Following the cessation of hostilities , Cooper served as a legal advisor for the 300,000 displaced persons in his unit 's occupation zone seeking repatriation after being brought to Germany as slaves by the Nazis . Under the terms of the agreement reached at the Yalta Conference , all displaced Russian nationals were to be returned to the Soviet Union , but Soviet negotiators decided that the agreement did not apply to non-Russian spouses and children of the nationals . Cooper brought this to the attention of General Patton , who rescinded the repatriation order in the Third Army 's occupation zone . Cooper received a citation from the Third Army 's military government section for his action . Cooper also oversaw the reorganization of the 239 courts in the German state of Bavaria in an attempt to replace all the Nazi officials , for which he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal . Among the judges installed by Cooper were Wilhelm Hoegner , future Minister-President of Bavaria , and Ludwig Erhard , the future Chancellor of Germany
Yalta Conference
Yalta Conference
John Sherman Cooper