The Nuremberg trials: briefly about the main trial of history. The Nuremberg Trials, its significance for history and the entire world community

1. The Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals can be considered the most important element of the denazification of Germany. Although they were not sealed by a cause-and-effect relationship, without the categorical decision of the Nuremberg trial of the bonzes of the 3rd Reich, the lustration process of post-war Germany would most likely have led to a repetition of the Versailles syndrome.

   Nuremberg trials: verdict on Nazism

   Back in November 1943, at the Moscow conference, the main principles of the Nuremberg trial. The verdict on Nazism had to be passed by the entire world community. The choice of location for the tribunal was not accidental - the Nazis especially singled out the city of Nuremberg, where they held their congresses, accepted new members into their ranks, and rejoiced at Hitler's speeches. Because of this it was sometimes said that
   In the city, the same hall in the very house where everything happened is still open to the public.

   Particular attention was paid to preparing the work of the panel of judges, the charter of the tribunal and document flow. The fact is that the Nuremberg trial is a unique phenomenon in world practice that has no precedents. And according to the conditions, representatives of countries with fundamentally different ideologies had to take equal part in the work of the court.

   In particular, the fact of the crimes of the Nazi regime was exposed even before work began judicial authority, in October 1943, at a meeting of the foreign ministers of the anti-Hitler coalition countries.

   In this regard, it was decided not to apply to the defendants fundamental principle legal law– presumption of innocence.

   With regard to document flow, each of the participating countries had their own specific conditions, which they stipulated at Potsdam Conference at the beginning of August '45. Although these nuances have not yet been fully disclosed, partial information about these exceptions is available in the open press. And even now the obscenity of these exceptions does not honor the participants.

   When the Nuremberg trial of Nazi criminals began, none of the victorious countries wanted the documentation on the work of the tribunal to reflect manifestations of racial segregation in relation to representatives of the German and Japanese nations who lived in the territories of the participants in the anti-Hitler coalition.

   For example, in the United States, during the war, about 500 thousand ethnic Japanese were deprived of their civil rights and property without trial. In the USSR, a similar procedure was applied to the Volga Germans.

   It should be noted that the agreement on all the conditions for the full functioning of the Nuremberg Tribunal took place without any difficulties.

   The trial lasted 10 months and 10 days, but according to the results of the work, the death sentences of the Nuremberg trials were approved only for 12 defendants. Although all decisions were approved unanimously, the protocols recorded the “dissenting opinion” of Judge Nikitchenko (representative of the USSR), where he expressed the Soviet side’s disagreement with the “soft” sentences regarding some of the defendants who were acquitted or received prison sentences.

   Judge Nikitchenko
   

   The essence of the Nuremberg trials

   The inconsistency in the actions of the Allies after the First World War led to the formation of the “Versailles Syndrome”. This is a special state of mentality of the population the whole country, which, after defeat in the war, did not thoroughly revise its beliefs and demanded revenge.

   The basis for the emergence of this syndrome were:

   • The meticulously developed Schlieffen plan;
   • Overestimation of one's strengths;
   • Disdainful attitude towards opponents.

   As a result, after a crushing defeat and the conclusion of the shameful Treaty of Versailles, the German nation did not reassess its aspirations, but only began a “witch hunt.” Jews and socialists were recognized as internal enemies. And the very idea of ​​war and world domination of German weapons only grew stronger. Which in turn led to Hitler's rise to power.

   The essence of the Nuremberg process, by and large, was to ensure that a fundamental change occurred in the national identity of the German people. And the beginning of this change was to be a global assessment of the crimes of the Third Reich.

   Results of the Nuremberg trials

   Nazi criminals executed under the verdict of the Nuremberg trials lived only 16 days after the end of the trial. During this time, they all filed appeals and were rejected. At the same time, some of them asked to replace hanging or life imprisonment with shooting.

   But only 10 convicts were executed. One of them was sentenced in absentia (M. Borman).
   

   Another (G. Goering) took poison a few hours before the execution.

   Execution by hanging was carried out by American military personnel in a converted gymnasium.

   Chief executioner of the Nuremberg trials
   

2. Photos of the Nuremberg executions were published in many newspapers around the world.

   Photos of executions in Nuremberg

   The bodies of Nazi criminals were cremated near Munich and their ashes were scattered over the North Sea.
   The consolidated investigation into the crimes of the Nazi regime of the Third Reich was undertaken not so much to punish the criminals, but more so to unanimously and definitively brand Nazism and genocide. At the same time, one of the points of the final document enshrined the principle of “the inviolability of the decision of the Nuremberg Tribunal.” In other words: “there will be no revision of decisions.”

   Progress of denazification

   Over the course of 5 years, the personal files of all German citizens who held at least any significant leadership positions during the Third Reich were thoroughly checked. The meticulously carried out work on denazification allowed the German people to rethink the vector of their aspirations and take the path of peaceful development in Germany.

   Although more than 72 years have passed since the end of World War II, and de jure Germany is an independent country, in fact, there are still US occupation forces on its territory.

   This fact is carefully hushed up by the liberal media, and only in moments of aggravation of the political situation is it raised by nationally oriented associations in Germany.

   Apparently free Germany still inspires fear.

3. , why are you interested in this topic? In general, in general, people with a Soviet education are familiar with this. Well, those who are younger should read it.
   

   The essence of the Nuremberg process, by and large, was to ensure that a fundamental change occurred in the national identity of the German people. And the beginning of this change was to be a global assessment of the crimes of the Third Reich.

   A well-developed plan for the denazification of post-war Germany provided for a phased lustration of the activities of government officials at all levels. At the same time, the procedure had to begin with the leaders of the Wehrmacht, gradually revealing crimes at all levels of government.

   Click to expand...

   Do you think that even then the powers that be - representatives of the victorious countries - were thinking about the self-awareness of the German people? And how did it work? Everywhere they write that they succeeded - that the Germans for the most part are shying away from that past and from the theories that were once instilled in their society. But you add that this is only an appearance:

   And the last phrase
   Is it a regret that, in general, a great country is being held back in its development in some sense, or do you also think that new aggressive trends may arise there?

   
   

4. It is unlikely that anything is holding Germany back now. It used to be true: the Germans did not seem to stick out their nationality because of the memory of the Second World War.

   And in recent years ten, under Merkel especially, the Germans are gradually moving away from this.

   But neither then nor now, nothing interfered or restrained the growth of the German economy. That is, there were no sanctions as we understand them.

   
   

5. The main executioner of the Nuremberg trials is the American John Woods.

   In the photo, this man shows his "unique" 13-knot rope knot. John Woods "helped" his victims by clinging to the legs of someone who had just been hanged, so the process would end faster.

   The prison where the Nazis were held during the Nuremberg trials was in the American sector. American soldiers were on duty in this prison, guarding Nazi criminals:

   A soviet soldiers guarded the entrance to the courthouse where the Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals took place:

   Woods was used to working quickly, his work experience affected him, especially since he was recruited for this “service” as a volunteer in Normandy.

   Experienced Woods organized 3 gallows at once in the gym of the Nuremberg prison. Hatches were installed in the scaffolding so that the hanged would fall through the hatch, break their necks and die longer and more painfully.

   The Nuremberg trials ended, the verdict on Nazism was pronounced. Goering was to be the executioner's first victim.

   But he committed suicide. There is a version that Gernig’s wife gave an ampoule of poisonous potassium cyanide in a kiss at a farewell meeting.

   By the way, the executioner John Woods himself died in service, in 1950, after the war, from electric shock.

   Last edited: Sep 29, 2017

6. The Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals led to the fact that some of them were sentenced to death. Executed by the verdict of the Nuremberg trials, photos of their executions and deaths are shown above.
   And one person was sentenced in absentia. This man was Martin Bormann.

   One of the key figures of the Third Reich, Bormann came from a family of employees. Martin Bormann for a long time was something like Hitler's press secretary. And then he began to control Hitler’s financial flows: money received from German industrialists, royalties for the sale of the book Mein Kanf and much more. He partially controlled "access to the Fuhrer's body" for those who requested meetings.

   A member of the NSDAP, he was an ardent supporter of the persecution of Jews and Christians. In particular, Bormann said that “in the future Germany there will be no place for churches, it’s just a matter of time.” And in relation to Jews and prisoners of war, Bormann adhered to a position of maximum cruelty. During World War II, Martin Bormann strengthened his position and began to report only to Hitler in the hierarchy. Many, not without reason, believed that falling out of favor with Bormann was about the same as falling out of favor with Hitler himself. And after the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad, Hitler remained alone for a long time, not letting anyone in. Bormann had the right to be there at such moments.

   Since January 1945, Hitler was in a bunker. In April 1945, the Soviet Army launched an attack on Berlin. The goal is to surround the city. At the end of April, Hitler marries Eva Braun in the bunker. Martin Bormann and Goebbels were witnesses at this “wedding”. Hitler draws up a will, according to which Bormann becomes Minister of Party Affairs. Then, on the orders of the Fuhrer, Bormann leaves the bunker.

   Meanwhile, Bormann, as part of a group of four people, among whom was SS doctor Stumpfegger, is trying to break out of the Soviet encirclement. While crossing the bridge over the Spree River in Berlin, Bormann was wounded. On subsequent attempts, the group managed to cross the bridge, after which the group members split up. One of the fugitives recalled that he came across a Soviet patrol, returned to the bridge and saw the dead - Bormann and SS doctor Stumpfegger. But the body of Martin Bormann was not found in reality. And his fate remained unknown until the end.

   The post-war period gave rise to and in every possible way fueled rumors: either Bormann was seen in Argentina, or his former driver reported that he saw his patron in Munich.

   When the Nuremberg trials began, Bormann was officially “neither alive nor dead.” The Nuremberg trials sentenced Martin Bormann, due to lack of proof of his death, to death in absentia for crimes against humanity.

   But attempts to find the body of Reichsleiter Martin Bormann continued. The CIA and German intelligence services worked. Bormann's son Adolf (note the name) recalls that in the post-war period several thousand publications were published about his father being seen somewhere.
   The options were:
   Martin Bormann has changed his appearance and lives in Paraguay,
   Martin Bormann was Soviet agent and fled to Moscow
   Martin Bormann is hiding in South America,
   Martin Bormann lives in Latin America, developing activities to create and strengthen the new Nazi organization.
   Etc.

   And in 1972, during the construction of a house near the site of Bormann’s supposed death, human remains were seized. And initially - based on the reconstruction of the remains, and later again - on the basis of DNA examination, it was proven that the remains belong to Borman. The remains were burned and the ashes were scattered over the Baltic Sea.

   
   

7. When the Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals began, there was even talk of non-application of the basic norms of democracy to the accused, so large-scale and cruel were their crimes. However, during the ten months that the Nuremberg war crimes trials lasted, the relationship between the accusing parties changed. Churchill’s speech, the so-called “Fulton Speech,” contributed to the aggravation of relations.

   And the accused, war criminals, understood and felt this. They and their lawyers played for time as best they could.

   At this stage, the firmness, intransigence and professionalism of the actions of the Soviet side helped. The most convincing evidence of the cruelty of the Nazis in the concentration camps was also presented in the form of chronicle footage from Soviet war correspondents.

   There are no doubts or loopholes left to challenge the guilt of the defendants.
   This is what the accused Nazis looked like when the verdicts of the Nuremberg trials were announced:

   The essence of the Nuremberg trials is that history begins with it international law. Aggression was recognized as a grave crime.

   The norms of international law are often questioned today. Sometimes people say that they simply don’t work.

   Only strong country, capable of protecting its borders and its people, can today talk about independence.

S. Kara-Murza, in his book “Manipulation of Consciousness,” gives an interesting example of a network attack.
Imagine, there is a division of super-duper special forces. Everything is in the latest equipment, armor protection, modern weapons. Well, practically, you can only bomb them. You won't take it that way.
But then a cloud of mosquitoes, midges and midges swoops in. They hide under body armor, under ammunition, they sting and bite fighters.
And none of the available defenses and any weapons will help this division survive.
Real example?
The USSR was destroyed according to a similar scenario. They are approaching Russia with a similar event.
The trouble is that they are preparing to confront one weapon, but the enemy uses another.
And it would be nice if there were external attacks. Because lately they have been acting from within.

On October 1, 1946, the verdict of the International Military Tribunal was announced in Nuremberg, condemning the main war criminals. It is often called the “Court of History”. It was not only one of the largest trials in human history, but also a major milestone in the development of international law. The Nuremberg trials legally secured the final defeat of fascism.

In the dock:

For the first time we found ourselves and carried severe punishment criminals who made the whole state criminal. The initial list of accused included:

1. Hermann Wilhelm Göring (German: Hermann Wilhelm Göring), Reichsmarshal, Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force
2. Rudolf Hess (German: Rudolf Heß), Hitler's deputy for leadership of the Nazi Party.
3. Joachim von Ribbentrop (German: Ullrich Friedrich Willy Joachim von Ribbentrop), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany.
4. Robert Ley (German: Robert Ley), head of the Labor Front
5. Wilhelm Keitel (German: Wilhelm Keitel), Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces.
6. Ernst Kaltenbrunner (German: Ernst Kaltenbrunner), head of the RSHA.
7. Alfred Rosenberg (German: Alfred Rosenberg), one of the main ideologists of Nazism, Reich Minister of Affairs Eastern territories.
8. Hans Frank (German: Dr. Hans Frank), head of the occupied Polish lands.
9. Wilhelm Frick (German: Wilhelm Frick), Reich Minister of the Interior.
10. Julius Streicher (German: Julius Streicher), Gauleiter, editor-in-chief anti-Semitic newspaper "Stormtrooper" (German: Der Stürmer - Der Sturmer).
11. Hjalmar Schacht, Reich Minister of Economics before the war.
12. Walter Funk (German: Walther Funk), Minister of Economics after Schacht.
13. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (German: Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach), head of the Friedrich Krupp concern.
14. Karl Doenitz (German: Karl Dönitz), admiral of the fleet of the Third Reich.
15. Erich Raeder (German: Erich Raeder), Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.
16. Baldur von Schirach (German: Baldur Benedikt von Schirach), head of the Hitler Youth, Gauleiter of Vienna.
17. Fritz Sauckel (German: Fritz Sauckel), head of forced deportations to the Reich of labor from occupied territories.
18. Alfred Jodl (German: Alfred Jodl), Chief of Staff operational management OKW
19. Franz von Papen (German: Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen), Chancellor of Germany before Hitler, then ambassador to Austria and Turkey.
20. Arthur Seyß-Inquart (German: Dr. Arthur Seyß-Inquart), Chancellor of Austria, then Imperial Commissioner of occupied Holland.
21. Albert Speer (German: Albert Speer), Reich Minister of Armaments.
22. Konstantin von Neurath (German: Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath), in the first years of Hitler's reign, Minister of Foreign Affairs, then governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
23. Hans Fritzsche (German: Hans Fritzsche), head of the press and broadcasting department at the Ministry of Propaganda.

Twenty-fourth - Martin Bormann (German: Martin Bormann), head of the party chancellery, was accused in absentia. Groups or organizations to which the defendants belonged were also charged.

The investigation and the essence of the accusation

Shortly after the end of the war, the victorious countries of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France, during the London Conference, approved the Agreement on the establishment of the International Military Tribunal and its Charter, the principles of which were approved by the UN General Assembly as generally recognized in the fight against crimes against humanity. On August 29, 1945, a list of major war criminals was published, including 24 prominent Nazis. The charges brought against them included following points:

Nazi Party Plans

• -Use of Nazi control for aggression against foreign countries.
• -Aggressive actions against Austria and Czechoslovakia.
• -Attack on Poland.
• -Aggressive war against the whole world (1939-1941).
• -German invasion of the territory of the USSR in violation of the non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939.
• -Collaboration with Italy and Japan and aggressive war against the United States (November 1936 - December 1941).

Crimes against peace

"All of the accused and various other persons, for a number of years prior to May 8, 1945, participated in the planning, preparation, initiation and conduct of aggressive wars, which were also wars in violation of international treaties, agreements and obligations."

War crimes

• -Killings and ill-treatment of civilians in occupied territories and on the high seas.

• -Removal of the civilian population of the occupied territories into slavery and for other purposes.
• -Killings and cruel treatment of prisoners of war and military personnel of countries with which Germany was at war, as well as persons sailing on the high seas.
• -Aimless destruction of large and small cities and villages, devastation not justified by military necessity.
• -Germanization of the occupied territories.

Crimes against humanity

• -The defendants pursued a policy of persecution, repression and extermination of the enemies of the Nazi government. The Nazis imprisoned people without a trial, subjected them to persecution, humiliation, enslavement, torture, and killed them.

On October 18, 1945, the indictment was received by the International Military Tribunal and a month before the start of the trial, it was handed over to each of the accused. German. On November 25, 1945, after reading the indictment, Robert Ley committed suicide, and Gustav Krupp was declared terminally ill by the medical commission, and the case against him was dropped before trial.

The remaining accused were brought to trial.

Court

In accordance with the London Agreement, the International Military Tribunal was formed on a parity basis from representatives of four countries. The British representative, Lord J. Lawrence, was appointed chief judge. From other countries, members of the tribunal were approved:

• -from the USSR: Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court Soviet Union Major General of Justice I. T. Nikitchenko.
• -from the USA: former Attorney General of the country F. Biddle.
• -from France: professor of criminal law A. Donnedier de Vabre.

Each of the 4 countries sent its main prosecutors, their deputies and assistants to the trial:

• – from the USSR: Prosecutor General of the Ukrainian SSR R. A. Rudenko.
• -from the USA: member of the federal supreme court Robert Jackson.
• -from UK: Hartley Shawcross
• -from France: François de Menton, who was absent during the first days of the trial and was replaced by Charles Dubost, and then Champentier de Ribes was appointed instead of de Menton.

The trial lasted ten months in Nuremberg. A total of 216 court hearings were held. Each side presented evidence of crimes committed by Nazi criminals.

Due to the unprecedented gravity of the crimes committed by the defendants, doubts arose as to whether democratic norms of legal proceedings would be observed in relation to them. For example, representatives of the prosecution from England and the USA proposed not to give the defendants last word. However, the French and Soviet sides insisted on the opposite.

The trial was tense not only because of the unusual nature of the tribunal itself and the charges brought against the defendants.

The post-war aggravation of relations between the USSR and the West after Churchill’s famous Fulton speech also had an effect, and the defendants, sensing the current political situation, skillfully played for time and hoped to escape their well-deserved punishment. In such a difficult situation, the tough and professional actions of the Soviet prosecution played a key role. The film about concentration camps, shot by front-line cameramen, finally turned the tide of the process. The terrible pictures of Majdanek, Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz completely removed the doubts of the tribunal.

Court verdict

The International Military Tribunal sentenced:

• -To death by hanging: Goering, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Seyss-Inquart, Bormann (in absentia), Jodl (was posthumously acquitted during a review of the case by a Munich court in 1953).
• -To life imprisonment: Hess, Funk, Raeder.
• - To 20 years in prison: Schirach, Speer.
• -To 15 years in prison: Neurata.
• -To 10 years in prison: Denitsa.
• -Acquitted: Fritsche, Papen, Schacht.

The Soviet side protested in connection with the acquittal of Papen, Fritsche, Schacht and the non-application of the death penalty to Hess.
The Tribunal found the SS, SD, SA, Gestapo and the leadership of the Nazi Party criminal. The decision to recognize the Supreme Command and the General Staff as criminal was not made, which caused disagreement from a member of the tribunal from the USSR.

Most of the convicts filed petitions for clemency; Raeder - on replacing life imprisonment with the death penalty; Goering, Jodl and Keitel - about replacing hanging with shooting if the request for clemency is not granted. All of these requests were rejected.
The death penalty was carried out on the night of October 16, 1946 in the Nuremberg prison building. Goering poisoned himself in prison shortly before his execution.

The sentence was carried out “at his own request” by American Sergeant John Wood.

Sentenced to life imprisonment, Funk and Raeder were pardoned in 1957. After Speer and Schirach were released in 1966, only Hess remained in prison. The right-wing forces of Germany repeatedly demanded to pardon him, but the victorious powers refused to commute the sentence. On August 17, 1987, Hess was found hanged in his cell.

Results and conclusions

The Nuremberg Tribunal, having created a precedent for the jurisdiction of senior government officials by an international court, refuted the medieval principle “Kings are subject to the jurisdiction only of God.” It was with the Nuremberg trials that the history of international criminal law began. The principles enshrined in the Tribunal's Statute were soon confirmed by decisions General Assembly The UN as generally accepted principles of international law. Having convicted the main Nazi criminals, the International Military Tribunal recognized aggression as the gravest crime international character.

1. The building of the Palace of Justice, where the Nuremberg trials took place.

2. Soviet guard at the tribunal building during the Nuremberg trials.

4. General view of the meeting room of the International Military Tribunal in the Palace of Justice, where the Nuremberg trials took place.

5. The building where the sessions of the International War Crimes Court were held.

6. The Soviet guard takes over at the courthouse.

7. View of the dock of the Nuremberg trials.
In the first row in the dock: Goering, Hess, von Ribbentrop, Keitel, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Funk, Schacht. In the second row - Doenitz, Raeder, von Schirach, Sauckel, Jodl, von Papen, Seyss-Ingwart, Speer, von Neurath, Fritzsche.).

8. Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence (UK)- Chairman of the International Military Tribunal at the Palace of Justice at the Nuremberg Trials.

9. Meeting of the International Tribunal in Nuremberg.

10. The main prosecutor from the USSR at the Nuremberg trials R.A. Rudenko. speaks at a court hearing.

11. Speech by the chief prosecutor from Great Britain H. Shawcross at the Nuremberg trials.

12. Speech by the representative of the prosecutor from France at the Nuremberg trials.

13. Speech by the chief US prosecutor R. Jackson at the Nuremberg trials.

14. Portrait of the deputy chief judge at the Nuremberg trials, Lieutenant Colonel A.F. Volchkov.

15. Portrait of the chief prosecutor from the USSR at the Nuremberg trials, Lieutenant General and R.A. Rudenko.

16. Portrait of a member of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg from the USSR, Major General of Justice I.T. Nikitchenko.

17. K.P. Gorshenin and A.Ya. Vyshinsky at the meeting of the International Military Tribunal in the Palace of Justice at the Nuremberg Trials.

18. Speech by Colonel Pokrovsky, Deputy Chief Prosecutor from the USSR, at the Nuremberg Trials.

19. Speech by the assistant to the chief prosecutor from the USSR, State Counselor of Justice 3rd class Zorya at the Nuremberg trials.

20. Defendant von Papen in the dock during the Nuremberg trials.

21. Defendant V. Funk in the dock during the Nuremberg trials.

22. Goering and Hess in the dock at the Nuremberg trials.

23. Defendant Frick in the dock during the Nuremberg trials.

24. Interrogation of the defendant V. Keitel at the Nuremberg trials.

25. Interrogation of F. Paulus at the Nuremberg trials.

26. Defendant G. Goering answers questions from prosecutor R. Jackson during the Nuremberg trials.

27. German criminals from the Belsen concentration camp, head of the concentration camp I. Kramer, chief doctor concentration camp F. Klein, the head of the barracks P. Weingart and G. Kraft in the dock during the Nuremberg trials.

28. A. Hitler's personal photographer G. Hoffmann explains the content of his photographs to representatives of the Soviet and American prosecution at the Nuremberg trials.

29. Members of the court listen to the US representative.

30. Members of the International War Crimes Court.

31. General view of the tribunal meeting.

32. International Military Tribunal. In the dock:
(1st row (from left to right): Goering, Hess, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Funk, Schacht; 2nd row: Doenitz, Raeder, Schirach, Sauckel, Jodl, Papen, Seyss-Inquart , Speer, Neurath, Fritsche. According to the verdict of the court on October 1, 1946, Goering, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Rosenberg, Kaltenbrunner, Frick, Frank, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, Seyss-Inquart and Bormann in absentia were sentenced to death by hanging; and Raeder - to life imprisonment in Spandau prison; Schirach - to 20 years; von Neurath - to 15 years;

33. The prosecution considers evidence of crimes.

34. The main representative of the Soviet side for the prosecution, R.A. Rudenko (left).

35. In the press box at a meeting of the International War Crimes Tribunal.

36. Field Marshal F. von Paulus during a break between sessions of the International Tribunal.

37. Ribbentrop, von Schirach, Keitel, Sauckel in the dock at the Nuremberg trials.

38. Goering, who lost 20 kilograms during the trial with his defender.

39. Hermann Goering listens to the prosecution's presentation.

40. Deputy leader of the NSDAP Rudolf Hess at the trial.

41. Commissioner General for LaborIu Fritz Sauckel and Chief of Staff of the OKW Field Marshal Generalwilhelm keitel.

42. Field Marshal W. Keitel takes the oath.

43. The death sentence of A. Seys-Inquart was carried out. October 16, 1946

44. Boss General Staff Wehrmacht infantry general Alfred von Jodl.

45. Gauleiter of the Netherlands Arthur von Seys-Inquart.

46. Defendants Frank and Jodl at the Nuremberg Trials.

47. Protector of Bohemia and Moravia Wilhelm Frick at trial.

48. Defendant Streicher in the dock during the Nuremberg trials.

49. Julius Streicher at trial.

50. One of the leaders of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Third Reich, Konstantin von Neurath.

51. Minister of Armaments Albert von Speer.

52. Commanders-in-Chiefth naval forces of the Third Reich, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz.

53. Ambassador of the Third Reich to Turkey Franz von Papen.

54. Deputy Minister of Propaganda Hans Fritsche.

55. One of the leaders of the German military industry, Hjalmar von Schacht.

56. Complex of prison buildings in Nuremberg.
(The building where war criminals were kept is marked with a white arrow).

57. Internal view solitary confinement, where the main German war criminals were kept.

58. Internal view of the camera.

59. Lighting of the cells of the main German war criminals in prison in Nuremberg.

60. Lunch rations of the Nuremberg trial defendants.

61. Distributing food to the cells of German war criminals in a prison in Nuremberg.

62. One of the buildings of the prison in Nuremberg, where the main German war criminals were kept.

63. Interrogation of General G. Guderian.

64. The corpse of Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering, sentenced to death by the International Tribunal in Nuremberg,
who committed suicide 2 hours before execution. October 16, 1946

65. The body of the executed Julius Streicher (1885-1946). October 16, 1946

66. Judges of the Nuremberg Tribunal at work in the courtroom.

67. G. Frank, W. Frick, J. Streicher, A. Jodl, J. Schacht, A. Seyss-Inquart and A. Speer in the dock of the Nuremberg trials.

68. Hermann Wilhelm Göring (1893-1946) and Rudolf Heß (1894-1987) in the dock at the Nuremberg trials.

69. The body of the executed Friedrich Sauckel (Ernst Friedrich Christoph Sauckel, 1894-1946). October 16, 1946

70. Hermann Goering in the courtroom during the Nuremberg trials.

71. Judges of the Nuremberg Tribunal review documents at a table in a conference room.

72. The body of an executed Obergruppenführerand SS Ernst Kaltenbrunner (Ernst Kaltenbrunner, 1903-1946). October 16, 1946

73. Former SS Gruppenführer Otto Ohlendorf (1907-1951) testifies during the Nuremberg trials.

74. J. Schacht, F. von Papen and G. Fritsche with US Army Colonel B. Andrus during the Nuremberg trials.
All three - G. Fritsche, J. Schacht and F. von Papen - were the only ones who were acquitted at the Nuremberg trials. Subsequently, they were all sentenced to various terms of imprisonment in the denazification trials.

75. The body of the executed Wilhelm Frick (1877-1946). October 16, 1946
Wilhelm Frick served as Minister of the Interior of Germany (1933-1943), Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia (1943-1945), and was one of the ideologists and leaders of the NSDAP.

76. The body of the executed Alfred Rosenberg (Alfred Ernst Rosenberg, 1893-1946). October 16, 1946
A. Rosenberg was the creator of “racial theory”, head of the Central ResearchGo Institute for National Social Affairsistic ideology and education, Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories (Reichsministerium für die besetzten Ostgebiete).

77. The body of the executed Hans Frank (Hans Michael Frank, 1900-1946). October 16, 1946
Hans Frank was Governor GeneralOrom of Poland (1939-1945), was a lawyer for the NSDAP before coming to power, after coming to power he participated in the development of new laws of Nazi Germany. Hjalmar Schacht and Arthur Seyss-Inquart in the dock of the Nuremberg trials.

85. American Master Sergeant John Woods (John Clarence Woods, 1911 – 1950) prepares a noose for a condemned man at the Nuremberg trials.

86. Hermann Goering at lunch during the Nuremberg trials.

87. Body of a German Colonel Generalka Alfred Jodl, executed on October 16, 1946 by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal along with 9 other war criminals in the gym of the Nuremberg prison.

91. American simultaneous interpretation device operators in the courtroom during the Nuremberg trials.

92. A view of the corridor of the Nuremberg prison, where the main Nazi criminals were kept, who were monitored around the clock by American soldiers guarding the prison.

93. Private 1st Class, 18th Infantry Regiment, 1st US Army infantry division Joseph L. Pichierre stands near Rudolf Hess's cell in Nuremberg prison.

94. Meeting of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. Hermann Göring, former Commander-in-Chief1st Luftwaffe, sitting in the witness box (center right) wearing a gray jacket, headphones and dark glasses. Sitting next to him are Rudolf Heß, former deputy of the Führer for the Party, Joachim von Ribbentrop, former German Foreign Minister, Wilhelm Keitel, former Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Commandof the German Armed Forces and SS-Obergruppenführer Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

2015 is the year of the 70th anniversary of the Nuremberg trials. It took place in the city of Nuremberg (Germany) from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946 at the International Military Tribunal.

The first trial of the main war criminals was held in Nuremberg because for many years this city was a stronghold and symbol of fascism. It hosted congresses of the National Socialist Party and parades of assault troops. There were other reasons for this, including purely technical ones.

The International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg is the first international court in history. Its result was the recognition of Hitler's aggression as a grave criminal offense, the condemnation of crimes of a national scale, the ruling regime of Hitler, his punitive institutions, and the highest political and military figures of Nazi Germany. It is often called the “Court of History”.

It was one of the largest trials in human history. He played an important role in the development of international law in general and the development of relations between states around the world after the Second World War.

This historic trial legally secured the final defeat of fascism and went down in history as an anti-fascist trial. The essence of fascism, its ideology, especially racism, which is the ideological basis for preparing and unleashing aggressive wars and mass extermination of people, was revealed to the whole world. The trial clearly and convincingly demonstrated the danger of the revival of fascism for the destinies of the whole world.

The Second World War brought enormous material and human losses to humanity. 26 million 600 thousand of our compatriots died in this bloody massacre. And more than half of them - 15 million 400 thousand - were civilians. It is impossible to accept the atrocities of the fascists calmly and remain indifferent to them. The world has never seen such cruelty in human-to-human relations. Mass plunder of vast territories, mass executions, the creation of “death factories”, torture, experiments on people, the destruction of entire nations, inhumane treatment of prisoners of war... All these are crimes, a long list of which can be listed endlessly.

Long before the end of World War II, representatives of the Allied governments repeatedly spoke out about the need to bring to justice and punish the war criminals who started the war, began mass terror and murder, and proclaimed the ideas of racial superiority and genocide. This idea about the responsibility of the Nazis for their monstrous crimes against peace and humanity was reflected in many international documents.

In particular, the demand for the creation of an International Military Tribunal was contained in the statement of the Soviet government dated October 14, 1942 “On the responsibility of the Nazi invaders and their accomplices for the atrocities they committed in the occupied countries of Europe.”

The agreement on the creation of the International Military Tribunal and its charter were developed by the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France during the London Conference, held from June 26 to August 8, 1945. The jointly developed document reflected the agreed position of all 23 countries participating in the conference; the principles of the charter were approved by the UN General Assembly as generally recognized in the fight against crimes against humanity.

The Nuremberg trials had specific features previously unknown to judicial practice. This is explained by the fact that the commission of monstrous atrocities by the fascists and Nazis was public knowledge and required appropriate legal qualifications and condemnation.

Thus, the charter stated that groups and organizations could be the subjects of prosecution; judges had the right to independently determine the course of the process. Another innovation was that the court was the court of final instance, its main goal It was necessary to specify and qualify the degree of guilt of the accused - the main war criminals, hence the name - a military tribunal.

The first list of accused, which was agreed on August 8, 1945 in London, did not include Hitler, his closest subordinates Himmler and Goebbels, because. at that time their death was reliably established.

At the same time, Bormann, who was allegedly killed on the streets of Berlin, was on the list and accused in absentia.

In total, 24 war criminals who were part of the senior management fascist Germany.

The initial list of accused included:

1. Hermann Wilhelm Göring (German: Hermann Wilhelm Göring), Reichsmarshal, Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force
2. Rudolf Hess (German: Rudolf Heß), Hitler's deputy for leadership of the Nazi Party.
3. Joachim von Ribbentrop (German: Ullrich Friedrich Willy Joachim von Ribbentrop), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany.
4. Robert Ley (German: Robert Ley), head of the Labor Front
5. Wilhelm Keitel (German: Wilhelm Keitel), Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces.
6. Ernst Kaltenbrunner (German: Ernst Kaltenbrunner), head of the RSHA.
7. Alfred Rosenberg (German: Alfred Rosenberg), one of the main ideologists of Nazism, Reich Minister for Eastern Affairs.
8. Hans Frank (German: Dr. Hans Frank), head of the occupied Polish lands.
9. Wilhelm Frick (German: Wilhelm Frick), Reich Minister of the Interior.
10. Julius Streicher (German: Julius Streicher), Gauleiter, editor-in-chief of the anti-Semitic newspaper "Stormtrooper" (German: Der Stürmer - Der Sturmer).
11. Hjalmar Schacht, Reich Minister of Economics before the war.
12. Walter Funk (German: Walther Funk), Minister of Economics after Schacht.
13. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (German: Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach), head of the Friedrich Krupp concern.
14. Karl Doenitz (German: Karl Dönitz), admiral of the fleet of the Third Reich.
15. Erich Raeder (German: Erich Raeder), Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.
16. Baldur von Schirach (German: Baldur Benedikt von Schirach), head of the Hitler Youth, Gauleiter of Vienna.
17. Fritz Sauckel (German: Fritz Sauckel), head of forced deportations to the Reich of labor from occupied territories.
18. Alfred Jodl (German: Alfred Jodl), Chief of Staff of the OKW Operations Command
19. Franz von Papen (German: Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen), Chancellor of Germany before Hitler, then ambassador to Austria and Turkey.
20. Arthur Seyß-Inquart (German: Dr. Arthur Seyß-Inquart), Chancellor of Austria, then Imperial Commissioner of occupied Holland.
21. Albert Speer (German: Albert Speer), Reich Minister of Armaments.
22. Konstantin von Neurath (German: Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath), in the first years of Hitler's reign, Minister of Foreign Affairs, then governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
23. Hans Fritzsche (German: Hans Fritzsche), head of the press and broadcasting department at the Ministry of Propaganda.

Groups or organizations to which the defendants belonged were also charged.

They were accused of unleashing an aggressive war in order to establish the world domination of German imperialism, that is, of crimes against peace, of killing and torturing prisoners of war and civilians of occupied countries, of deporting civilians to Germany for forced labor, of killing hostages, of robbing public and private property, the aimless destruction of cities and villages, countless devastations not justified by military necessity, that is, war crimes, extermination, enslavement, exile committed against the civilian population for political, racial or religious reasons, that is, crimes against humanity.

The International Military Tribunal was formed on a parity basis from representatives of the four powers in accordance with the London Agreement:

From the USSR: Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, Major General of Justice I. T. Nikitchenko; Colonel of Justice A.F. Volchkov;

From the USA: former Attorney General F. Biddle; John Parker (English);

For the UK: Chief Justice Geoffrey Lawrence; Norman Birket (English);

From France: Professor of Criminal Law Henri Donnedier de Vabre (English); Robert Falco (German).

From each country, the main prosecutors, their deputies and assistants were sent to the trial.

The main accusers were:

From the USSR - Prosecutor of the Ukrainian SSR Roman Andreevich Rudenko (deputy: Yu.V. Pokrovsky, assistants: N.D. Zorya, D.S. Karev, L.N. Smirnov, L.R. Sheinin);

From the USA - member of the federal Supreme Court Robert Jackson;

From Great Britain - Attorney General and Member of the House of Commons Hartley Shawcross;

From France - Minister of Justice Francois de Menton, who was then replaced by Champetier de Ribes.

The main prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials from the USSR, Roman Rudenko, speaks at the Palace of Justice. November 20, 1945, Germany.

On October 18, 1945, the International Military Tribunal accepted the indictment signed by the main prosecutors from the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France, which on the same day, that is, more than a month before the start of the trial, was handed over to all defendants in order to give them the opportunity in advance prepare for defense.

Thus, in the interests of a fair trial, a course was set from the very beginning towards the strictest respect for the rights of the defendants.

Thus, the defendants were given ample opportunity for defense; they all had German lawyers (some even two), and enjoyed rights that were deprived of those accused not only in the courts of Nazi Germany, but also in many Western countries. The prosecutors provided the defense with copies of all documentary evidence in German, assisted the lawyers in searching for and obtaining documents, and delivering witnesses whom the defense wanted to call.

Thus, despite the crimes committed by the defendants against humanity and peace, the basic principles of criminal proceedings were observed, namely:

Legality;

Administration of justice only by the court; equality of all participants in the judicial process before the law and the court;

The independence of judges and their subordination only to the law;

Ensuring proof of guilt; competitiveness of the parties and freedom to present their evidence to the court and to prove their credibility to the court;

Support of the state prosecution in court by the prosecutor;

Providing the accused with the right to defense; publicity of the trial and its full recording by technical means;

Bindingness of the court verdict; inevitability of punishment.

It should be especially noted that the Nuremberg trial was a public trial in the broadest sense of the word.

Of the 403 court hearings, not a single one was closed. More than 60 thousand passes were issued to the courtroom, some of them were received by the Germans. Everything that was said at the trial was carefully recorded in shorthand. The process was conducted simultaneously in four languages, including German. The press and radio were represented by about 250 correspondents who transmitted reports about the progress of the process to all countries.

In the speeches of the accusers, along with the analysis of the facts, they analyzed legal problems process, the jurisdiction of the Tribunal was justified, a legal analysis of the crime was given, and the unfounded arguments of the defendants' defenders were refuted.

The Nuremberg trials were exceptional in terms of the impeccability and strength of the prosecution's evidence. The evidence included the testimony of numerous witnesses, including former prisoners of Auschwitz, Dachau and other Nazi concentration camps - eyewitnesses of fascist atrocities, as well as material evidence and documentaries.

Of course, the decisive role belonged to the official documents signed by those who were put in the dock.

In total, 116 witnesses were heard in court, of which in individual cases 33 were called by prosecutors and 61 by defense attorneys, and more than 4 thousand documentary evidence was presented.

At the same time, the accused behaved boldly and brazenly, skillfully playing for time, counting on the post-war aggravation of relations between the USSR and the West and rumors of impending danger the coming war, will put an end to the process.

The court hearings were tense. In such a difficult situation, the tough and professional actions of the Soviet prosecution played a key role. The film about concentration camps, shot by front-line cameramen, finally turned the tide of the process. The terrible pictures of Majdanek, Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz completely removed the doubts of the tribunal.

In his final speech, delivered on July 29 - 30, the Chief Prosecutor from the USSR R.A. Rudenko, summing up the results of the judicial investigation against the main war criminals, noted that “the Court is judging, created by peace-loving and freedom-loving countries, expressing the will and protecting the interests of all progressive humanity, which does not want a repetition of disasters, which will not allow a gang of criminals to prepare enslavement with impunity nations and the extermination of people... Humanity calls criminals to account, and on its behalf we, the prosecutors, blame in this process. And how pathetic are the attempts to challenge the right of humanity to judge the enemies of humanity, how untenable are the attempts to deprive peoples of the right to punish those who made the enslavement and extermination of peoples their goal and carried out this criminal goal for many years in a row through criminal means.”

The International Military Tribunal sentenced:

To death by hanging: Goering, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Seyss-Inquart, Bormann (in absentia), Jodl (was posthumously acquitted during a review of the case by a Munich court in 1953);

To life imprisonment: Hess, Funk, Raeder;

To 20 years in prison: Schirach, Speer;

To 15 years in prison: Neurata;

To 10 years in prison: Denitsa;

Acquitted: Fritsche, Papen, Schacht.

The Tribunal recognized the organizations of German fascism as criminal - the SS, SA, Gestapo, SD, as well as the leadership of the National Socialist Party.

The Nuremberg trials became a precedent for international law. One of his main achievements was the implementation of the principle of equality before the law for all and the inevitability of punishment.

Today we are seeing a picture of fascism being revived again. Under these conditions, those who want to rethink the results of the Great Victory in their own way, level out the leading role of the Soviet Union in the defeat of fascism, and equate Germany, the USSR and the aggressor country, are becoming more active.

Against this background, a lot of different publications, films, and television programs appear that distort historical facts and events.

In public speeches of many extremists, and a number of politicians, the leaders of the Third Reich and their accomplices are glorified, Soviet military leaders on the contrary, they are denigrated. In their interpretation, the Nuremberg trials are just an act of revenge by the victors on the vanquished. At the same time, they characterize famous fascists as ordinary and rather nice people, and not executioners and sadists.

However, it should be emphasized that the verdict of the Nuremberg trials entered into legal force, no one challenged it or canceled it, and attempts by individual radical forces to interpret it in their own way do not have any legal basis, or moral right in general.

Distortion historical truth, denigration of the Soviet past, fascisation of ideology elevated to the rank of state in a number of former Soviet republics, leads to manifestations of racism, nationalism in the most extreme and extremist forms. And we need to fight this.

Our main task is to try to prevent this “reinterpretation”, preserve reliable information about it and pass it on from generation to generation unchanged.

The interests of caring for the Great Victory, for the memory of those who gave their lives in the name of getting rid of fascism, are incompatible with the facts of falsification of the history of the war, with the facts of desecration of monuments to liberating soldiers, with facts when discord is artificially instilled among fraternal peoples who fought together against fascism.

From the indictment speech of the chief prosecutor from the USSR R.A. Rudenko:

Gentlemen Judges! To carry out the atrocities they had planned, the leaders of the fascist conspiracy created a system of criminal organizations, to which my speech was devoted. Now those who set out to establish domination over the world and exterminate nations are awaiting the coming verdict with trepidation. This sentence should reach not only the authors of bloody fascist “ideas”, the main organizers of the crimes of Hitlerism, who were put in the dock. Your verdict must condemn the entire criminal system of German fascism, that complex, widely branched network of party, government, SS, and military organizations that directly carried out the villainous plans of the main conspirators. On the battlefields, humanity has already pronounced its verdict on criminal German fascism. In the fire of the greatest heroic battles in the history of mankind Soviet Army and the valiant troops of the Allies not only defeated Hitler’s hordes, but also established the high and noble principles of international cooperation, human morality, and humane rules of human coexistence. The prosecution fulfilled its duty to the high court, to the blessed memory of the innocent victims, to the conscience of the people, to its own conscience. May the judgment of the peoples be carried out on the fascist executioners - fair and severe.

Websites were used to prepare the information.

International trial former leaders Hitler's Germany took place from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946 at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg (Germany). The initial list of defendants included the Nazis in the same order as I have listed in this post. On October 18, 1945, the indictment was handed over to the International Military Tribunal and, through its secretariat, transmitted to each of the accused. A month before the start of the trial, each of them was handed an indictment in German. The accused were asked to write on it their attitude towards the accusation. Roeder and Ley didn't write anything (Ley's response was actually his suicide shortly after the charges were filed), but the rest wrote what I wrote in the line: "Last word."

Even before the start of the trial, after reading the indictment, on November 25, 1945, Robert Ley committed suicide in his cell. Gustav Krupp was declared terminally ill by a medical commission, and his case was dropped before trial.

Due to the unprecedented gravity of the crimes committed by the defendants, doubts arose whether all democratic norms of legal proceedings would be observed in relation to them. The prosecution in England and the United States proposed not to give the defendants the last word, but the French and Soviet sides insisted on the opposite. These words, which have entered into eternity, I present to you now.

List of accused.

Hermann Wilhelm Goering(German: Hermann Wilhelm Göring), Reichsmarschall, Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force. He was the most important defendant. Sentenced to death by hanging. 2 hours before the execution of the sentence, he poisoned himself with potassium cyanide, which was given to him with the assistance of E. von der Bach-Zelewski.

Hitler publicly declared Goering guilty of failing to organize air defense countries. On April 23, 1945, based on the Law of June 29, 1941, Goering, after a meeting with G. Lammers, F. Bowler, K. Koscher and others, addressed Hitler on the radio, asking for his consent for him - Goering - to assume the functions of head of government . Goering announced that if he did not receive an answer by 22 o'clock, he would consider it an agreement. On the same day, Goering received an order from Hitler prohibiting him from taking the initiative; at the same time, by order of Martin Bormann, Goering was arrested by an SS detachment on charges of treason. Two days later, Goering was replaced as Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe by Field Marshal R. von Greim and stripped of his titles and awards. In his Political Testament, Hitler expelled Goering from the NSDAP on April 29 and officially named Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz as his successor in his place. On the same day he was transferred to a castle near Berchtesgaden. On May 5, the SS detachment handed over Goering's guard to Luftwaffe units, and Goering was immediately released. On May 8 he was arrested by American troops in Berchtesgaden.

Last word: “The winner is always the judge, and the loser is the accused!”
In his suicide note, Goering wrote: “Reichsmarshals are not hanged, they leave on their own.”

Rudolf Hess(German: Rudolf Heß), Hitler's deputy for leadership of the Nazi Party.

During the trial, lawyers declared his insanity, although Hess gave generally adequate testimony. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Soviet judge, who expressed a dissenting opinion, insisted on the death penalty. He served a life sentence in Berlin in Spandau prison. After the release of A. Speer in 1965, he remained its only prisoner. Until the end of his days he was devoted to Hitler.

In 1986, for the first time during Hess’ imprisonment, the USSR government considered the possibility of his release on humanitarian grounds. In the fall of 1987, during the period of the Soviet Union's presidency of the Spandau International Prison, it was supposed to make a decision on his release, “showing mercy and demonstrating the humanity of Gorbachev’s new course.”

On August 17, 1987, 93-year-old Hess was found dead with a wire around his neck. He left behind a testamentary note, handed to his relatives a month later and written on the back of a letter from his relatives:

"A request to the directors to send this home. Written a few minutes before my death. I thank you all, my beloved, for all the dear things you have done for me. Tell Freiburg that I am extremely sorry that since the Nuremberg trial I must was to act as if I did not know her. I had no choice, since otherwise all attempts to gain freedom would have been in vain. I was really looking forward to meeting her. I really received her photo and all of you.”

Last word: "I don't regret anything."

Joachim von Ribbentrop(German: Ullrich Friedrich Willy Joachim von Ribbentrop), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany. Adviser to Adolf Hitler on foreign policy.

He met Hitler at the end of 1932, when he provided him with his villa for secret negotiations with von Papen. Hitler so impressed Ribbentrop with his refined manners at the table that he soon joined first the NSDAP, and later the SS. On May 30, 1933, Ribbentrop was awarded the title of SS Standartenführer, and Himmler became a frequent guest at his villa.

Hanged by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal. It was he who signed the non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, which Nazi Germany violated with incredible ease.

Last word: “The wrong people have been charged.”

Personally, I consider him the most disgusting character who appeared at the Nuremberg trials.

Robert Ley(German: Robert Ley), head of the Labor Front, by order of which all trade union leaders of the Reich were arrested. Charges were brought against him on three counts - conspiracy to wage aggressive war, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He committed suicide in prison shortly after the indictment was presented before the trial itself began, by hanging himself from a sewer pipe with a towel.

Last word: refused.

(Keitel signs the act of unconditional surrender of Germany)
Wilhelm Keitel(German: Wilhelm Keitel), Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces. It was he who signed the act of surrender of Germany, ending the Great Patriotic War and the Second world war in Europe. However, Keitel advised Hitler not to attack France and opposed Plan Barbarossa. Both times he submitted his resignation, but Hitler did not accept it. In 1942 Keitel last time dared to object to the Fuhrer, speaking out in defense of Field Marshal List, defeated on the Eastern Front. The tribunal rejected Keitel's excuse that he was merely following Hitler's orders and found him guilty on all charges. The sentence was carried out on October 16, 1946.

Last word: “An order for a soldier is always an order!”

Ernst Kaltenbrunner(German: Ernst Kaltenbrunner), head of the RSHA - Main Directorate of Reich Security of the SS and State Secretary of the Reich Ministry of the Interior of Germany. For numerous crimes against civilians and prisoners of war, the court sentenced him to death by hanging. On October 16, 1946, the sentence was carried out.

Last word: “I am not responsible for war crimes, I was only fulfilling my duty as the head of the intelligence agencies, and I refuse to serve as some kind of ersatz Himmler.”

(right)

Alfred Rosenberg(German: Alfred Rosenberg), one of the most influential members of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), one of the main ideologists of Nazism, Reich Minister for Eastern Territories. Sentenced to death by hanging. Rosenberg was the only one of the 10 executed who refused to say the last word on the scaffold.

Last word in court: "I reject the charge of 'conspiracy'. Anti-Semitism was only a necessary defensive measure."

(in the center)

Hans Frank(German: Dr. Hans Frank), head of the occupied Polish lands. On October 12, 1939, immediately after the occupation of Poland, he was appointed by Hitler as head of the administration for the population of the Polish occupied territories, and then as governor-general of occupied Poland. Organized the mass extermination of the civilian population of Poland. Sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out on October 16, 1946.

Last word: “I view this trial as God’s highest court to understand and bring to an end the terrible period of Hitler’s reign.”

Wilhelm Frick(German: Wilhelm Frick), Reich Minister of the Interior, Reichsleiter, head of the NSDAP parliamentary group in the Reichstag, lawyer, one of Hitler's closest friends in the early years of the struggle for power.

The International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg held Frick responsible for bringing Germany under Nazi rule. He was accused of drafting, signing and implementing a number of laws banning political parties and trade unions, creating a system of concentration camps, encouraging the activities of the Gestapo, persecuting Jews and militarizing the German economy. He was found guilty on counts of crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. On October 16, 1946, Frick was hanged.

Last word: "The entire charge is based on the assumption of participation in a conspiracy."

Julius Streicher(German: Julius Streicher), Gauleiter, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Sturmovik" (German: Der Stürmer - Der Stürmer).

He was charged with inciting the murder of Jews, which fell under Charge 4 of the trial - crimes against humanity. In response, Streicher called the trial "a triumph of world Jewry." According to the test results, his IQ was the lowest of all the defendants. During the examination, Streicher once again told psychiatrists about his anti-Semitic beliefs, but he was declared sane and capable of taking responsibility for his actions, although obsessed with an obsession. He believed that the prosecutors and judges were Jews and did not try to repent of what he had done. According to the psychologists who conducted the examination, his fanatical anti-Semitism was more likely the product of a sick psyche, but overall he gave the impression of an adequate person. His authority among the other accused was extremely low, many of them openly shunned such an odious and fanatical figure like him. Hanged by the Nuremberg Tribunal for anti-Semitic propaganda and calls for genocide.

Last word: “This process is the triumph of world Jewry.”

Yalmar Shakht(German: Hjalmar Schacht), Reich Minister of Economics before the war, Director of the German National Bank, President of the Reichsbank, Reich Minister of Economics, Reich Minister without Portfolio. On January 7, 1939, he sent a letter to Hitler, pointing out that the course pursued by the government would lead to the collapse of the German financial system and hyperinflation, and demanded the transfer of financial control to the hands of the Reich Ministry of Finance and the Reichsbank.

In September 1939 he sharply opposed the invasion of Poland. Schacht had a negative attitude towards the war with the USSR, believing that Germany would lose the war for economic reasons. On November 30, 1941, he sent Hitler a sharp letter criticizing the regime. On January 22, 1942, he resigned as Reich Minister.

Schacht had contacts with conspirators against Hitler's regime, although he himself was not a member of the conspiracy. On July 21, 1944, after the failure of the July Plot against Hitler (July 20, 1944), Schacht was arrested and held in the concentration camps of Ravensbrück, Flossenburg and Dachau.

Last word: “I don’t understand why I’ve been charged at all.”

This is probably the most difficult case, October 1, 1946 Schacht was acquitted, then in January 1947 a German denazification court sentenced him to eight years in prison, but on September 2, 1948 he was released from custody.

Later he worked in the banking sector in Germany, founded and headed the banking house "Schacht GmbH" in Düsseldorf. Died on June 3, 1970 in Munich. We can say that he was luckier than all the defendants. Although...

Walter Funk(German: Walther Funk), German journalist, Nazi Minister of Economics after Schacht, President of the Reichsbank. Sentenced to life imprisonment. Released in 1957.

Last word: “Never in my life have I, either consciously or out of ignorance, done anything that would give rise to such accusations. If, out of ignorance or as a result of misconceptions, I committed the acts listed in the indictment, then my guilt should be considered from the perspective of my personal tragedy , but not as a crime."

(right; left - Hitler)
Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach(German: Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach), head of the Friedrich Krupp concern (Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp). From January 1933 - government press secretary, from November 1937 - Reich Minister of Economics and Commissioner General for War Economic Affairs, and at the same time, from January 1939 - President of the Reichsbank.

At the Nuremberg trial he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the International Military Tribunal. Released in 1957.

Karl Doenitz(German: Karl Dönitz), Grand Admiral of the Third Reich Fleet, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, after Hitler's death and in accordance with his posthumous will, President of Germany.

The Nuremberg Tribunal for war crimes (in particular, waging so-called unrestricted submarine warfare) sentenced him to 10 years in prison. This verdict was disputed by some lawyers, since the same methods of submarine warfare were widely practiced by the victors. Some allied officers expressed their sympathy to Doenitz after the verdict. Doenitz was found guilty on counts 2 (crimes against peace) and 3 (war crimes).

After leaving prison (Spandau in West Berlin), Doenitz wrote his memoirs “10 years and 20 days” (meaning 10 years of command of the fleet and 20 days of presidency).

Last word: “None of the charges have anything to do with me. It’s an American invention!”

Erich Raeder(German: Erich Raeder), Grand Admiral, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy of the Third Reich. On January 6, 1943, Hitler ordered Raeder to disband the surface fleet, after which Raeder demanded his resignation and was replaced by Karl Doenitz on January 30, 1943. Raeder received the honorary position of chief inspector of the fleet, but in fact had no rights or responsibilities.

Captured in May 1945 Soviet troops and was transported to Moscow. According to the verdict of the Nuremberg trials, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1945 to 1955 in prison. He petitioned to have his imprisonment commuted to execution; The control commission found that it “cannot increase the penalty.” On January 17, 1955, he was released due to health reasons. Wrote a memoir "My Life".

Last word: refused.

Baldur von Schirach(German: Baldur Benedikt von Schirach), leader of the Hitler Youth, then Gauleiter of Vienna. At the Nuremberg trials he was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He served his entire sentence in the Berlin military prison Spandau. Released September 30, 1966.

Last word: “All troubles come from racial politics.”

I completely agree with this statement.

Fritz Sauckel(German: Fritz Sauckel), head of the forced deportations to the Reich of labor from the occupied territories. Sentenced to death for war crimes and crimes against humanity (mainly for the deportation of foreign workers). Hanged.

Last word: “The gulf between the ideal of a socialist society, nurtured and defended by me, a former sailor and worker, and these terrible events - the concentration camps - deeply shocked me.”

Alfred Jodl(German Alfred Jodl), head of the operational department of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces, Colonel General. At dawn on October 16, 1946, Colonel General Alfred Jodl was hanged. His body was cremated, and his ashes were secretly taken out and scattered. Jodl took an active part in planning the mass extermination of civilians in the occupied territories. On May 7, 1945, on behalf of Admiral K. Doenitz, he signed the general surrender of the German armed forces to the Western allies in Reims.

As Albert Speer recalled, "Jodl's precise and restrained defense made a strong impression. It seems that he was one of the few who managed to rise above the situation." Jodl argued that a soldier could not be held responsible for the decisions of politicians. He insisted that he honestly performed his duty, obeying the Fuhrer, and considered the war a just cause. The tribunal found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Before his death, he wrote in one of his letters: “Hitler buried himself under the ruins of the Reich and his hopes. Let those who want to curse him for this, but I cannot.” Jodl was completely acquitted when the case was reviewed by a Munich court in 1953 (!).

Last word: “The mixture of fair accusations and political propaganda is regrettable.”

Martin Bormann(German: Martin Bormann), head of the party chancellery, was accused in absentia. Chief of Staff of the Deputy Fuhrer "from July 3, 1933), head of the NSDAP party office" from May 1941) and Hitler's personal secretary (from April 1943). Reichsleiter (1933), Reich Minister without Portfolio, SS Obergruppenführer, SA Obergruppenführer.

Associated with him most interesting story.

At the end of April 1945, Bormann was with Hitler in Berlin, in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery. After the suicide of Hitler and Goebbels, Bormann disappeared. However, already in 1946, Arthur Axman, the chief of the Hitler Youth, who, together with Martin Bormann, tried to leave Berlin on May 1-2, 1945, said during interrogation that Martin Bormann died (more precisely, committed suicide) before his eyes on May 2, 1945.

He confirmed that he had seen Martin Bormann and personal doctor Hitler Ludwig Stumpfegger, who lay on his back near the bus station in Berlin, where the battle took place. He crawled close to their faces and clearly distinguished the smell of bitter almonds - it was potassium cyanide. The bridge along which Bormann was planning to escape from Berlin was blocked by Soviet tanks. Borman chose to bite through the ampoule.

However, these testimonies were not considered sufficient evidence of Bormann's death. In 1946, the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg tried Bormann in absentia and sentenced him to death. The lawyers insisted that their client was not subject to trial because he was already dead. The court did not consider the arguments convincing, examined the case and passed a verdict, stipulating that Borman, if detained, has the right to submit a request for pardon within the prescribed time frame.

In the 1970s, while building a road in Berlin, workers discovered remains that were later tentatively identified as those of Martin Bormann. His son, Martin Borman Jr., agreed to provide his blood for DNA analysis of the remains.

The analysis confirmed that the remains really belong to Martin Bormann, who actually tried to leave the bunker and get out of Berlin on May 2, 1945, but realizing that this was impossible, he committed suicide by taking poison (traces of an ampoule with potassium cyanide were found in the teeth of the skeleton). Therefore, the “Bormann case” can safely be considered closed.

In the USSR and Russia Borman is known not only as historical figure, but like the character in the film “Seventeen Moments of Spring” (where he was played by Yuri Vizbor) - and, in connection with this, the character in jokes about Stirlitz.

Franz von Papen(German: Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen), Chancellor of Germany before Hitler, then Ambassador to Austria and Turkey. He was acquitted. However, in February 1947, he again appeared before the denazification commission and was sentenced to eight months in prison as a major war criminal.

Von Papen tried unsuccessfully to relaunch his political career in the 1950s. In his later years he lived at Benzenhofen Castle in Upper Swabia and published many books and memoirs attempting to justify his policies of the 1930s, drawing parallels between this period and the beginning of " Cold War". Died on May 2, 1969 in Obersasbach (Baden).

Last word: “The accusation horrified me, firstly, with the awareness of the irresponsibility as a result of which Germany was plunged into this war, which turned into a world catastrophe, and secondly, with the crimes that were committed by some of my compatriots. The latter are inexplicable from a psychological point of view. It seems to me that the years of godlessness and totalitarianism are to blame for everything.”

Arthur Seyss-Inquart(German: Dr. Arthur Seyß-Inquart), Chancellor of Austria, then Reich Commissioner of occupied Poland and Holland. At Nuremberg, Seyss-Inquart was charged with crimes against peace, planning and unleashing an aggressive war, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was found guilty on all counts, excluding criminal conspiracy. After the verdict was announced, Seyss-Inquart admitted his responsibility in his last speech.

Last word: “Death by hanging - well, I didn’t expect anything less... I hope that this execution is the last act of the tragedy of the Second World War... I believe in Germany.”

Albert Speer(German: Albert Speer), Reich Minister of Armaments and War Industry (1943-1945).

In 1927, Speer received an architect's license from the Technical High School of Munich. Due to the depression in the country, there was no work for the young architect. Speer updated the interior of the villa free of charge to the head of the headquarters of the western district - Kreisleiter NSAC Hanke, who, in turn, recommended the architect to Gauleiter Goebbels for rebuilding the meeting room and furnishing the rooms. After this, Speer receives an order - the design of the May Day rally in Berlin. And then the party congress in Nuremberg (1933). He used red banners and the figure of an eagle, which he proposed to make with a wingspan of 30 meters. Leni Riefenstahl captured in her documentary film “Victory of Faith” the grandeur of the procession at the opening of the party congress. This was followed by the reconstruction of the NSDAP headquarters in Munich in the same 1933. Thus began Speer's architectural career. Hitler was looking everywhere for new energetic people on whom he could rely in the near future. Considering himself an expert in painting and architecture, and possessing some abilities in this area, Hitler chose Speer into his inner circle, which, combined with the latter’s strong career aspirations, determined his entire future fate.

Last word: “The process is necessary. Even an authoritarian state does not relieve each individual of responsibility for the terrible crimes committed.”

(left)
Constantin von Neurath(German: Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath), in the first years of Hitler's reign, Minister of Foreign Affairs, then governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

Neurath was accused in the Nuremberg court of having “assisted in the preparation of war,... participated in the political planning and preparation by the Nazi conspirators for wars of aggression and wars in violation of international treaties,... sanctioned, directed and took part in war crimes... and in crimes against humanity, ...including in particular crimes against persons and property in the occupied territories." Neurath was found guilty on all four counts and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In 1953, Neurath was released due to poor health, aggravated by a myocardial infarction suffered in prison.

Last word: “I have always been against accusations without a possible defense.”

Hans Fritsche(German: Hans Fritzsche), head of the press and broadcasting department at the Ministry of Propaganda.

During the fall of the Nazi regime, Fritsche was in Berlin and capitulated along with the last defenders of the city on May 2, 1945, surrendering to the Red Army. Appeared before the Nuremberg trials, where, together with Julius Streicher (due to the death of Goebbels), he represented Nazi propaganda. Unlike Streicher, who was sentenced to death, Fritsche was acquitted of all three charges: the court found it proven that he did not call for crimes against humanity, did not participate in war crimes or conspiracies to seize power. Like both others acquitted at Nuremberg (Hjalmar Schacht and Franz von Papen), Fritsche, however, was soon convicted of other crimes by the denazification commission. After receiving a 9-year sentence, Fritsche was released for health reasons in 1950 and died of cancer three years later.

Last word: “This is the terrible accusation of all times. Only one thing can be more terrible: the future accusation that the German people will bring against us for abusing their idealism.”

Heinrich Himmler(German: Heinrich Luitpold Himmler), one of the main political and military figures of the Third Reich. Reichsführer SS (1929-1945), Reich Minister of the Interior of Germany (1943-1945), Reichsleiter (1934), Head of the RSHA (1942-1943). Found guilty of numerous war crimes, including genocide. Since 1931, Himmler was creating his own secret service - the SD, at the head of which he put Heydrich.

From 1943, Himmler became Reich Minister of the Interior, and after the failure of the July Plot (1944) - commander of the Reserve Army. Beginning in the summer of 1943, Himmler, through his proxies, began to make contacts with representatives of Western intelligence services with the aim of concluding a separate peace. Hitler, who learned about this, on the eve of the collapse of the Third Reich, expelled Himmler from the NSDAP as a traitor and deprived him of all ranks and positions.

After leaving the Reich Chancellery at the beginning of May 1945, Himmler headed to the Danish border with someone else's passport in the name of Heinrich Hitzinger, who had been executed shortly before and looked a little like Himmler, but on May 21, 1945 he was arrested by the British military authorities and on May 23 committed suicide by taking potassium cyanide .

Himmler's body was cremated and the ashes were scattered in the forest near Lüneburg.

Paul Joseph Goebbels(German: Paul Joseph Goebbels) - Reich Minister of Public Education and Propaganda of Germany (1933-1945), imperial head of propaganda of the NSDAP (since 1929), Reichsleiter (1933), penultimate Chancellor of the Third Reich (April-May 1945).

In his political testament, Hitler appointed Goebbels as his successor as chancellor, but the very next day after the Fuhrer’s suicide, Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide, having first poisoned their six young children. “There will be no act of surrender signed by me!” - said the new chancellor when he learned of the Soviet demand for unconditional surrender. On May 1 at 21:00 Goebbels took potassium cyanide. His wife Magda, before committing suicide following her husband, told her young children: “Don’t be alarmed, now the doctor will give you the vaccination that all children and soldiers receive.” When the children, under the influence of morphine, fell into a half-asleep state, she herself put a crushed ampoule of potassium cyanide into the mouth of each child (there were six of them).

It is impossible to imagine what feelings she experienced at that moment.

And of course, the Fuhrer of the Third Reich:

Winners in Paris.

Hitler behind Hermann Goering, Nuremberg, 1928.

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Venice, June 1934.

Hitler, Mannerheim and Ruti in Finland, 1942.

Hitler and Mussolini, Nuremberg, 1940.

Adolf Hitler(German: Adolf Hitler) - the founder and central figure of Nazism, founder of the totalitarian dictatorship of the Third Reich, Fuhrer of the National Socialist German Workers' Party from July 29, 1921, Reich Chancellor of National Socialist Germany from January 31, 1933, Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor of Germany from August 2 1934, Supreme Commander of the German Armed Forces in World War II.

The generally accepted version of Hitler's suicide

On April 30, 1945, in Berlin surrounded by Soviet troops and realizing complete defeat, Hitler and his wife Eva Braun committed suicide, having first killed their beloved dog Blondie.
In Soviet historiography, the point of view has been established that Hitler took poison (potassium cyanide, like most Nazis who committed suicide), however, according to eyewitnesses, he shot himself. There is also a version according to which Hitler and Braun first took both poisons, after which the Fuhrer shot himself in the temple (thus using both instruments of death).

Even the day before, Hitler gave the order to deliver cans of gasoline from the garage (to destroy the bodies). On April 30, after lunch, Hitler said goodbye to people from his inner circle and, shaking their hands, together with Eva Braun, retired to his apartment, from where the sound of a shot was soon heard. Shortly after 15:15, Hitler's servant Heinz Linge, accompanied by his adjutant Otto Günsche, Goebbels, Bormann and Axmann, entered the Fuhrer's apartment. Dead Hitler sat on the sofa; a blood stain was spreading on his temple. Eva Braun lay nearby, with no visible external injuries. Günsche and Linge wrapped Hitler's body in a soldier's blanket and carried it out into the garden of the Reich Chancellery; after him they carried out Eve’s body. The corpses were placed near the entrance to the bunker, doused with gasoline and burned. On May 5, the bodies were found by a piece of blanket sticking out of the ground and fell into the hands of the Soviet SMERSH. The body was identified, in part, with the help of Hitler's dentist, who confirmed the authenticity of the corpse's dentures. In February 1946, Hitler's body, along with the bodies of Eva Braun and the Goebbels family - Joseph, Magda, 6 children, was buried at one of the NKVD bases in Magdeburg. In 1970, when the territory of this base was to be transferred to the GDR, at the proposal of Yu. V. Andropov, approved by the Politburo, the remains of Hitler and others buried with him were dug up, cremated to ashes and then thrown into the Elbe. Only dentures and part of the skull with a bullet entry hole (found separately from the corpse) were preserved. They are kept in Russian archives, as are the side arms of the sofa on which Hitler shot himself, with traces of blood. However, Hitler's biographer Werner Maser expresses doubts that the discovered corpse and part of the skull really belonged to Hitler.

On October 18, 1945, the indictment was handed over to the International Military Tribunal and, through its secretariat, transmitted to each of the accused. A month before the start of the trial, each of them was handed an indictment in German.

Results: international military tribunal sentenced:
To death by hanging: Goering, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Seyss-Inquart, Bormann (in absentia), Jodl (who was posthumously completely acquitted when the case was reviewed by a Munich court in 1953).
To life imprisonment: Hess, Funk, Raeder.
To 20 years in prison: Schirach, Speer.
To 15 years in prison: Neyrata.
To 10 years in prison: Denitsa.
Acquitted: Fritsche, Papen, Schacht.

Tribunal recognized the criminal organizations of the SS, SD, SA, Gestapo and the leadership of the Nazi Party. The decision to recognize the Supreme Command and the General Staff as criminal was not made, which caused disagreement from a member of the tribunal from the USSR.

A number of convicts filed petitions: Goering, Hess, Ribbentrop, Sauckel, Jodl, Keitel, Seyss-Inquart, Funk, Doenitz and Neurath - for pardon; Raeder - on replacing life imprisonment with the death penalty; Goering, Jodl and Keitel - about replacing hanging with shooting if the request for clemency is not granted. All of these requests were rejected.

The death penalty was carried out on the night of October 16, 1946 in the Nuremberg prison building.

Having convicted the main Nazi criminals, the International Military Tribunal recognized aggression as the gravest crime of an international character. The Nuremberg Trials are sometimes called the "Trial of History" because it had significant influence for the final defeat of Nazism. Sentenced to life imprisonment, Funk and Raeder were pardoned in 1957. After Speer and Schirach were released in 1966, only Hess remained in prison. The right-wing forces of Germany repeatedly demanded to pardon him, but the victorious powers refused to commute the sentence. On August 17, 1987, Hess was found hanged in his cell.

Goering in the dock at the Nuremberg trials

On October 1, 1946, the verdict of the International Military Tribunal was announced in Nuremberg, condemning the main war criminals. It is often called the “Court of History”. It was not only one of the largest trials in human history, but also a major milestone in the development of international law. The Nuremberg trials legally secured the final defeat of fascism.

In the dock:

For the first time, the criminals who made the entire state criminal were found and suffered severe punishment. The initial list of accused included:

1. Hermann Wilhelm Göring (German: Hermann Wilhelm Göring), Reichsmarshal, Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force
2. Rudolf Hess (German: Rudolf Heß), Hitler's deputy for leadership of the Nazi Party.
3. Joachim von Ribbentrop (German: Ullrich Friedrich Willy Joachim von Ribbentrop), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany.
4. Robert Ley (German: Robert Ley), head of the Labor Front
5. Wilhelm Keitel (German: Wilhelm Keitel), Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces.
6. Ernst Kaltenbrunner (German: Ernst Kaltenbrunner), head of the RSHA.
7. Alfred Rosenberg (German: Alfred Rosenberg), one of the main ideologists of Nazism, Reich Minister for Eastern Affairs.
8. Hans Frank (German: Dr. Hans Frank), head of the occupied Polish lands.
9. Wilhelm Frick (German: Wilhelm Frick), Reich Minister of the Interior.
10. Julius Streicher (German: Julius Streicher), Gauleiter, editor-in-chief of the anti-Semitic newspaper "Stormtrooper" (German: Der Stürmer - Der Sturmer).
11. Hjalmar Schacht, Reich Minister of Economics before the war.
12. Walter Funk (German: Walther Funk), Minister of Economics after Schacht.
13. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (German: Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach), head of the Friedrich Krupp concern.
14. Karl Doenitz (German: Karl Dönitz), admiral of the fleet of the Third Reich.
15. Erich Raeder (German: Erich Raeder), Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.
16. Baldur von Schirach (German: Baldur Benedikt von Schirach), head of the Hitler Youth, Gauleiter of Vienna.
17. Fritz Sauckel (German: Fritz Sauckel), head of forced deportations to the Reich of labor from occupied territories.
18. Alfred Jodl (German: Alfred Jodl), Chief of Staff of the OKW Operations Command
19. Franz von Papen (German: Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen), Chancellor of Germany before Hitler, then ambassador to Austria and Turkey.
20. Arthur Seyß-Inquart (German: Dr. Arthur Seyß-Inquart), Chancellor of Austria, then Imperial Commissioner of occupied Holland.
21. Albert Speer (German: Albert Speer), Reich Minister of Armaments.
22. Konstantin von Neurath (German: Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath), in the first years of Hitler's reign, Minister of Foreign Affairs, then governor of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
23. Hans Fritzsche (German: Hans Fritzsche), head of the press and broadcasting department at the Ministry of Propaganda.

Twenty-fourth - Martin Bormann (German: Martin Bormann), head of the party chancellery, was accused in absentia. Groups or organizations to which the defendants belonged were also charged.

The investigation and the essence of the accusation

Shortly after the end of the war, the victorious countries of the USSR, USA, Great Britain and France, during the London Conference, approved the Agreement on the establishment of the International Military Tribunal and its Charter, the principles of which were approved by the UN General Assembly as generally recognized in the fight against crimes against humanity. On August 29, 1945, a list of major war criminals was published, including 24 prominent Nazis. The charges brought against them included the following:

Nazi Party Plans

• -Use of Nazi control for aggression against foreign countries.
• -Aggressive actions against Austria and Czechoslovakia.
• -Attack on Poland.
• -Aggressive war against the whole world (1939-1941).
• -German invasion of the territory of the USSR in violation of the non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939.
• -Collaboration with Italy and Japan and aggressive war against the United States (November 1936 - December 1941).

Crimes against peace

"All of the defendants and various other persons, for a number of years prior to May 8, 1945, participated in the planning, preparation, initiation and conduct of aggressive wars, which were also wars in violation of international treaties, agreements and obligations."

War crimes

• -Killings and ill-treatment of civilians in occupied territories and on the high seas.

• -Removal of the civilian population of the occupied territories into slavery and for other purposes.
• -Killings and cruel treatment of prisoners of war and military personnel of countries with which Germany was at war, as well as persons sailing on the high seas.
• -Aimless destruction of large and small cities and villages, devastation not justified by military necessity.
• -Germanization of the occupied territories.

Crimes against humanity

• -The defendants pursued a policy of persecution, repression and extermination of the enemies of the Nazi government. The Nazis imprisoned people without a trial, subjected them to persecution, humiliation, enslavement, torture, and killed them.

On October 18, 1945, the indictment was received by the International Military Tribunal and a month before the start of the trial, it was handed to each of the accused in German. On November 25, 1945, after reading the indictment, Robert Ley committed suicide, and Gustav Krupp was declared terminally ill by the medical commission, and the case against him was dropped before trial.

The remaining accused were brought to trial.

Court

In accordance with the London Agreement, the International Military Tribunal was formed on a parity basis from representatives of four countries. The British representative, Lord J. Lawrence, was appointed chief judge. From other countries, members of the tribunal were approved:

• - from the USSR: Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, Major General of Justice I. T. Nikitchenko.
• -from the USA: former Attorney General of the country F. Biddle.
• -from France: professor of criminal law A. Donnedier de Vabre.

Each of the 4 countries sent its main prosecutors, their deputies and assistants to the trial:

• - from the USSR: Prosecutor General of the Ukrainian SSR R. A. Rudenko.
• - from the USA: member of the federal Supreme Court Robert Jackson.
• -from UK: Hartley Shawcross
• -from France: François de Menton, who was absent during the first days of the trial and was replaced by Charles Dubost, and then Champentier de Ribes was appointed instead of de Menton.

The trial lasted ten months in Nuremberg. A total of 216 court hearings were held. Each side presented evidence of crimes committed by Nazi criminals.

Due to the unprecedented gravity of the crimes committed by the defendants, doubts arose whether democratic norms of legal proceedings would be observed in relation to them. For example, representatives of the prosecution from England and the USA proposed not to give the defendants the last word. However, the French and Soviet sides insisted on the opposite.

The trial was tense not only because of the unusual nature of the tribunal itself and the charges brought against the defendants.

The post-war aggravation of relations between the USSR and the West after Churchill’s famous Fulton speech also had an effect, and the defendants, sensing the current political situation, skillfully played for time and hoped to escape their well-deserved punishment. In such a difficult situation, the tough and professional actions of the Soviet prosecution played a key role. The film about concentration camps, shot by front-line cameramen, finally turned the tide of the process. The terrible pictures of Majdanek, Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz completely removed the doubts of the tribunal.

Court verdict

The International Military Tribunal sentenced:

• -To death by hanging: Goering, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Seyss-Inquart, Bormann (in absentia), Jodl (was posthumously acquitted during a review of the case by a Munich court in 1953).
• -To life imprisonment: Hess, Funk, Raeder.
• - To 20 years in prison: Schirach, Speer.
• -To 15 years in prison: Neurata.
• -To 10 years in prison: Denitsa.
• -Acquitted: Fritsche, Papen, Schacht.

The Soviet side protested in connection with the acquittal of Papen, Fritsche, Schacht and the non-application of the death penalty to Hess.
The Tribunal found the SS, SD, SA, Gestapo and the leadership of the Nazi Party criminal. The decision to recognize the Supreme Command and the General Staff as criminal was not made, which caused disagreement from a member of the tribunal from the USSR.

Most of the convicts filed petitions for clemency; Raeder - on replacing life imprisonment with the death penalty; Goering, Jodl and Keitel - about replacing hanging with shooting if the request for clemency is not granted. All of these requests were rejected.
The death penalty was carried out on the night of October 16, 1946 in the Nuremberg prison building. Goering poisoned himself in prison shortly before his execution.

The sentence was carried out “at his own request” by American Sergeant John Wood.

Sentenced to life imprisonment, Funk and Raeder were pardoned in 1957. After Speer and Schirach were released in 1966, only Hess remained in prison. The right-wing forces of Germany repeatedly demanded to pardon him, but the victorious powers refused to commute the sentence. On August 17, 1987, Hess was found hanged in his cell.

Results and conclusions

The Nuremberg Tribunal, having created a precedent for the jurisdiction of senior government officials by an international court, refuted the medieval principle “Kings are subject to the jurisdiction only of God.” It was with the Nuremberg trials that the history of international criminal law began. The principles enshrined in the Charter of the Tribunal were soon confirmed by decisions of the UN General Assembly as generally recognized principles of international law. Having convicted the main Nazi criminals, the International Military Tribunal recognized aggression as the gravest crime of an international character.