An audience of about 50 people enjoyed a smorgasbord of traditional Indian foods last night, as author and filmmaker Joshua Greene recounted tales of the post-Holocaust Dachau trials.

Greene's presentation, which was sponsored by Penn State's Vedic Society, focused on the experiences of William Denson, who was a lawyer at the trials.

Greene composed several pictures, statistics and other facts of the Dachau and Nuremberg trials in an hour-long Power Point presentation, which was followed by a question and answer session.

Greene, who wrote a full-length novel on the trials, titled Justice at Dachau: The Trials of an American Prosecutor, began the presentation by explaining the importance of Dachau and why he decided to research and write about the event.

"The Dachau trials established precedence for the trials used today against terrorists and other wartime incidents," Greene said.

"I tackled the subject because very few people have heard how the perpetrators were brought to justice," he added.

Greene spent a great deal of the lecture talking about Denson's personal life and his experiences as a lawyer during the trials, as well as the things he learned from encountering such an important part of history.

"History is about the people who make it," Greene said. "Along with the facts and figures, I like to give you information about who helped create this history."

Greene spoke about how Denson convicted anyone who was involved with the Holocaust, not just the people who directly killed the victims.

"At the Dachau trials, 1,416 people were convicted, that is 100 percent of the people who were tried," Greene said. "Everyone was accused -- medical officers, guards, office clerks and administrators, not just the direct murderers."

The Vedic Society, with the help from The University Park Allocation Committee, sponsors four speakers every semester.

Vidyadhar Karmarkar, club spokesman, said he was happy to have Greene come back to Penn State to speak.

"In 2002, he was very exciting and interesting," Karmarkar said. "Greene was amazing this time as well."

Students, professors and community members who attended said they were pleased with Greene's presentation.

"I was asked to come, and I am pleased that I decided to. I have come to the Vedic Society lectures before; they are very well done," said Veronique Foti, professor of philosophy.

Greene ended his speech by praising Denson's work at the Dachau trials.

"He didn't do good to get his name on a library door; he did good because it needed to be done," Greene said.