The Nuremberg War Trials began on this day in 1945, and the details of the appalling atrocities of the Holocaust began to come to light to the public. As a result there was a clamour for those responsible to face justice.
It was held in the German city of Nuremberg. Holding the post-war trials there marked the symbolic end of Hitler’s Third Reich to the international public.
Joseph Stalin initially proposed the execution of 50,000 to 100,000 German staff officers, while British Prime Minister Winston Churchill discussed the possibility of summary execution of high-ranking Nazis.
The Americans convinced the two that criminal trials would be more effective. Among other advantages, the proceedings would require documentation of the crimes and prevent later claims that the defendants had been condemned without evidence.
The defendants included Nazi Party officials and high-ranking military officers along with German industrialists, lawyers and doctors. They faced charges such as crimes against peace and crimes against humanity.
Adolf Hitler never went to trial for his crimes. Hitler committed suicide with his new bride, Eva Braun, in their bunker beneath the ruins of Berlin as the last shots of the war were being fired.
All but three of the defendants were found guilty. Twelve were sentenced to death and the rest received prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life. Ten of the condemned were executed by hanging on October 16th of 1946.
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