against the guilty verdict against the defendants; two copies, one partial and one complete, of a mimeographed memo from Sutton's fellow associate counsel Col. Thomas H. Morrow to Chief Prosecutor Joseph B. Keenan, describing the efforts of the investigative team, including Sutton, to locate witnesses and documents in China, including the discovery of crucial documents in sacks aboard Yangtze River junks and barges; numerous pages of Sutton's handwritten notes and memos to the prosecution team, listing witnesses to be interviewed, documents to be consulted, and specific Japanese defendants to be investigated, all dated within the window that Sutton was in China; a USAAF Air Transport Command baggage tag and other pieces of ephemera related to Sutton's flights out of Hickam Field on Hawaii; and additional mimeographed memos with official communications to or relating to Sutton, not fully reviewed by us. Worthy of further research. Altogether, the grouping represents a fantastic view of the on-the-ground efforts of the international prosecution team to gather evidence and pursue justice in one of the most important court cases of the 20th Century.

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November 13, 2025 10:00 AM EST
Elkton, MD, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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