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| NUREMBERG TRIALS
The Nuremberg Trials were held in Nuremberg, Germany, from 1945 through 1949 at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice. The first of these trials was the trial of Major War Criminals, which tried 24 of the most important captured leaders of Nazi Germany. It was held from Nov. 20, 1945 to Oct. 1, 1946. The second set of trials of lesser war criminals was conducted under Control Council Law No.10 at the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunals, including the famous Doctor's Trial, and the Einsatzgruppen Trials against the death squads
Participants Each of the four countries provided one judge and one alternate; and the prosecutors. The judges were:
The chief Prosecuters:
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The Main Trial
The International Military Tribunal was opened on October 18, 1945, in the Supreme Court Building in Berlin. The first session was presided over by the Soviet judge, Nikitchenko. The prosecution entered indictments against 24 major war criminals and 6 criminal organizations - the leadership of the Nazi party, the SS and SD, the Gestapo, the SA and the High Command of the German army (OKW). The indictments were for:
Defendants
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Martin Bormann Sentenced to DEATH Guilty of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. Successor to Hess as Nazi Party Secretary. Sentenced to death in absentia. His remains were found in 1972. |
Karl Donitz Sentenced to 10 Years Guilty of Waging War and War Crimes Leader of the Kreigsmarine from 1943, succeeded Raeder. Initiator of the U-boat campaign, became President of Germany following Hitler's death. |
Hermann Goering Sentenced to DEATH Guilty of Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Commander of the Luftwaffe, and several departments of the SS. Committed suicide the night before he was to be executed. |
Rudolf Hess Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Guilty of Conspiracy and Aggression Hitler's Deputy |
Alfred Jodl Sentenced to Death Guilty of Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Wehrmacht Generaloberst, Keitel's subordinate. On Feb. 28, 1953 Jodl was posthumously exonerated by a German denazification court, which found him not guilty of crimes against international law. |
Wilhelm Keitel Sentenced to Death Guilty of Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Head of the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW) |
Joachim von Ribbentrop Sentenced to Death Guilty of Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Nazi Minister of Foreign Affairs |
Erich Raeder Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Guilty of Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes Leader of the Kriegsmarine until his retirement in 1943, Succeeded by Doenitz. Released due to ill health Sept. 26, 1955 |
Ernst Kaltenbrunner Sentenced to Death Guilty of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Highest surviving SS-Leader. Chief of the RSHA, (the central Nazi intelligence organization.) He also commanded many of the Einsatzgruppen (Special Action Squads-mission was to seek out and kill Jews) and several concentration camps. |
Fritz Sauckle Sentenced to Death Guilty of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Plenipotentiary (meaning: having full powers) of Nazi slave labor program |
Arthur Seyss-Inquart Sentenced to Death Guilty of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Instrumental in the Anschluss in 1939. Later, Gauleiter (meaning: leader of regional branch of Nazi party) of occupied Holland. |
Julius Streicher Sentenced to Death Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity Incited hatred and murder against the Jews in his weekly newspaper, Der Sturmer. |
Hans Frank Sentenced to Death Guilty of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Ruler of the General Government in occupied Poland. Expressed repentance. |
Wilhelm Frick Sentenced to Death Guilty of Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Hitler's Minister of the Interior. Authored the Nuremberg race laws. (Race Laws: refers to the policies and laws implemented by the Nazi's. Asserting the superiority of the Aryan Race, and including measures aimed primarily at Jews) |
Alfred Rosenberg Sentenced to Death Guilty of Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Racial theory ideologist (believing the Aryan race was the "master race"). Later, Protector of the Eastern Occupied Territories. |
Walther Funk Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Guilty of Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Hitler's Minister of Economics. Succeeded Schacht as head of Reichsbank. Released due to ill health on May 16, 1957. |
Baldur von Schriach Sentenced to 20 Years Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity Head of Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth party, paramilitary organization), later Gualteiter (Local Nazi party leader) of Vienna. Expressed repentance. |
Albert Speer Sentenced to 20 Years Guilty of War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Hitler's favorite architect and personal friend. Responsible for several aspects of industry, especially as Minister of Armaments, and a central figure in leadership. Expressed repentance. |
Konstantin von Neurath Sentenced to 15 Years Guilty of Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Minister of foreign Affairs until 1938, succeeded by Ribbentrop. Later, Protector of Bohemia and Moravia. Resigned in 1943 due to a dispute with Hitler. Released Nov. 6, 1954 due to ill health. |
Franz von Papen Aquitted Indicted of Conspiracy and Agression but not found guilty of the charges Chancellor of Germany until 1932, Vice-Chancellor under Hitler from 1933. Later, Ambassador to Turkey. Although aquitted at Nuremberg, von Papen was reclassified as a war criminal in 1947 by a German denazification court, and sentenced to 8 years hard labor. He appealed and was aquitted after serving 2 years. |
Robert Ley Indicted for Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Head of the DAF, German Labor Front. Commited suicide on Oct. 25, 1945, before the trial began. |
Hans Fritzsche Aquitted Indicted for Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes Popular radio commentator, and the head of the news division of the Nazi Propoganda Ministry. He was tried in place of Goebbels - who killed himself and his whole family. |
Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Indicted for Conspiracy, Waging War, War Crimes, Crimes Against Humanity Major Nazi industrialist. His factories used forced labor from concentration camps. he was found to be medically unfit for trial. |
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Conclusion of Main Trial
Throughout the trials, specifically between January and July of 1946, the defendants and a number of witnesses were interviewed by American psychiatrist Leon Goldensohn. His notes detailing the demeanor and personality of the defendants survive. The death sentences were carried out by hanging. The French judges suggested the use of a firing squad for the military condemned, as is standard for military court-martial, but this was apposed by Biddle and the Soviet judges. They argued that the military officers had violated their military ethos and were not worthy of a firing squad, which was considered to be more dignified. The incarcerated prisoners were held at Spandau Prison. Streicher (newspaper owner, known for his hatred for the Jews) is reported to have yelled "Heil Hitler" on the gallows. The Nuremberg Principles were a set of guidelines for determining what constitutes a war crime. The medical experiments conducted by the German doctors led to the creation of the Nuremberg Code - a set of principles for human experimentation - to control future trials involving human experimentation.
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September 2, 1945