In July 1945, legal representatives from allies met in London to create a charter for an International Military Tribunal which would prosecute major German political and military figures for war crimes, such as Holocaust-related offenses.
The Tribunal successfully charged and convicted twelve defendants; these individuals were executed on October 16, 1946 (Goering committed suicide prior to being hanged; Martin Bormann died under unknown circumstances). These trials represented a milestone in international law development.
The Nuremberg Trials
The Allies had high hopes that these trials would demonstrate that Germany could not wage war without punishment, and make clear to Nazi leaders that claiming to be acting for their nation did not offer them immunity from prosecution. They hoped it was also a significant step toward creating an international criminal court which could prosecute war-time violations of international law committed by individuals.
This tribunal, known as the International Military Tribunal (IMT), was a first of its kind. Led by Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence from Great Britain as its presiding judge and consisting of judges from four Allied countries seated alongside him on its bench, its purpose was to prosecute 24 major German political and military figures such as Hermann Goring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel Alfred Rosenberg Hans Frank Karl Doenitz Ernst Kaltenbrunner Julius Streicher Baldur von Schirach Fritz Sauckel and Arthur Seyss-Inquart.
Hitler himself was not charged; rather, IMT prosecutors focused on seven major Nazi organizations and indicted them as "criminal organizations", hoping to have them declared so by court orders.
Court found those found guilty guilty were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10-20 years, while twelve received death sentences; all except Hermann Goring were put to death shortly before or just prior to execution, while Martin Bormann remains missing today.
One of the most contentious aspects of the Nuremberg Trials was their prosecution strategy. Unlike its continental European counterparts, the United States did not generally support a legal concept of conspiracy; as a result it proved difficult to prove that individual defendants were part of a larger Nazi plot to commit crimes and atrocities.
United States prosecutors' primary goal was to demonstrate that Nazi antisemitic policy was not simply the product of individual decisions made by Nazi officials. To achieve this end, hundreds of documents and over 30 witnesses including Yiddish poet Abraham Sutzkever, SS officer Dieter Wisliceny and Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoess provided testimony.
Although their trials were contentious, they nonetheless provided an important step toward holding perpetrators of war crimes accountable. The IMT served as a precursor for several tribunals and courts such as the International Criminal Court established by the UN in 1948.
The Trial of Major War Criminals
From November 20, 1945 through October 1, 1946, 24 top Nazi leaders--such as Hermann Goering, Rudolph Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg and Albert Speer--were brought before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg for trial. While it would have been impossible for this international tribunal to prosecute every individual responsible for participating in Nazi genocide, its purpose was to target individuals most responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Jackson relied heavily on documentary evidence to build his case, including reports and documents collected by Allied armies from German Army headquarters, government buildings, salt mines, and other locations where the defendants hoped they were safe from discovery. Prosecutors also relied heavily on personal and political writings from those accused, which they considered more trustworthy than interrogations or testimony by witnesses. The prosecution focused on individual responsibility, noting that heads of state or government could be held liable for war crimes committed under orders from superiors; no defense would be permitted in such an instance. Furthermore, six Nazi organizations were asked to be declared illegal to allow future trials of their members.
The accused were charged with Crimes Against Peace (planning, preparation, initiation and waging wars of aggression) as well as War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity; Genocide was not specifically addressed but included within this broader category to reflect its enormity and scope of Nazi atrocities.
Goering and Hess were found not guilty, while 12 others were sentenced to death. Of those 12 people sentenced, 10 -- Goering, Hess, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner Rosenberg Frank Julius Streicher Frick Sauckel--were hanged on October 16, 1946 while Martin Bormann had already taken an antidote by taking a cyanide pill shortly before their execution date.
The Nuremberg Tribunal was an essential step forward in combatting atrocity. It established precedent that heads of state and other leaders could be held liable for war crimes, showed prisoners' inviolability, and codified "the law applies equally" as an accepted legal principle - all now part of international law and widely referred to as Nuremberg Principles.
The Trial of the Major War Criminals
Nuremberg trials differed significantly from earlier international war crimes trials by their narrow focus on crimes committed by major Nazi perpetrators. The main task for the prosecution was proving their involvement in an overall plan or conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, war crimes and human rights abuses; an American team of lawyers were given this task of developing evidence demonstrating this plan; this proved challenging due to arguments made by prosecution that crimes weren't isolated acts but part of larger Nazi efforts founded upon German supremacy and racial purity.
On November 20, 1945, the Nuremberg Military Tribunal officially opened for business at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg with its inaugural Trial of Major War Criminals lasting until October 1, 1946. 24 defendants were indicted including Herman Goering, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Admiral Karl Donitz, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, General Alfred Jodl, Albert Speer Ernst Kaltenbrunner and Julius Streicher - though Joseph Goebbels and Heinrich Himmler committed suicide prior to trial starting. Defenders could choose their own attorneys or be assigned counsel by the tribunal who would provide translation and stenographic services during trial proceedings. Additionally legal representation as well as translator and stenographic services from within.
Proving conspiracy was one of the more challenging aspects of wartime law enforcement, an idea not well understood in continental European legal system. United States prosecutor Robert H. Jackson worked tirelessly to clarify conspiracy crimes as part of Nazi policymaking processes - his efforts made a substantial contribution towards modern understandings of crimes of conspiracy.
This trial also established the principles necessary for dealing with international crimes through courts, such as genocide or other forms of international law violations through punishment by tribunals of victorious powers. Furthermore, it defined what "crimes against humanity" were, including genocide as violations.
Though many Allied leaders initially opposed the tribunal, ultimately Britain, France, Soviet Union and United States governments agreed upon a joint prosecution team and shared judges and prosecutors in order to counteract any impression that this trial would simply serve victors' justice.
The Trial of the Minor War Criminals
At the conclusion of World War II, the Allies brought leading civilian and military representatives from Germany and Japan before Nuremberg for trial for war crimes and human rights abuses such as aggression or murder of civilian populations or forced labor deportations. They were accused of crimes against peace such as aggressive war waging or murdering them or subjecting them to forced labor as slave labor.
Twenty-four top German political and military leaders were indicted by the IMT, including Hermann Goring, Rudolph Hess, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Karl Frick and Hans Frank (Governor-General of Occupied Poland). Additionally, six Nazi organizations considered criminal by this tribunal were charged: SSSDSAGESPOGESTONSKKKKK; however two notorious Nazis Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels committed suicide prior to trials beginning.
Since November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946, the tribunal successfully brought charges against all but three of the defendants. Twelve received death sentences while others received prison terms ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment. One powerful piece of evidence presented before this tribunal were graphic photographs taken by Allied troops of concentration camps as evidence.
Critics of the tribunal raised objections to its legitimacy of trying Nazi leaders for acts which weren't illegal at the time they occurred - this practice is known as ex post facto justice and forbidden under both US Constitution and laws of most countries. Others claimed it violated universal jurisdiction requirements by prosecuting crimes committed within its borders by its occupier.
At its height, Nuremberg proved capable of hosting trials for some of Germany's most prominent Nazi perpetrators thanks to the city being relatively undamaged by Allied bombing and having an intact courthouse. Broadcast live on radio and television and attended by thousands, Nuremberg served to teach the world about Nazi ideology while helping prevent its atrocities being denied, minimized or forgotten.
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