This day – November 20, 1945 – The Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals

19.11.2022

On November 20, 1945, the sessions of the International Military Tribunal began in the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg against 24 high-ranking officials of Nazi Germany, accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes. 403 court hearings, 116 witnesses, more than 5,000 documentary evidence – the Nuremberg trial was almost the first event of such importance in history. It is defined new types of international crimes, which were then firmly incorporated into international law and the national legislation of many states.

 

Ideas regarding the trial of the main war criminals were expressed even before the victory over Nazi Germany. However, the agreement between the governments of the four countries that won World War II (Great Britain, the USSR, the USA and France) on prosecution and punishment was signed only on August 8, 1945, following the results of the London Conference. According to the same agreement, the International Military Tribunal was created, which was empowered to try and punish persons who committed or prepared war crimes, crimes against peace and humanity. At the London conference, the main war criminals were also identified: the list included 24 Nazi politicians, soldiers and ideologues of fascism. The list did not include Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels, who committed suicide at the time.

The Nuremberg trial lasted 10 months and was presided over by British judge Geoffrey Lawrence. During this time, more than 5,000 documentary evidences were examined, which gave grounds to sentence twenty-two main Nazi war criminals on October 1, 1946. Even before the start of the trial, the head of the Labor Front, Robert Lay, committed suicide, and the head of the Friedrich Krupp concern, Gustav Krupp, was declared terminally ill, in connection with which his case was suspended, and then terminated with the death of the defendant.

According to the verdict of the tribunal, 12 main war criminals: Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Julius Streicher, Alfred Jodl, Fritz Sauckel, Arthur Zeiss-Inquart, Martin Bormann (in absentia) were sentenced to death by hanging. On October 16, 1946, the sentence was carried out in the Nuremberg prison, the bodies of the hanged were burned, and the ashes were scattered. Some of the criminals were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

The Nuremberg trial became the precedent when for the first-time officials responsible for planning, preparing and launching aggressive wars were brought to criminal responsibility, and military aggression was recognized as a crime against peace. The International Tribunal at Nuremberg contributed to the creation of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Declaration of Human Rights, and eventually became the model for the creation of the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Today, in the 21st century, we are once again experiencing war, destruction and crimes against humanity caused by russia's military aggression against Ukraine. But we are sure that the same fate awaits racist criminals as their Nazi predecessors, and the main court of the 21st century. will happen soon.

Maryna Strilchuk

We bring to your attention a video lesson by Maryna Strilchuk, researcher of the Museum, dedicated to the Nuremberg Trials.