The story
An allusion to a defense used by former Nazi officials prosecuted during the Nuremberg trials after World War II. The trials were held in Nuremberg in Bavaria, Germany.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Nuremberg defense
Nu·rem·berg de·fenseToday it means: An explanation offered as an excuse for behaving in a criminal or wrongful manner, claiming that one acted in this way because one was ordered by others (particularly superiors) to do so. Full definition →