The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg

1.

THE INTERNATIONAL
MILITARY TRIBUNAL
AT NUREMBERG
The presentation was prepared
by Maxim Zheltikov and Sofya
Sidorenko.

2.

Between
20 November 1945
and 1 October 1946,
the International
Military Tribunal
(IMT) tried 21 of the
most important
surviving leaders of
Nazi Germany in the
political, military, and
economic spheres,
as well as six
German
organizations.

3.

Aron
Naumovich
Trainin
July 9, 1883 - February 7 , 1957
"The Nuremberg trial, for the
edification of malicious skeptics
of all stripes and ranks, showed
the whole world the viability of
international justice bodies"

4.

STATEMENT ON ATROCITIES
■ The Moscow Declarations were four declarations signed during the
Moscow Conference on October 30, 1943. They were signed by the
foreign secretaries of the governments of the United States, the United
Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the Republic of China. Four declarations
were signed at the conference: The Declaration of the Four Nations on
General Security, the Declaration on Italy, the Declaration on Austria,
and the Declarations on Atrocities.[1]
■ «Let those who have hitherto not imbued their hands with innocent
blood beware lest they join the ranks of the guilty, for most assuredly the
three Allied powers will pursue them to the uttermost ends of the earth
and will deliver them to their accusors in order that justice may be
done».
«STATEMENT ON ATROCITIES»

5.

The Agreement for the prosecution
and punishment of the major war
criminals of the European Axis
was developed by the European
Advisory Commission under the
authority
of
Statement
on
Atrocities, which was agreed at
the Moscow Conference.
It was drawn up in London,
following
the
surrender
of
Germany on VE Day. It was drafted
by Robert H. Jackson, Robert
Falco, and Iona Nikitchenko of the
European Advisory Commission
and issued on 8 August 1945.

6.

Aron Trainin
(center, with mustache) speaks
at the London Conference

7.

Legal basis of the Nuremberg Trials
1. Notes of the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs V. M. Molotov:
- «On the outrageous atrocities of the German authorities against Soviet
prisoners of war» (11.25.1941);
- «On the widespread looting, devastation of the population and monstrous
atrocities of the German authorities in the Soviet territories they seized»
(06.01.1942);
- «On the monstrous atrocities, atrocities and violence of the Nazi invaders in
the occupied Soviet areas and on responsibility the German government and
the command for these crimes» (27.04.1942)
2. Declaration on Punishment for Crimes Committed during the War by Nazi
Germany and its Allies (13.01.1942)
3. The statement of the Soviet Government on the responsibility of the Hitlerite
invaders and their accomplices for the atrocities committed by them in the
occupied countries of Europe (14.10.1942)

8.

! 4. The Declaration on the responsibility of the Hitlerites for the
atrocities committed (Moscow Declaration) (October 1943)
5. The Declaration regarding the defeat of Germany (05.06.1945)
! 6. London Agreement for the Prosecution and Punishment of the
Major War Criminals of the European Axis (08.08.1945)
! 7. London Charter of the International Military Tribunal (Nuremberg
Charter) (08.08.1945 )
! 8. Nuremberg Rules of Procedure (28.10.1945)
! 9. Control Council Law No. 10, Punishment of Persons Guilty of War
Crimes, Crimes Against Peace and Against Humanity (20.12.1945)

9.

Jurisdiction of the International
Military Tribunal
Personal jurisdiction: «the major war criminals
of the European Axis countries» («persons who,
acting in the interests of the European Axis
countries, whether as individuals or as
members of organizations, committed any of
the following crimes») (par. 1 of Art. 6 of
Nuremberg Charter)
Territorial jurisdiction: crimes of the main
German war criminals «have no particular
geographical localization» (par. 5 of the
Moscow Declaration of 1943)
* Temporary jurisdiction: the period of
existence of Nazi Germany 1933 – 1945
(indirect confirmation in par. 5 Art. 2 of Control
Council Law No. 10)

10.

Subject-matter jurisdiction (par. 2 - 6 of Art. 6)
1. Crimes against peace:
- planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties,
agreements or assurances, or
- participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing
2. War crimes (violations of the laws or customs of war):
- murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied
territory,
- murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas,
- killing of hostages,
- plunder of public or private property,
- wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages, or
- devastation not justified by military necessity;
- other crimes
3. Crimes against humanity:
- murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian
population, before or during the war; or
- persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the
jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of the domestic law of the country where perpetrated

11.

from the USSR: Major General of Justice
Jonah Nikitchenko and Colonel of Justice
Alexander Volchkov
from the USA: Attorney General Francis
Biddle and Judge John Parker
from the UK: Judge Jeffrey Lawrence and
Judge Norman Birket
from France: Professor Henri Donnedieu
de Vabre and Judge Robert Falco.
The President of the Tribunal is Judge
Jeffrey Lawrence

12.

from the USA: US Supreme Court
Justice Robert Jackson.
from the USSR: Prosecutor General
of the USSR R. A. Rudenko.
from Great Britain: Hartley
Shawcross
from France: Francois de Menton,
Champetier de Rib (since January
1946).

13.

14.

15.

Defendant
Post
Charge
(section №)
№ 1 – 4 (guilty)
Punishment
Hermann Göring
Reichsmarschall, Vice-Fuhrer (1941 - 1945), Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force
Wilhelm Keitel
Field Marshal General,
Chief of the Wehrmacht High Command (1938 - 1945)
SS Obergruppenfuhrer, German Foreign Minister (1938 - 1945)
№ 1 – 4 (guilty)
Hanging
(committed suicide)
Hanging
№ 1 – 4 (guilty)
Hanging
Colonel-General,
Chief of Staff of the Operational Leadership of the Wehrmacht High Command
Obergruppenfuhrer SA,
Reichsleiter,
Reich Minister of the Eastern Occupied Territories (1941- 1945)
Reichsleiter,
Reich Minister of the Interior of the Third Reich (1933 - 1943),
Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia (1943 - 1945)
SS Obergruppenfuhrer,
Reichskommissar of the Netherlands (1940 - 1945)
SS Obergruppenfuhrer,
Head of the Main Directorate of Imperial Security
№ 1 – 4 (guilty)
Hanging
№ 1 – 4 (guilty)
Hanging
№ 1 – not guilty;
№ 2, 3, 4 - guilty
Hanging
№ 1 – not guilty;
№ 2, 3, 4 - guilty
№ 1 – not guilty;
№ 2 – not charged;
№ 3, 4 - guilty
№ 1 – not guilty;
№ 2 – not charged;
№ 3, 4 - guilty
№ 1 – not guilty;
№ 2 – not charged;
№ 3, 4 - guilty
№ 1, 2 – not guilty;
№ 3, 4 - guilty
№ 1 – not guilty;
№ 2, 3 – not charged;
№ 4 - guilty
Hanging
Joachim von Ribbentrop
Alfred Jodl
Alfred Rosenberg
Wilhelm Frick
Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Hans Frank
Martin Bormann
Fritz Sauckel
Julius Streicher
SS and SA Obergruppenfuhrer,
Governor-General of Poland
Head of the NSDAP Party Chancellery, Reichsleiter,
The Fuhrer's personal Secretary
SS and SA Obergruppenfuhrer,
The General Commissioner for the Use of Labor in the four-year plan system
Obergruppenfuhrer SA,
Gauleiter of Franconia (1933 - 1940),
Editor-in-chief of the weekly «Der Stürmer» (1923 - 1945)
Hanging
Hanging
Hanging
(in absentia)
Hanging
Hanging

16.

Rudolf Hess
SS and SA Obergruppenfuhrer,
Reichsleiter,
Deputy Fuhrer for the NSDAP
№ 1, 2 – guilty;
№ 3, 4 – not guilty
Life imprisonment
(hanged himself in 1987)
Erich Raeder
Gross Admiral,
Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces of the Third Reich (1935 - 1943)
Reich Minister of Economy (1938 - 1945)
№ 1, 2, 3 – guilty;
№ 4 – not charged
№ 1 - not guilty;
№ 2, 3, 4 - guilty
№ 1 - not guilty;
№ 2, 3 - not charged;
№ 4 - guilty
Life imprisonment
(released in 1955)
Life imprisonment
(released in 1957)
20 years
(fully served)
Walther Funk
Baldur von Schirach
Obergruppenfuhrer SA,
Reichsleiter, Reichsugendfuhrer of the Hitler Youth (1931 - 1940)
Albert Speer
Personal architect of A. Hitler,
Reich Minister of Armaments and Military Industry (1942 - 1945)
SS Obergruppenfuhrer,
Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs (1932 - 1938),
Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia (1939 - 1941)
№ 1, 2 – guilty;
№ 3, 4 – not guilty
№ 1 – 4 (guilty)
20 years
(fully served)
15 years
(released in 1954)
Karl Dönitz
Gross Admiral,
Commander-in-Chief of the Navy of the Third Reich (1943 - 1945),
Reichspresident and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Third Reich (from 30.04.
to 23.05.1945)
№ 1 – not guilty;
№ 2, 3 – guilty;
№ 4 - not charged
10 years
(fully served)
Hjalmar Schacht
Reich Minister of Economy (1934 - 1937),
President of the Reichsbank (1933 -1939)
In September 1944, he was arrested by the Gestapo for involvement in the July plot, and was
held in concentration camps until the end of the war
№ 1, 2 – not guilty;
№ 3, 4 - not charged
Acquitted
(sentenced to 8 years in
1947, released in 1948)
Franz von Papen
Reich Chancellor (1932), Vice-Chancellor (1933-1934),
Ambassador to Austria (1934-1938) and Turkey (1939 - 1944)
№ 1, 2 – not guilty;
№ 3, 4 - not charged
Acquitted
(in 1947, sentenced to 8
months)
Hans Fritzsche
Head of the Radio Broadcasting Department of the Ministry of Public Education and
Propaganda (1942 - 1945), radio presenter, journalist
№ 1, 2, 3 - not guilty;
№ 4 - not charged
Acquitted
(sentenced to 9 years in
1947, released in 1950)
Konstantin von Neurath

17.

Dissenting opinion of the member of the
IMT from the USSR I.T. Nikitchenko
1. Unreasonable justification of Schacht:
4. About the measure of punishment to Hess:
- «prepared the German economy for aggressive wars»;
- «along with Himmler, he acted as the creator of ... SS-police
organizations»;
- «took part in the persecution of Jews and in the looting of the
territories occupied by the Germans»
2. Unreasonable justification of von Papen:
- «used all his forces and connections to establish and
strengthen the Hitlerite terrorist regime in Germany»;
- «took an active part in the implementation of the aggressive
plans of the Nazis to seize Austria»
3. Unreasonable justification of Fritzsche:
- «a consistent supporter of the misanthropic theory of the «higher race»;
- «initiator of the creation of special «criminal laws» for Poles and Jews in
the occupied eastern territories»
5. Wrong decision about the government cabinet:
- creation of the Gestapo and concentration camps;
- publication of the Nuremberg Laws against Jews
- «systematically propagandized a misanthropic racial theory»;
6. Wrong decision about the General Staff and the Supreme Command of
the Wehrmacht:
- «welcomed the use by Germany of new terrorist methods of
warfare, in particular the use of FAU missiles
- «the publication of the most cruel resolutions and orders on merciless
measures against unarmed civilians and prisoners of war»;
- «The Supreme Command, along with the SS and the police, is responsible
for all the most brutal police actions in the occupied areas»

18.

THANKS FOR YOUR
ATTENTION!