Who was on trial at Nuremberg?
November 20, 1945, was the beginning of punishment for thousands of criminals. The Major Criminals Trials was the most famous of the trials at Nuremberg. In all, twenty-two men were tried during this time. Several defendants included Wilhem Frick, Albert Speer, Hermann Goring, Hans Frank, Wilhem Keitel, Alfred Rosenberg, and Alfred Jodl are a few of the criminals. Wilhem Frick was a German politician of the Nazi Party and Reich Minister of the Interior in the Hitler cabinet who was tried and convicted of war crimes and executed by hanging. Albert Speer was a German architect who was also the Minister of Armaments and War Production for Nazi Germany. He was Adolf Hitler’s chief architect and known to have accepted responsibility for his crimes. Hermann Goring, a leading member of the Nazi Party, he was the second most powerful man in Germany and was appointed commander in chief of the Luftwaffe (Air Force). Hans Frank, a German lawyer and also Hitler’s personal lawyer, he occupied Poland and aroused a reign of terror for the civilians of Poland. Found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, he was hung. Wilhem Keitel, a German field marshal and chief of Supreme Command of Armed Forces, he was tried and executed. Alfred Rosenberg, a confidant of Hitler and German ideologist of Nazism was convicted of crimes against humanity and executed in October 1946. Alfred Jodl, a German general who was Chief of Operations Staff of the Armed Forces High Command who was hung for his war crimes committed. An abundance of trials followed the Major War Criminals Trial such as The Doctor’s Trial, The Milch Trial, The Judge’s Trial, The Pohl Trial, The Flick Trial, The IG Farben Trial, The Hostages Trial, The RuSHA Trial, The Einsatzgruppen Trial, The Krupp Trial, The Ministries Trial, and The High Command Trial. Contrary to being tried and hung, several such as Martin Bormann, Heinrich Himmler, Joseph Goebbels and Adolf Hitler committed suicide. Sentenced to prison versus death, many Nazi criminals such as Karl Doenitz, Rudolf Hess, Erich Rader, and Walter Funk spent the rest of their days behind bars. Among those convicted, three fortunate men escaped death and imprisonment, Franz von Papen, Hans Fritzsche, and Hjalmar Schact were found not guilty. Adolf Hitler, the most notable figure in Nazi history quoted “If you win you need not have to explain…if you lose, you should not be there to explain!” Hitler followed his own quote by taking his own life rather than the consequences of explaining his actions. The myriad of people, crimes and punishments involved in the Nuremberg Trials paved the road forward for international law.