page_title: Law in Nazi Germany
section_title: Nuremberg trials
hierarchical_section_title: Law in Nazi Germany / Nuremberg trials
caption_attribution_description: English: International Military Tribunal NurembergThe defendants in the dock at the International Military Tribunal trial of war criminals at Nuremberg.Date: Nov 20, 1945 - Oct 1, 1946Locale: Nuremberg, [Bavaria] Germany
context_page_description: From 1933 to 1945, the Nazi regime ruled Germany and controlled much of Europe. During this time, Nazi Germany shifted from the post-World War I society which characterized the Weimar Republic and introduced an ideology of "biological racism" into the country's legal and justicial systems. The shift from the traditional legal system to the Nazis' ideological mission enabled all of the subsequent acts of the Hitler regime, including its atrocities to be performed "legally". For this to succeed, the normative judicial system needed to be reworked; judges, lawyers and other civil servants acclimatized themselves to the new Nazi laws and personnel.
context_section_description: After the end of World War II, the Nuremberg trials were conducted in 1945 and 1946 to bring Nazi war criminals to justice. The Nuremberg Charter, decreeing an International Military Tribunal (IMT), was announced on 8 August 1945 to conduct 13 trials made up of judges from the United States, Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union. Article six of the charter outlines the crimes for which Nazi officials would be tried:
  Conspiracy to commit charges two, three, and four below
  Crimes against peace – participation in the planning and waging of a war of aggression in violation of international treaties
  War crimes – violations of the internationally agreed-on rules for waging war
  Crimes against humanity – murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war, or persecution 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 it was perpetrated.
  Twenty-four Nazi officials were indicted for these crimes on 6 October 1945, including Hermann Goring (Hitler's designated heir), Rudolf Hess (Nazi deputy leader), Joachim von Ribbentrop (foreign minister), and Wilhelm Keitel (head of the armed forces). Verdicts included 12 death sentences, three life imprisonments, four prison terms of 10–20 years and three acquittals. Those acquitted were Hjalmar Schacht (economics minister), former vice-chancellor Franz von Papen, and Hans Fritzsche (head of press and radio).
caption: Defendants at the Nuremberg trials
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