November 20: Nuremberg Trials Begin

On 20 November 1945, the Nuremberg Trials began in Germany. The trials were conducted to prosecute 23 of the most important military and political leaders of Nazi Germany. The accused included everyone from the commander in chief, to industrial leaders, bankers, and even a radio commentator. The crimes against them included conspiring to commit crimes against peace, initiating wars of aggression, and crimes against humanity. Twelve of those put on trial were sentenced to death, three were acquitted, and the rest were sentenced to long jail terms.

The trials took over ten months until the verdicts were read. The proceedings were overseen by one judge and one prosecutor from each of the main allied nations: The Soviet Union, United Kingdom, France and the United States. British judge Norman Birkett called it “the greatest trial in history.” Not everybody agrees with this of course. Some say that the trials were conducted as a “victor’s justice” because the charges against the defendants were only defined as crimes after they were committed.

Immediately following the Nuremberg Trials, a movement began in favor of creating a permanent international crimes court. Although the idea was a direct result of the Nuremburg Trials, it wasn’t until 2002 that the court was actually set up. Today the court is bringing the world’s most infamous criminals to justice based on the principles outlined in 1945.

–Tyler Lynch

Photo Caption: Hermann Goering was one of the individuals prosecuted at the Nuremberg Trails.
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Meet the Author: Tyler Lynch

I am currently a full time student at Schoolcraft College and will be transferring to Eastern Michigan University next year. I am studying to be a history teacher. I also work at a Mexican restaurant. In my free time I love to play sports with my friends, especially volleyball and baseball. When I am a teacher I hope to also coach a sports team.

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Schoolcraft College Student
Categories: World History: Modern
Tags: England, France, Germany, Nuremberg, Russia, Soviet Union, United States

11 Responses

Chris Hernandez says:

25 November 2012 at 5:13 pm

The court system has come a long way since the Nuremberg Trails, especially from the ancient Greek trial system. there was no prosecutors back then instead any public citizen could accuse you of a crime by presenting an oral summons, and you and the accuser would meet in front of a legal magistrate or a king and if the legal magistrate felt this was legitimate, then you would be seated in front of a jury of volunteers usually farmers. the jury would consist up to 500 people sometimes even more depending on the crime and the person, this was to prohibit bribery because who could afford to bribe 500 jurors. At the trail the prosecution would state its case and after they were done then you would state your innocence kind of like today’s trials. once both sides are done the jury would deliberate and come back with a guilty or innocent plea, if it was to come back guilty then they would deliberate imprisonment or execution this is were jurors could give there opinion to the court. If it was determine execution then usually the guilty party would be executed by drinking a poison of some sort.

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Garrett Domke says:

26 November 2012 at 6:14 pm

The trials were held in the city of Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany, in 1945–46, at the Palace of Justice. Tribunal was given the task of trying 23 of the most important political and military leaders of the Third Reich, though one of the defendants, Martin Bormann, was tried in absentia, while another, Robert Ley, committed suicide within a week of the trial’s commencement. Absent from the 23 were Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and Joseph Goebbels, all of whom had committed suicide several months before the indictment was signed. Hitler was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and dictator of Nazi Germany from 1934 to 1945. He was at the center of the founding of Nazism, World War II, and the Holocaust where millions of Jews were held captive in concentration camps and eventually murdered. Researchers have variously suggested that Hitler suffered from irritable bowel syndrome, skin lesions, irregular heartbeat, Parkinson’s disease, syphilis, and tinnitus. Hitler later committed suicide just prior to the Nuremberg trials.

-Garrett Domke

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- Makenzy Wilson says:
  
  6 December 2012 at 5:18 pm
  
  Adolf Hitler is arguable one of the most well known names in the world. There is no doubt that Adolf Hitler impacted the world forever. Hitler’s death, however, is a bit more controversial. Perhaps the most-widely accepted idea is that Hitler and his wife, Eva Braun, committed suicide in his private bunker in Berlin. Prior to his suicide, Hitler caught word that Mussolini and his wife had been captured and murdered. Then, Mussolini’s body was hung upside down in Milan, sending a bold message to the public. Along with other deaths of higher concern to Hitler, Mussolini’s helped Hitler come to the conclusion that he would have the bodies of Eva and himself burned so that this kind of disgrace could be avoided. Soon thereafter, questions surrounding identification of Hitler’s body began as quickly word spread about his suicide.
  
  -Makenzy Wilson
  
  Reply
Caleb Schonschack says:

26 November 2012 at 9:36 pm

At the meetings in Tehran (1943), Yalta (1945) and Potsdam (1945), the three major powers, United Kingdom, United States, and Russia agreed on a punishment for the people who were responsible for the crimes committed during World War 2. France was also given a place on the tribunal. The legal basis of the trial was made by the London Charter and was agreed upon by the 4 great powers. Punishment on the major war criminals of the European Axis countries was not allowed as part of the agreement. 1,600 were tried under the normal military justice system and around 200 German war crime defendants were tried at Nuremberg.

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Adam Clark says:

2 December 2012 at 11:50 pm

The crimes committed by the Nazis during the Second World War eventually led to the Fourth treaty of the Geneva Conventions refining the basic treatment of wartime prisoners and wounded along with establishing rules regarding the treatment of civilians in and around warzones. The Fourth Geneva Convention laid down specifically that noncombatants, wounded, and surrendered soldiers are to be protected from : 1: torture, murder, and violence to their persons; 2: being taken as a hostage; 3: humiliating and degrading treatment; 4: the right to a proper and fair trial before the sentencing and carrying out of an execution. Thanks to the various Geneva Conventions many people have been protected from wartime cruelties, although not all countries follow these rules of warfare.

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Jalen Walker says:

7 December 2012 at 12:54 pm

This case is actually pretty interesting. Especially in the way of how persistent the courts are, even in this time. The Nuremberg trial definitely brought the right people to justice. The amazing part to me is how relentless the court system was, taking 10 months to bring down these awful people blows my mind. To me it shows that at least some court rooms look to make some places better. The courts today have definitely stepped up in a major way, and I believe its because of stories and situations like this. The Nuremberg was the beginning of actual judgement and great start to,”justice being served”

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Taylor Joseph says:

8 December 2012 at 10:41 am

On November 20, 1945 the Nuremberg trials began against Nazi criminals. Today this trial should serve as a reminder to mankind that communism and dictatorships don’t work. With the United States moving away from democracy and the promotion of socialism and communism, mankind obviously hasn’t learned their lesson. The U.S was great the way it was, and now we have elected a president that is trying to change our country into a socialized dictatorship. One has to wonder how far our president will go until none of us recognizes the U.S as a free society.

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Michael Pietron says:

8 December 2012 at 6:43 pm

Surprisingly people were still charged even decades after all of this happened. Every once in a while you would hear news reports about an elderly man being arrested for having some sort of involvement in a war crime that has taken place a long time ago. People forget that for their actions, consequences are sometimes inevitable, and their past can come back to haunt them, no matter what age. Many of these who commit the war crimes attempt fleeing but usually end up being caught, and that image of being a war criminal sticks with them forever. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0718/Laszlo-Csatary-Hungary-arrests-97-year-old-alleged-Nazi-war-criminal-video

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Jonny Bannoura says:

9 December 2012 at 5:25 pm

It is important to realize that without the Holocaust we would not have as much knowledge about ourselves as humans and our limits. For example, if not for the Nazi party, research would have never been conducted on humans as they were. I am not in favor for the Nazi party nor am I congradulating them but their findings and research was quite fascinating.

Also, it is important to understand that the people prosecuted were not all involved. Companies such as Beyer and IMB were also involved but not well recognized. You can find information on these two companies and their involvment in the Holocaust at the Holocaust Memorial Museum on Orchard Lake road in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Beyer provided many chemicals and medication that was used for testing while IBM offered modern day storage devices in which they held very well documented files of the Holocaust.

It is because of IBM that we have such well knowledge about the Holocaust.

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Clariss_riss3 says:

9 December 2012 at 11:28 pm

Just in general looking back on the Holocaust as a whole makes me think whether or not I would have done the same horrible things the Nazis did if I was put lived in Germany within that time. When looking at the video clip The Nature of Evil in Dr. Berg’s class, I remember first watching this in my advanced placement psychology class in high school, and I could not believe my eyes when looking at how people from our country are just torturing prisoners the way they are in Abu Gharib. In fact, it scares me to see this and makes me wonder if when these soldiers who torture them, come back home and be as violent and aggressive as they were in Abu Ghraib prison.

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- Clarissa Berg says:
  
  9 December 2012 at 11:34 pm
  
  ^ – Clarissa Berg
  
  Reply