Nuremberg Trials

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Template:TOC-right The International Military Tribunal (IMT) in Nuremberg by the four major Allied powers in Europe, convened as the Allied Control Commission, this proceeding tried the designated Major War Criminals of Nazi Germany, as well as determining whether certain Nazi organizations were to be considered as criminal conspiracies to which membership was a crime. It complemented the International Military Tribunal (Tokyo) of the Major War Criminals of the Empire of Japan, and was followed by a series of Nuremberg Military Tribunals conducted by the United States.

This was an unprecedented event in international law. [1] It was not a conventional trial, and there was no body of international law to guide it. Few would argue that many of the charges were ex post facto, for offenses, such as crimes against humanity, which were not recognized in international law at the time they were committed. Some of the offenses, such as crimes against peace, arguably violated the Kellogg-Briand accord, but that treaty did not prescribe enforcement.

Planning and conduct

While the Allies had, for some time, been discussing how to handle the leaders of the Third Reich, the formal IMT opened in Berlin on October 18, 1945. Proceedings began in Nuremberg on November 14, 1945, and ended with the sentences on October 1, 1946.

Convicted defendants condemned to death were subsequently executed, at Nuremberg, on October 16, 1946. Those defendants subject to imprisonment were held at Spandau Prison in Berlin, which closed after the last prisoner, Rudolf Hess, died on August 17, 1987.

Defendants

Individual

An opening session of the IMT was held at Berlin on 18 October 1945; the tribunal convened at Nuremberg on 14 November 1945 and concluded its business with the passing of sentence on twenty-two defendants on 1 October 1946. These defendants were:

Organizational

References

  1. ↑ Papers of the International Military Tribunal and the Nuremberg Military Tribunals, ArchivesHub, a national gateway to descriptions of archives in UK universities and colleges, University of Southampton Libraries Special Collections Reference: GB 0738 MS 200
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