Nuremberg Trials |
|
The Nuremberg trials were a set of military tribunals which were held by the Allied forces after World War II. The trials were most notable for the prosecution of a number of prominent members of the military, political, judicial and economic leadership of Nazi Germany. These were some of the people who carried out, planned or participated in The Holocaust and other war crimes between 1939 and 1945. The trials were held in Germany, in the city of Nuremberg.
Held between 20th November 1945 and 1st October 1946, this first trial has become the best known and described by Norman Birkett (one of the presiding British judges) as "the greatest trial in history". This was the trial of the major war criminals before the IMT (International Military Tribunal). This Tribunal was given the task of trying 24 of the most important political and military leaders of the Third Reich. Head of the German Labour Front Robert Ley committed suicide on 25th October 1945, before the trial began. He was neither acquitted nor found guilty as trial did not proceed. Adolf Hitler was not included neither were Heinrich Himmler or Joseph Goebbels as all had committed suicide in the spring of 1945, long before the indictment was signed. Another chief protagonist, Reinhard Heydrich was not included as he had been assassinated in 1942. The second set of trials was conducted under Control Council Law No. 10 at the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunals (NMT) of lesser war criminals , which included the Doctors' Trial and the Judges' Trial. Why was Nuremburg chosen for the trials?Leipzig and Luxembourg were considered as the location for the trial, while the Soviet Union had wanted the trials to take place in Berlin, however Nuremberg was chosen as the site for two reasons. The first reason was been the decisive factor.
Most of the accused had previously been detained a processing station at Camp Ashcan and interrogation center in Luxembourg, then moved to Nuremberg for the trial. The TrialThe Trail
The International Military Tribunal was opened on 19th November 1945 in the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. The first session was presided over by Nikitchenko, the Soviet judge. The prosecution entered indictments against 24 major war criminals and seven organizations
The indictments were for:
Below is a quick summary of defendants charged with War Crimes and the sentence handed to each of the accused.
* Martin Bormann, successor to Hess as Nazi Party Secretary was sentenced to death in absentia (while absent). He is thought to have been killed trying to flee from Berlin in the last few days of the war.
** Hermann Göring committed suicide the night before the execution. ExecutionsThe death sentences were carried out on 16th October 1946. Hanging using the standard drop method instead of long drop was the chosen method. The United States army denied claims that the drop length was too short which caused the condemned to die slowly by strangulation instead of quickly from a broken neck. But evidence remains that some of the condemned men died slowly and struggling for anywhere between 14 and 28 minutes before finally choking to death. The executioner was John C. Woods who had hanged 34 US soldiers during World War II, also making a mess of several of them. The executions were conducted in the gymnasium of the court building which was demolished in 1983).
Although long persisting rumours suggested that the bodies were taken to Dachau and burned, they were actually incinerated in a crematorium in Munich with the ashes scattered over the river Isar. The French judges suggested that the military condemned (Jodl, Göring and Keitel) be shot by a firing squad as is standard for military courts-martial. This was opposed by Biddle and the Soviet judges, with the argument that the military officers had violated their military ethos and were not worthy of death by being shot, even though this was considered to be more dignified. The prisoners sentenced to jail terms were transferred to Spandau Prison in 1947. |