Today in History: The Nuremberg Trials Verdicts
On this day, the 6th of Tishrei, 74 years ago, the Nuremberg Trials concluded with the sentencing of Nazi regime leaders.
- דבי רייכמן
- פורסם ו' תשרי התשפ"א
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Between 1945 and 1946, the city of Nuremberg, the second-largest city in Bavaria, Germany, hosted the series of trials known as the "Nuremberg Trials." Twenty-two top Nazi officials were prosecuted, including Hermann Göring, one of Hitler's main advisors; Martin Bormann, the Nazi Party Secretary; and Joachim von Ribbentrop, who served as the German Foreign Minister during the Nazi regime and World War II.
The charges against the defendants included conspiracy to commit aggressive war, violating international agreements; crimes against peace; war crimes, particularly the treatment of prisoners of war; and crimes against humanity, encompassing murder, extermination, deportation, and enslavement.
Further Reading:The Story of Ben Ferencz, the Last Living Prosecutor of the Nuremberg Trials.
On the 6th of Tishrei, 5707 (Jewish calendar), sentences were pronounced for the defendants. Twelve of the 22 defendants were sentenced to death, including Bormann, who had fled yet was still sentenced in absentia, and Göring, who managed to commit suicide in his cell the day before his scheduled execution. The remaining defendants received life imprisonment or lengthy prison sentences.
The Nuremberg Trials opened the door to a series of subsequent trials of other war criminals and significantly raised global awareness about the war crimes and horrors that occurred.
