This Day in History: 20 November 2020
20 November 1945
75 years ago, today, the Nuremberg Trials began, as 24 high-ranking Nazis went on trial in Nuremberg, for atrocities committed during World War II. These trials were conducted by an international tribunal made up of representatives from the United States, the Soviet Union, France and Great Britain. It was the first trial of its kind in history, and the defendants faced charges ranging from crimes against peace, to crimes of war, to crimes against humanity. Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence, the British member, presided over the proceedings, which tasted 10 months and consisted of 216 court sessions.
In October 1946, 12 architects of the Nazi policy were sentenced to death, and 7 others were sentenced to prison terms, ranging from 10 years to life. Three others were acquitted. Of the original 24 defendants, one, Robert Ley, committed suicide while in prison, and another, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, was deemed mentally and physically incompetent to stand trial. Among those condemned to death were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Hermann Goering, Alfred Jodl, and Wilhelm Frick. Goering, however, committed suicide by poison on the eve of his scheduled execution. Trials of lesser war criminals continued in Germany during the 1950s and resulted in the conviction of 5,025 other defendants and the execution of 806.
Want to find out more about the Nuremberg Trials? Click here for more information, or here for more about the most wanted Nazis today.
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