The Nazi Defendants in the Major War Criminal Trial in Nuremberg IN THE END Doenitz, Karl German admiral who would eventually command entire navy. Chosen by Hitler to succeed him as fuhrer. Negotiated surrender following Hitler's suicide. 138 "Politicians brought the Nazis to power and started the war. They are the ones who brought about these disgusting crimes, and now we have to sit there in the dock with them and share the blame!" (5/27/46) On 9/17/42 Doenitz issued the "Laconia Order" to the German submarine fleet. The order forbid rescuing enemy survivors of sunken ships: "Be hard. Remember, the enemy has no regard for women and children when he bombs German cities." Called by Hitler "the Rommel of the Seas"....Said "I would rather eat dirt than have my grandson grow up in the Jewish spirit and faith"...Went on radio after assassination attempt on Hitler to call it "a cowardly attempt at murder." Served 10-year-sentence. Died in 1981.

Frank, Hans Governor-general of Nazi-occupied Poland, called the "Jew butcher of Cracow." 130 " Don't let anybody tell you that they had no idea. Everybody sensed there was something horribly wrong with the system." (11/29/45) "Hitler has disgraced Germany for all time! He betrayed and disgraced the people that loved him!...I will be the first to admit my guilt." (4/17/46) "The Jews must be eliminated. Whenever we catch one, it is his end"...."This territory [Poland] is in its entirety the booty of the German Reich"...."I have not been hesitant in declaring that when a German is shot, up to 100 Poles shall be shot too."--from the diary of Hans Frank. In April of 1930, Hitler asked Frank to secretly investigate a rumor that he had Jewish blood. Frank reported back that there was a 50-50 chance that Hitler was one-quarter Jewish. Hanged--wearing a beatificsmile--in Nuremberg on Oct.

16, 1946 Frick, Wilhelm Minister of the Interior 124 "Hitler didn't want to do things my way. I wanted things done legally. After all, I am a lawyer." (4/24/46).... "The mass murders were certainly not thought of as a consequence of the Nuremberg Laws, [though] it may have turned out that way." Frick drafted, signed, and administered laws that abolished opposition parties, and suppressed trade unions and Jews (including the infamous Nuremberg Laws). Frick knew that the insane, aged, and disabled ("useless eaters") were being systematically killed, but did nothing to stop it. Frick claimed not to be an anit-Semite. He said he drafted the Nuremberg Laws for "scientific reasons": to protect the purity of German blood. Frick was one of eleven defendants sentenced to death. He said, "Hanging--I didn't expect anything different....Well, I hope they get it over with fast." (10/1/46) Frick was hanged on Oct. 16, 1946.

Fritzsche, Hans Head of the Radio Division, one of twelve departments in Goebbel's Propoganda Ministry 130 " I have been tricked and trapped by the Himmler murder machine, even when I tried to put a check on it...Let us explain our position to the world, so that at least we won't die under this awful burden of shame." (11/21/45) "I have the feeling I am drowning in filth....I am choking in it."--(2/21/46, after watching film of atrocities). Fritzsche's radio broadcasts (he was a popular commentator) included strong Nazi propoganda. Fritzsche was one of two defendants turned over to the IMT by Russians.... Fritzsche often appeared on the verge of a breakdown during the trial. Fritzsche was acquitted by the IMT. He said, "I am entirely overwhelmed--to be set free right here, not even to be sent back to Russia. That was more than I hoped for." He was later tried and convicted by a German court, then freed in 1950. He died in 1953.

Funk, Walther Minister of Economics 124 "I signed the laws for the aryanization of Jewish property. Whether that makes me legally guilty or not, is another matter. But it makes me morally guilty, there is no doubt about that. I should have listened to my wife at the end. She said we'd be better off dropping the whole minister business and moving into a three-bedroom flat." (7/8/46) Funk agreed with Himmler to receive gold from the SS (including gold teeth and rings taken from those killed in concentration camps) and deposit in the Reichsbank. Funk told subordinates not to ask questions about the shipments. He either knew or should have known the source of the gold received. Funk said, "The only accusation I can make to myself is...that I should have resigned in 1938 when I saw how they robbed and smashed Jewish property." (12/15/45)....Funk was often seen crying during the presentation of prosecution evidence and needed sleeping pills at night. Funk was sentenced to life imprisonment by the IMT. He was released in 1957 because of poor health. He died in 1959.

Goering, Hermann Reichsmarschall and Luftwaffe (Air Force) Chief; President of Reichstag; Director of "Four Year Plan" 138 "I joined the Party precisely because it was revolutionary, not because of the ideological stuff." (12/11/45)...."The whole conspiracy idea is cockeyed. We had orders to obey the head of state. We weren't a band of criminals meeting in the woods in the dead of night to plan mass murders...The four real conspirators are missing: The Fuhrer, Himmler, Bormann, and Goebbels." (1/5/46)..."This is a political trial by the victors and it will be a good thing when Germany realizes that..." (6/13/46) As Director of the Four Year Plan, Goering bore responsibility for the elimination of Jews from political life and for the destruction and takeover of Jewish businesses and property....He was quoted as saying, "I wish you had killed 200 Jews and not destroyed such valuable property"...He looted art treasures from occupied territories and arranged for use of slave labor.... Goering surrendered to American officers.

The officers offered Goering drinks and sang songs with him, but the next day were reprimanded by an outraged Dwight Eisenhower...Goering was the most popular prisoner with the American guards because he seemed to take an interest in their lives....He seemed to wield a great deal of influence with the other defendants, and prison administrators sought to isolate him as much as possible....Goering said, "We don't have much to say about our fate. The forces of history and politics and economics are just to big to steer." (3/9/46) Goering committed suicide on the day before his scheduled hanging by taking a cyanide pill that was smuggled into his cell. Goering wrote in his suicide note, "I would have no objection to getting shot," but he thought hanging was inappropriate for a man of his position. Hess, Rudolf Deputy to the Fuhrer and Nazi Party Leader 120 "It is just incomprehensible how those things [atrocities] came about...Every genius has the demon in him. You can't blame him [Hitler]--it is just in him...It is all very tragic.

But at least I have the satisfaction of knowing that I tried to do something to end the war." (12/16/45) Jackson called Hess "the engineer tending to the Party machinery." He maintained the organization as a ready and loyal instrument of power. He signed decrees persecuting Jews and was a willing participant in aggression against Austria, Czechoslavakia, and Poland. During his detention following his failed putsch, Hitler dictated Mein Kampf to Hess...Hess mysteriously flew to England in 1941 in an attempt to end the war on his own terms. He stayed there until the war ended....Hess suffered from paranoid delusions, apathy, amnesia, and was diagnosed as having a "hysterical personality." Hess was sentenced to life in prison. He remained--lost in his own mental fog-- in Spandau prison (for many years as its only prisoner) until he committed suicide in 1987 at age 93. Jodl, Alfred Chief of Operations for the German High Command 127 " The indictment knocked me on the head. First of all, I hand no idea at all about 90 per cent of the accusations in it.

The crimes are horrible beyond belief, if they are true. Secondly, I don't see how they can fail to recognize a soldier's obligation to obey orders. That's the code I've live by all my life." (11/1/45) Jodl gave orders for the German army's campaign against Holland, Belgium, Norway, and Poland. He also planned attacks against Greece and Yugoslavia....Jodl was quoted as saying, "Terror attacks against English centers of population ...will paralyze the will of the people to resist." Jodl signed Germany's unconditional surrender on May 7, 1945, ending the war in Europe....He strongly disagreed with many of Hitler's harsh orders: "The order to kill the escaped British fliers--there was absolutely no justification for that. From then on, I knew what kind of a man Hitler was." (4/6/46) Jodl was hanged in Nuremberg on Oct. 16, 1946. Critics have called Jodl's death sentence harsh in relation to the sentences received by other German officers of similar rank.

Kaltenbrunner, Ernst Chief of RSHA (an organization which includes offices of the Gestapo, the SD, and the Criminal Police) and Chief of Security Police 113 "When I saw the newspaper headline 'GAS CHAMBER EXPERT CAPTURED' and an American lieutenant explained it to me, I was pale in amazement. How can they say such things about me?" (4/11/46)..."I have only done my duty as an intelligence organ, and I refuse to serve as an ersatz for Himmler." Kaltenbrunner and RSHA bear responsibity for "The Final Solution" to the Jewish question--and the 6 million jews killed by Einsatzgruppen (2 million) and in concentration camps (4 million). Kaltenbrunner ordered prisoners in Dachau and other camps liquidated just before the camps would have been liberated by Allies.

Kaltenbrunner was described as "a Nazi out of central casting:" six-foot-six, a huge neck, cruel mouth, and a scar across his left cheek...He was shunned by most of the other defendants...His lawyer tried to portray him as a stooge for Himmler, rather than his right-hand man....Kaltenbrunner believed fertile German women had a duty to produce babies, and if their husbands couldn't get them pregnant, other men ought to be given the job. Kaltenbrunner was hanged on Oct. 16, 1946 in Nuremberg. Keitel, Wilhelm Chief of Staff of the German High Command 129 "We all believed so much in him [Hitler]--and we stand to take all the blame--and the shame! He gave us the orders.

He kept saying that it was all his responsibility." 912/25/45)..."I will suffer more agony of conscience and self-reproach in this cell than anybody will ever know." (1/6/46)..."the only thing that is impossible is for me to there [in court] like a louse and lie." (4/6/46) Keitel signed orders authorizing the killing of captured commandos and reprisals against the families of Allied volunteers...He drafted the "Night and Fog" decree that authorized the nighttime arrests and secret killings of suspected members of the resistance..He planned attacks on Czechoslavakia, Poland, Belgium, Holland, and other countries. Keitel's sons were killed in the German attack on the Soviet Union that Keitel helped execute...Keitel, on Hitler's orders, sent two generals to Rommel (who had supported attempts to assassinate Hitler) offering him the the choice of a court-martial or suicide....In prison, Keitel worked on his autobiography....Prison pyschiatrist G. M.

Gilbert said Keitel "had no more backbone than a jellyfish." Keitel was one of ten defendants hanged in the Palace of Justice in the early morning hours of October 16, 1946. Neurath, Konstantin von Minister of Foreign Affairs (until 1938), then Reich Protector for Bohemia and Moravia 125 "Hitler was a liar, of course--that became more and more clear. He simply had no respect for the truth. But nobody recognized it at first...He must have done his conspiring with his little gang of henchmen late at night. Sometimes he would call at 1, 2, or 3 in the morning."(12/15/45) While Neurath was Foreign Minister, Germany "was only breaking one treaty at a time."...While serving at Reich Protector of Bohemia and Moravia, Neurath abolished political parties and trade unions....He knew war crimes were being committed under his authority. At 73, Neurath was the oldest defendant in the Major War Figures Trial.

He seemed to be showing signs of incipient senility...When Chamberlain offered to come to Germany to discuss ways of averting war, Neurath urged Hitler to receive him..."I was always against punishment without the possibility of a defense." Neurath was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. He was released because of poor health in 1954, and died two years later. Papen, Franz von Reich Chancellor prior to Hitler, Vice Chancellor under Hitler, Ambassador to Turkey 134 "I think [Hitler] wanted the best for Germany at the beginning, but he became an unreasoning evil force with the flattery of his followers--Himmler, Goering, Ribbentrop, etc...I tried to persuade him he was wrong in his anti-Jewish policies many a time. He seemed to listen at first, but later on, I had no influence on him." (10/30/45) Von Papen helped consolidate Nazi control in 1933. He strengthened the position of Nazis in Austria to help pave the way for the takeover. He appealed to the Pope to support Hitler. Von Papen remained in office even after learning of political killings and other crimes.

While the trial was in progress, Von Papen had many heated exchanges with Goering....Von Papen was a moderating force in the early years of the Nazi regime. In 1934, he gave a speech highly critical of restrictions on individual liberties...Von Papen said, "I've been portrayed as an intriguing devil. But I can prove I have always worked for peace....I am confident in American justice, and am glad to have the truth brought to light through this trial." Von Papen was acquitted. Commander in Chief of the German Navy 134 "I have no illusion about this trial. Naturally, I will be hanged or shot. I flatter myself to think that I will be shot; at least I will request it. I have no desire to serve a prison sentence at my age." (5/20/46) Raeder advocated attacks by submarines on neutral ships in violation of international law. Raeder was one of two defendants handed over by the Russians, and was put on the list of major war trial defendants at the insistence of the Soviet Union...Raeder retired in 1943...He opposed invading Russia, but then attacked Russian submarines six days before the invasion began.

Raeder was sentenced to life in prison. He served nine years before his release in 1955. He died in 1960 at age 84. Ribbentrop, Joachim von Foreign Minister 129 "We are only living shadows--the remains of a dead era--an era that died with Hitler. Whether a few of us live another 10 or 20 years, it makes no difference." (3/27/46) Rippentrop participated in aggressive plans against Czechoslavakia...He helped plan attacks on Poland and Russia...Ribbentrop played a role in the "Final Solution" when he acted to hasten the deportation of Jews to concentration camps in the East. In prison, Ribbentrop kept asking everyone from doctors to cell guards to barbers for legal advice....Prison pyschiatrist G. M. Gilbert saw Rippentrop as "a confused and demoralized opportunist.".... Ribbentrop's erratic behavior caused his lawyer to complain, "This man is impossible to defend." Rippentrop was hanged on October 16, 1946.

Rosenberg, Alfred Chief Nazi Philosopher and Reichminister for the Eastern Occupied Territories 127 "I didn't say that the Jews are inferior. I didn't even maintain they are a race. I merely saw that the mixture of different cultures didn't work." (1/12/46)..."We let 50,000 Jewish intellectuals get across the border. Just as I wanted Lebensraum for Germany, I thought Jews should have a Lebensraum for themselves--outside of Germany." (12/15/45) Rosenberg helped plan attack on Norway....Developed policies of Germanization, exploitation, and extermination of opponents of Nazi rule...His directives provided for the segregation of Jews in Ghettos, facilitating their mass killing. He set quotas of laborers to be sent to the Reich. Rosenberg was born in Estonia and did not move to Germany until he was 25.....Rosenberg's book promoting the Nazi philosophy was called The Myth of the Twentieth Century....He arranged the theft of fine art and furniture from Jewish apartments in Paris. Rosenberg was hanged on October 16, 1946.

Sauckel, Fritz Chief of Slave Labor Recruitment 118 "I was given this assignment which I could not refuse--and besides, I did everything possible to treat [the foreign slave laborers] well." (2/23/46) Soon after taking office, Sauckel had the governing authorities in the occupied territories establish compulsory labor service in Germany...His program resulted in the deportation for slave labor of 5 million people, many of whom had to endure cruel working conditions. Sauckel seemed confused during most of the trial....Historian Joseph Persico described Sauckel as "the least imposing figure among the defendants, a little man with a shining dome, sad brown eyes, and a silly mustache patterned after the Fuhrer's." Sauckel was hanged on October 16, 1946. Schacht, Hjalmar Reichsbank President and Minister of Economics before the War 143 "I have full confidence in the judges, and I am not afraid of the outcome.

A few of the defendants are not guilty; most of them are sheer criminals." (10/23/45)..."All I wanted was to build up Germany industrially....The only thing they can accuse me of is breaking the Versailles Treaty." (11/1/45) Schacht was an early supporter of the Nazi Pary and supported the appointment of Hitler to the post of Chancellor. Schacht used the facilities of the Reichsbank to facilitate the German rearmament effort and organize the economy for war. Schacht spent 10 months in 1944 in a concentration camp because of suspicion he was plotting against Hitler....Said Schacht of the experience, "I could hear the people being forced to undress and march out to their death--and the shooting in the woods. It was beastly.".....Schacht had the highest IQ of any of the defendants. Schacht was found not guilty by the IMT. Schacht was later convicted by a German court and sentenced to eight years. He was freed in 1950. He died in 1970 at age 93.

Schirach, Baldur von Hitler Youth Leader 130 "I had no reason to be anti-Semitic...until someone made me read the American book, The International Jew, at the impressionable age of 17. You have no idea what a great influece this book had on the thinking of German youth...At the age of 18, I met Adolf Hitler. I must admit I was inspired by him...and became one of his staunchest supporters." (10/27/45) Von Schirach subjected German youth to an extensive program of Nazi propaganda....He participated in the deportation of the Jews from Vienna. Schirach began to become disillusioned with Hitler around 1942: "About 1942, I think I first began to notice that Hitler was becoming slightly insane...In 1943 we had a serious quarrel [over the treatment of Jews]. He flew at me in a rage...I fell from grace after that." Schirach was sentenced to 20 years in prison by the IMT. He was released from Spandau Prison in 1966. He died in 1974 at age 67.

Seyss-Inquart, Arthur Commissioner for the Netherlands 141 "The southern German has the imagination and emotionality to subscribe to a fanatic ideology, but he is ordinarily inhibited from excesses by his natural humaneness. The Prussian does not have the imagination to conceive in terms of abstract racial and political theories, but when he is told to do something, he does it." (4/46) Seyss-Inquart ruthlessly suppressed opposition to the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. He, in collaboration with the SS, was involved in the shooting or sending to concentration camp of opponents of occupation. In Seyss-Inquart's fiefdom of the Netherlands, over 40,000 Dutch were shot as hostages, and another 50,000 died of starvation. In all, 56% of Dutch Jews died during the Nazi occupation....He limped from an injury received in an old mountain-climbing accident. Seyss-Inquart was hanged on October 16, 1946.

Speer, Albert Reichminister of Armaments and Munitions 128 "I would like to sit down and write one final blast about the whole damn Nazi mess and mention names and details and let the German people see once and for all what rotten corruption, hypocrisy, and madness the whole system was based on!-I would spare no one, including myself." (2/46) Speer transmitted to Sauckel estimates of numbers of slave workers needed, then allocated those workers to various armaments and munitions plants. Speer, an architect, was for years the closest anyone came to being a friend of Hitler. Hitler at one time gave Speer a watercolor of a Gothic church....Speer was the leader of the anti-Goering faction of defendants: those willing to condemn Nazi policies and accept some degree of blame. Speer served his 20-year sentence. He wrote two books about his life. He died in 1981 at age 76. Streicher, Julius Anti-Semitic Editor of Der Sturmer 106 "The Jews are making a mistake if they make a martyr out of me; you will see.

I didn't create the problem; it existed for thousands of years." (12/16/45)...."I am the only one in the world who clearly saw the Jewish menace as an historical problem." (11/14/45) Streicher was known as "the number one Jew-baiter." He organized a boycott of Jewish businesses in 1933 and advocated the Nuremberg Decrees of 1935. In 1938 he arranged for demolition of a synagogue in Nuremberg and began to call for annihilation of the Jewish race. Streicher, a vulgar man, was despised by most of his fellow defendants...Streicher collected pornography. He said that he bought it from Jews to show what filth they read.... Streicher was hanged on October 16, 1946. German man, 95, faces trial for Auschwitz crimes - CNN.com 1 of 11 Photos: Nazi war criminals: Justice done?

Onetime Ohio autoworker John Demjanjuk spent decades in and out of courts fighting to prove he was not a guard known to inmates at the Sobibor death camp as "Ivan the Terrible." An Israeli court sentenced him to death in 1988, but that conviction was later overturned. In the end, a German court found him guilty of assisting in mass murder as a guard at the Nazi-run Sobibor death camp in German-occupied Poland. He was sentenced to five years in prison, and died in 2012 in a home for the elderly where he was living pending appeal. Hide Caption 2 of 11 Photos: Nazi war criminals: Justice done? Perhaps the most famous Nazi war crimes trial was that of Adolf Eichmann, who was hiding in Argentina when he was seized by Israeli agents. He was brought to Jerusalem and tried in a protective glass booth flanked by Israeli police. Responsible for helping to organize the deportation of about 1.5 million Jews to concentration camps, Eichmann was found guilty of crimes against the Jewish people. He was hanged in 1962. Hide Caption 3 of 11 Photos: Nazi war criminals: Justice done?

Trials of major war criminals, including the upper echelon of surviving Nazi officials, took place in Nuremberg, Germany, on the heels of World War II. The Nuremberg Trials resulted in 12 death sentences, three life imprisonments, four shorter prison terms and three acquittals. Among those sentenced to death at Nuremberg was Hans Frank, former governor general of occupied Poland. Frank was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was executed by hanging in 1946. Hide Caption 4 of 11 Photos: Nazi war criminals: Justice done? Hermann Goering was the highest-ranking Nazi tried at Nuremberg. He issued the order for Hitler's security police to carry out a "Final Solution" to the "Jewish question" -- resulting in the Holocaust. He was sentenced to death but committed suicide before he could be executed. Hide Caption 5 of 11 Photos: Nazi war criminals: Justice done? Nazi propagandist Julius Streicher was a key voice of anti-Semitism in pre-war Germany as the founder and publisher of Der Stürmer newspaper.

He was tried at Nuremberg, convicted of crimes against humanity and executed in 1946. Hide Caption 6 of 11 Photos: Nazi war criminals: Justice done? Rudolf Hess (center) was a longtime personal aide to Adolf Hitler. At the Nuremberg trials, he was sentenced to life in prison and ultimately committed suicide behind bars in 1987, at age 93. With him were Goering (left), Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Wilhelm Keitel. All but Hess were sentenced to death. Hide Caption 7 of 11 Photos: Nazi war criminals: Justice done? A key early supporter of Hitler, Alfred Rosenberg went on to become the minister responsible for eastern territories occupied by the Nazis -- where most of the death camps were located. Tried at Nuremberg, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit aggressive warfare, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity in 1946. He was sentenced to death and hanged. Hide Caption 8 of 11 Photos: Nazi war criminals: Justice done? Albert Speer, Hitler's architect, was minister of armaments under the Nazi regime.

He used forced labor to keep the German economy going during the war, and was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Speer was sentenced to 20 years in prison and was released in 1966. He went on to write two autobiographical books, "Inside the Third Reich" and "Spandau: The Secret Diaries." Hide Caption 9 of 11 Photos: Nazi war criminals: Justice done? Ilse Koch was the wife of Buchenwald camp commander Karl Koch. Known as "The Witch of Buchenwald" by the inmates because of her cruelty and lasciviousness toward prisoners, she was sentenced in 1951 to life in prison. Hide Caption Rudolf Hess - Biography Rudolf Hess - Biography In brief: Rudolf Hess (1894-1987), Deputy Führer and considered to be the number 3 man in Hitler's Germany after Göring. Hess was a somewhat neurotic member of Hitler's inner circle best known for his surprise flight to Scotland on May 10, 1941 in which he intended to negotiate peace with the British, but which resulted in his capture and long term imprisonment.

Rudolf Hess was born in Alexandria, Egypt, April 26, 1894, the son of a prosperous wholesaler and exporter. He did not live in Germany until he was fourteen. He volunteered for the German Army in 1914 at the outbreak of World War One, partly to escape the control of his domineering father who had refused to let him go to a university but instead persuaded him into an unwanted career in the family business. In World War One, Hess was wounded twice, then later became an airplane pilot. After the war, Hess joined the Freikorps, a right-wing organization of ex-soldiers for hire, involved in violently putting down Communist uprisings in Germany. At the University of Munich, Hess studied political science and came under the influence of the Thule Society, a secret anti-Semitic political organization devoted to Nordic supremacy. Hess was also influenced by Professor Karl Haushofer, a former general whose theories on expansionism and race formed the basis of the concept of Lebensraum (increased living space for Germans at the expense of other nations).

After hearing Adolf Hitler speak in a small Munich beer hall, Hess joined the Nazi Party, July 1, 1920, becoming the sixteenth member. After his first meeting with Hitler, Hess said he felt "as though overcome by a vision." At early Nazi Party meetings and rallies, Hess was a formidable fighter who brawled with para-military Marxists and others who often violently attempted to disrupt Hitler's speeches. In 1923, Hess took part in Hitler's failed Beer Hall Putsch in which Hitler and the Nazis attempted to seize control of Germany. Hess was arrested and imprisoned along with Hitler at Landsberg prison. While in prison, Hess took dictation for Hitler's book, Mein Kampf, and also made some editorial suggestions regarding Lebensraum, the historical role of the British Empire, and the organization of the Nazi Party. After his release from prison in 1925, Hess served for several years as Hitler's personal secretary in spite of having no official rank in the Nazi Party. In 1932, Hitler appointed him Chairman of the Central Political Commission of the Nazi Party and SS General as a reward for his loyal service.

On April 21, 1933, he was made Deputy Führer, a figurehead position with mostly ceremonial duties. Hess was a shy, insecure man who displayed near religious devotion, fanatical loyalty and absolute blind obedience to Hitler. In 1934, Hess gave a revealing speech stating - "With pride we see that one man remains beyond all criticism, that is the Führer. This is because everyone feels and knows: he is always right, and he will always be right. The National Socialism of all of us is anchored in uncritical loyalty, in the surrender to the Führer that does not ask for the why in individual cases, in the silent execution of his orders. We believe that the Führer is obeying a higher call to fashion German history. There can be no criticism of this belief." One of his most visible tasks was to announce the Führer at mass meetings with bellowing, wide eyed fanaticism, as seen in the Nazi documentary, Triumph Of The Will.

Although often rewarded by Hitler for his dogged loyalty, Hess was never given any major influence in matters of state due to his lack of understanding of the mechanics of power and his inability to take any action on his own initiative. He was totally and deliberately subservient to his Führer. He was granted titles such as Reich Minister without Portfolio, member of the Secret Cabinet Council, and member of the Ministerial Council for Reich Defense. In 1939 Hess was even designated to be Hitler's successor after Göring. But over time, his limited power was further undermined by the political intrigue of the top Nazis around Hitler who were constantly scheming for personal power. Hess had only one desire, to serve the Führer, and thus lacked the will to engage in self serving struggles for power and lost out primarily to his subordinate and eventual successor, Martin Bormann. As a result, Hitler gradually distanced himself from Hess. Hoping to regain importance and redeem himself in the eyes of his Führer, Hess put on a Luftwaffe uniform and flew a German fighter plane alone toward Scotland on a 'peace' mission, May 10, 1941, just before the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.

Hess intended to see the Duke of Hamilton, who he had met briefly during the Berlin Olympics in 1936. With extra fuel tanks installed on the Messerschmitt ME-110, Hess, an expert flier, made the five hour, 900 mile flight across the North Sea and managed to navigate within 30 miles of the Duke's residence near Glasgow, Scotland. At 6,000 feet Hess bailed out and parachuted safely to the ground then encountered a Scottish farmer and told him in English, "I have an important message for the Duke of Hamilton." Hess wanted to convince the British Government that Hitler only wanted Lebensraum for the German people and had no wish to destroy a fellow 'Nordic' nation. He also knew of Hitler's plans to attack the Soviet Union and wanted to prevent Germany from getting involved in a two-front war, fighting the Soviets to the east of Germany, and Britain and its allies in the west. During interrogation in a British Army barracks, he proposed that if the British would allow Nazi Germany to dominate Europe, then the British Empire would not be further molested by Hitler.

He insisted that German victory was inevitable and even threatened that the British people would be starved to death by a Nazi blockade around the British Isles unless they accepted his generous peace offer. But Hess also displayed signs of mental instability to his British captors and they concluded he was half mad and represented only himself. Churchill, realizing this, and somewhat infuriated by his statements, ordered Hess to be imprisoned for the duration and treated like any high ranking POW. Hess was declared insane by a bewildered Hitler, and effectively disowned by the Nazis. His flight ultimately caused Hitler and the Nazis huge embarrassment as they struggled to explain his actions. During his years of British imprisonment, Hess displayed increasingly unstable behavior and developed a paranoid obsession that his food was being poisoned. In 1945, Hess was returned to Germany to stand trial before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg. In the courtroom, he suffered from spells of disorientation, staring off vacantly into space and for a time claimed to have amnesia. In periods of lucidity he continued to display loyalty to Hitler, ending with his final speech - "It was granted me for many years to live and work under the greatest son whom my nation has brought forth in the thousand years of its history.

Even if I could I would not expunge this period from my existence. I regret nothing. If I were standing once more at the beginning I should act once again as I did then, even if I knew that at the end I should be burnt at the stake�" In spite of his mental condition, he was sentenced to life in prison. The Soviets blocked all attempts at early release. He committed suicide in 1987 at age 92, the last of the prisoners tried at Nuremberg. Copyright © 1996 The History Place All Rights Reserved (Photo credits: Hess portrait, courtesy of USHMM archives. Hess at Nuremberg, U.S. National Archives) Nazi war criminals executed - Oct 16, 1946 - HISTORY.com Nazi war criminals executed Publisher A+E Networks At Nuremberg, Germany, 10 high-ranking Nazi officials are executed by hanging for their crimes against humanity, crimes against peace, and war crimes during World War II. Two weeks earlier, the 10 were found guilty by the International War Crimes Tribunal and sentenced to death along with two other Nazi officials.

Among those condemned to die by hanging were Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi minister of foreign affairs; Hermann Goering, founder of the Gestapo and chief of the German air force; and Wilhelm Frick, minister of the interior. Seven others, including Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler’s former deputy, were given prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life. Three others were acquitted. The trial, which had lasted nearly 10 months, was conducted by an international tribunal made up of representatives from the United States, the USSR, France, and Great Britain. It was the first trial of its kind in history, and the defendants faced charges ranging from crimes against peace, to crimes of war and crimes against humanity. On October 16, 10 of the architects of Nazi policy were hanged one by one. Hermann Goering, who at sentencing was called the “leading war aggressor and creator of the oppressive program against the Jews,” committed suicide by poison on the eve of his scheduled execution. Nazi Party leader Martin Bormann was condemned to death in absentia; he is now known to have died in Berlin at the end of the war.

Related Videos Brief Overview of Defendants & Verdicts at Nuremberg Trials | Jewish Virtual Library Tweet On October 1, 1946, the International Military Tribunal handed down its verdicts in the trials of 22 Nazi leaders - eleven were given the death penalty, three were acquitted, three were given life imprisonment and four were given imprisonment ranging from 10 to 20 years. A brief sketch of the principal defendants in the Nuremberg Trials , their connection to the Holocaust and the sentence each received: Martin Bormann Bormann was with Hitler and Goebbels in Hitlers subterranean bunker on April 30, 1945. Hitler and Goebbels committed suicide while Bormann and others fled the bunker in an attempt to escape the rapidly advancing Soviet army. While he was presumed dead or captured, his whereabouts were unconfirmed at the time of the trials in Nuremberg. Bormann replaced Hess as Hitlers Deputy in charge of Party affairs after Hess was asked to resign following his unofficial flight to England to persuade England to negotiate peace with Hitler. Bormanns reputation among members of his own Party and, especially, the German army was very negative.

He was seen as uncivilized, ruthless and brutal. In his absence from the trial, the Bormann investigation proceeded on the basis of voluminous documentary evidence linking him to the expulsion of millions of Jews to Poland, the utilization of Ukrainian women as slave labor. Martin Bormann was sentenced in absentia to death by hanging. Full Judgement against Bormann: CLICK HERE Karl Doenitz: After Hitlers rejection of the Versailles Treaty in 1935, Karl Doenitz was made commander of the submarine unit of the German navy (Germany was forbidden submarines by the treaty). By 1940 he had risen to the rank of Vice Admiral. He was indicted under Counts One, Two and Three of the Indictment and mainly for that section of the Indictment dealing with War Crimes on the seas, particularly in connection with the charges that German U-Boats had sunk British merchant ships. His main defense consisted of counter charges that the U.S. had also sunk Japanese merchant vessels. This was not, primarily, a "you are another" defense. Rather, his defense counsel argued for acquittal on the grounds that the German Navy and the U.S.

Navy had committed identical military actions and with the same justification -- that Japanese and British merchant vessels were part of the military effort of those nations. There was no strong evidence that Doenitz had attended planning sessions of the German War Department and only minimal evidence that he had been involved in the extermination or enslavement of civilian populations. His guilt was mainly in the area of "War Crimes." Karl Doenitz was given 10 years imprisonment at Spandau Prison. Full Judgement against Doenitz: CLICK HERE Hans Frank: Hans Frank joined the Nazi Party in 1927 and was appointed Minister and Reich Commissioner for Justice in 1933. He served as Governor of the Generalgouvernment of Poland from 1939 to the end of the war. Under his administration the approximately 2.5 million Jews in the occupied territories of Poland were exploited in slave labor. Also during his administration, the extermination camps in eastern Poland were constructed implemented. In the initial stages of his testimony, Frank denied knowing anything about Auschwitz or Maidanek, even though Auschwitz was only 30 miles from Cracow, the seat of his administrative offices.

However, when the thirty-six volumes of his journal were brought into the courtroom on October 8, Franks testimony shifted from denial of knowledge to denial of responsibility and finally to open condemnation of Hitler, acceptance of guilt and pleas for mercy. His confession, however, according to Telford Taylor, was a civic confession rather than an individual one. Hans Frank was sentenced to death by hanging. Full Judgement against Frank: CLICK HERE Wilhelm Frick: Frick became a Nazi as early as 1923 served as the Nazi Minister of the Interior until from 1933 to 1943. He played a significant role in the formation of Nazi racial laws and antisemitic legislation, including the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 and 1938. He was also instrumental, along with Goering in the Aryanization of Jewish assets following Kristallnacht. Wilhelm Frick was sentenced to death by hanging. Full Judgement against Frick: CLICK HERE Hans Fritzsche: It was probably Goebbels who, more than and of the witnesses or documents called in on Fritzsches account that saved him from being convicted.

As a radio broadcaster he had indeed disseminated information and propaganda that was extremely important to the Nazi organization; however, it could never be demonstrated that he was the originator of the materials. The media was under such tight control of Goebbels Ministry of Propaganda that the only source of information available to journalists and broadcasters was the information provided them by Goebbels office. His antisemitism seems to have been an ideology of assent rather than one which he pressed upon the German population. Hans Fritzsche was acquitted. Full Judgement against Fritzsche: CLICK HERE Walter Funk: As a close friend of President Hindenberg, Walter Funk was accustomed to high-level political and administrative interactions. When Hitler came to power, Funk was appointed to the position of Press Chief of Hitlers government. Shortly after his appointment, Goebbels formed the Ministry of Propaganda and Funks office was subordinated to Goebbels. Later he was appointed to replace Hjalmar Schacht as Minister of Economics. That office, too, came under the control of Goebbels. Some months later, he was appointed by Hitler as President of the Reichsbank. The bank was assigned the role of economic planning for the war effort.

Funk also attended the high-level meeting following the events of Kristallnacht. It was at this meeting that the decision was made to hold the Jews responsible for the destruction visited upon them by roving Nazi gangs. Under Heydrichs and Goebbels leadership, it was also decided at that Jews would be excluded from the German economy  a distinct first step in the direction of the Holocaust. One tense moment in the trial occurred when documentary evidence was presented by the prosecutors staff that the Reichsbank received and held a large deposit from the SS. The deposit consisted of bags of jewelry and other valuables, including dental gold, taken from Jewish victims in eastern Europe. Funk consistently denied knowledge of the contents of those bags and the prosecutors could never show conclusively that he did have such knowledge. Now could they demonstrate conclusively that he was instrumental in planning military operations, or that he was directly involved in crimes against humanity. Walter Funk was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released from Spandau Prison in 1957 and died in 1960.

Full Judgement against Funk: CLICK HERE Hermann Goering: Goering was perhaps the most influential person, next to Hitler , in the Nazi organization . He was one of only 12 Nazis elected to the Reichstag in 1928. He orchestrated the Reichstag fire on February 27, 1933 and, with Goebbels assistance, used the fire as a propaganda tool against the communists. In the mid-1930's Goering was in charge of the Aryanization of Jewish property, a policy which extended to Jews throughout Europe following the Anschluss. After the events of Kristallnacht , November 8 and 9, 1938, Goering (under instructions from Hitler) called a high-level meeting of the party, on November 12, to assess the damage done during the night and place responsibility for it. Present at the meeting were Goering, Goebbels, Reinhard Heydrich , Walter Funk and other ranking Nazi officials.

The intent of this meeting was two-fold: to make the Jews responsible for Kristallnacht and to use the events of the preceding days as a rationale for promulgating a series of antisemitic laws which would, in effect, remove Jews from the German economy. An interpretive transcript of this meeting is provided by Robert Conot, Justice at Nuremberg, New York: Harper and Row, 1983:164-172): Gentlemen! Today's meeting is of a decisive nature, Goering announced. I have received a letter written on the Fuehrers orders requesting that the Jewish question be now, once and for all, coordinated and solved one way or another. Kristallnacht turns out to be a crucial turning point in German policy regarding the Jews and may be considered as the actual beginning of what is now called the Holocaust . Following that meeting, a wide-ranging set of antisemitic laws were passed which had the clear intent, in Goerings words, of "Aryanizing" the German economy. The path to the "Final Solution" had been chosen. Hermann Goering was sentenced to death by hanging.

He evade the sentence by committing suicide in his cell. Full Judgement against Goering: CLICK HERE Rudolph Hess: Hess is not to be confused with Rudolph Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz who was tried in Warsaw in 1947 and executed at Auschwitz. Hess served as Hitlers deputy minister and was next in line if Goering should be unavailable for any reason. According to Telford Taylor (The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials, 1992:25), Churchill made statements at the Yalta Conference in February, 1945, which indicate that he did not consider Hess to be a "major war criminal" and should be given a "judicial trial." Apparently, Churchill was not fully aware of Hess involvement in Nazi atrocities. Vera Laska, ed., Women in the Resistance and in the Holocaust: The Voices of Eyewitnesses.

Westport & London: Greenwood Press, 1983 tells us: These preparatory schools for murder [euthanasia centers, BSA] offered the training course for the roughnecks who learned by killing thousands of Christian German and Austrian individual victims and, thus insensitized, graduated to the main task, which was to be the genocide of millions of Jews, and eventually of Gypsies, Poles, Russians, Czechs and other less worthy Slavs. The program was administered under Rudolf Hess and, after his departure, under Martin Bormann. Medical supervision was under Werner Heyde, M.D., professor at the University of Wurzburg; 100,000 people were dispatched this way. They experimented with various gasses and injections; they photographed the effect, clocked the speed of death by a stopwatch, filmed it in slow motion and then dissected the brain -- all as an undergraduate course preparatory for genocide. Rudolf Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment. He served over 40 years of that sentence at Spandau Prison and committed suicide in 1987 at age 93.

Full Judgement against Hess: CLICK HERE Alfred Jodl: Alfred Jodl was Chief of the Operations Section of the Wehrmacht [the regular German Army], under the direction of Blomberg and Keitel. In that capacity, he was involved in the destruction of Czechoslovakia. During his trial, Jodl asserted that it was the Czechs who initiated it by massing troops on the German border, knowing full well that plans for the invasion of Czechoslovakia were in place at least six months prior to the invasion. He characterized the invasion of the Soviet Union as a "preventive measure" since Soviet troops were concentrated along the German border. In regard to "crimes against humanity," Jodl was strongly implicated in promoting forced labor -- particularly against the civilian populations of Denmark, Holland, France and Belgium. His primary defense was the "higher authority" plea. At the end of the cross-examination, Jodl stated, "It is not the task of a soldier to be the judge of his Commander in Chief. May history or the Almighty do that." (quoted in Taylor, 1992:439). Alfred Jodl was sentenced to death by hanging.

Full Judgement against Jodl: CLICK HERE Ernst Kaltenbrunner: Chief of the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), Ernst Kaltenbrunner, went on trial at Nuremberg on April 11, 1946. He replaced Reinhard Heydrich who was assassinated by Czech agents in May, 1943 and assumed control over the SD and the Gestapo. Like most other security positions, Kaltenbrunner came under the direct authority of Heinrich Himmler. His position placed him in direct contact with the Einsatzgruppen . SS officer, Otto Ohlenberg, appearing as a witness at the trials Under questioning by Col. Amen, Ohlendorf offers the following testimony: COL. AMEN: What were the positions of Kaltenbrunner, Mueller, and Eichmann in the RSHA, and state for what periods of time each of them continued to serve in his respective capacity? OHLENDORF: Kaltenbrunner was Chief of the Sicherheitspolizei and the SD; as such, he was also Chief of the RSHA, the internal organizational term for the office of the chief of the Sicherheitspolizei and the SD.

Kaltenbrunner occupied this position from 1/30/1943 until the end of the war. Mueller was Chief of Amt IV, the Gestapo. When the Gestapo was established, he became Deputy Chief, and as such he logically became Chief of Amt IV of the RSHA. He occupied this position until the end of the war. Eichmann occupied a position in Amt IV under Mueller and worked on the Jewish problem from approximately 1940 onwards. To my knowledge, he also occupied this position until the end of the war. Regarding Kaltenbrunners involvement with the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units), Ohlendorf testified: COL. AMEN: In what respects, if any, were the official duties of the Einsatz groups concerned with Jews and Communist commissars? OHLENDORF: On the question of Jews and Communists, the Einsatzgruppen and the commanders of the Einsatzkommandos were orally instructed before their mission. COL. AMEN: What were their instructions with respect to the Jews and the Communist functionaries?

OHLENDORF: The instructions were that in the Russian operational areas of the Einsatzgruppen the Jews, as well as the Soviet political commissars, were to be liquidated. COL. AMEN: And when you say "liquidated" do you mean "killed?" Then, a few questions later: COL. AMEN: Do you know whether the mission and the agreement were also known to Kaltenbrunner? OHLENDORF: After his assumption of office Kaltenbrunner had to deal with these questions and consequently must have known details of the Einsatzgruppen which were offices of his. Under further questioning and cross-examination, Col. Amen presented documentary and witness evidence linking Kaltenbrunner to Mauthausen, the crematoria and the extermination of Jews (cf. Taylor, 1992:361). Ernst Kaltenbrunner was sentenced to death by hanging. Full Judgement against Kaltenbrunner: CLICK HERE Wilhelm Keitel: Whereas some of the defendants were relatively [difficult] cases for the tribunal because of their minimal involvement, Keitel was relatively easy because of his extensive involvement in the Nazi organization.

He served as Hitlers military Chief of Staff and, consequently, was directly involved in the planning of the war at the highest level. His direct involvement in the "terror fliers" policy, which resulted in the wanton downing of British and American planes and the summary execution of the fliers and the "Night and Fog" decrees of 1941 which resulted, over the next three years, in the summary execution without court martial or trial, of military prisoners-of-war, were extremely damaging to his defense. Even while admitting his complicity in "war crimes," Keitel declared his loyalty, as a soldier, to his commander-in- chief. Wilhelm Keitel was sentenced to death by hanging. Full Judgement against Keitel: CLICK HERE Erich Raeder: Like Doenitz, Erich Raeder was a German naval commander and, as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, he was Doenitz superior officer. He, like Doenitz, was charged under Counts One, Two and Three of the Indictment. Also, as in the case of Doenitz, the most serious charges came in connection with German U-Boat activity.

Unlike Doenitz, however, strong evidence was presented to sho that Raeder was also involved in the "general plan and conspiracy" to wage aggressive war in violation international law and existing treaties. Erich Raeder was given life imprisonment. Because of failing health, he was released from Spandau Prison in 1955 and died in 1960. Full Judgement against Raeder: CLICK HERE Alfred Rosenberg: Rosenberg was a Baltic German who had migrated to Germany in 1918 and became a member of the Nazi Party in 1919. He was Hitlers chief racial ideologist. Throughout his career, he was obsessed with the idea that the Russian Revolution was, in large part, the work of an "international Jewish conspiracy." Early in his Nazi career he served as editor of the Nazi Newspaper, Peoples Observer. He was not well-liked be other members of the party, but he had Hitlers favor.

In 1930 he was elected to the Reichstag and, after holding several minor offices in Hitlers organization, he was appointed as Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories during the way and worked for a German- subjugated Russia, free of Jews and colonized by people of Aryan blood. He admitted knowledge of the Einsatzgruppens extermination of Jews and he admitted participating in the forced labor programs involving of subjugated people in the eastern Occupied Territories. Alfred Rosenberg was sentenced to death by hanging. Full Judgement against Rosenberg: CLICK HERE Fritz Sauckel: As Plenipotentiary General for the Allocation of labor, it was Sauckels responsibility to provide laborers for the industrial component of the German war economy. With so many of Germanys able-bodied men in uniform, it became increasingly difficult to secure laborers. Under Saukels leadership nearly 5 million laborers were imported involuntarily from France and other foreigners in German occupied territories -- principally from eastern Europe and the Slavic states. He was charged with the solicitation of slave labor -- in violation of the Geneva Convention of 1930. Sauckel was sentenced to death by hanging.

Full Judgement against Sauckel: CLICK HERE Hjalmar Schacht: Why Hjalmar Schacht was included in the list of defendants is unclear. In fact, the only charges brought against him were: contributing to Hitlers, and the Nazi Partys rise to power and promoting preparations for war. His dislike of the Versailles Treaty, his belief that the German military should once again be strong and his support of the Anschluss were well known, but these are hardly "war crimes." He was never in a position to exercise significant influence in any of the planning and preparation for war. Likewise, Schacht had never concealed his antisemitism and his agreement that Jews should be excluded from governmental and civil service positions Hjalmar Schacht was acquitted. Full Judgement against Schacht: CLICK HERE Artur Seyss-Inquart: In March, 1938, under Hitlers urging, Kurt von Schuschnigg, the Austrian Chancellor, appointed Artur Seyss-Inquart as Austrian Minister of the Interior of Public Safety. When Schuschnigg resigned a month later, Hitler appointed Seyss-Inquart Chancellor. Immediately, the new Chancellor invited German troops to enter Austria.

The Anschluss was under way. In October, 1939 he was appointed Deputy Governor-General in Poland under Hans Frank. In that position he was instrumental in the formation of the Lublin Plan for the deportation of Jews from the Reich (cf. Jozeph Michman, ""Artur Seyss-Inquart," in Israel Gutman, ed. Encyclopedia of the Holocaust: Vol. 4, 1990:1346ff) In May, 1940, Hitler appointed him Reich Commissioner of the Occupied Netherlands to pave the way for the annexation of that country. In late 1940 and 1941, Seyss-Inquart was active in the Aryanization of Jewish property and the deportation of Dutch Jews to the extermination camps in Poland. His knowledge of Hitlers intentions, both militarily and with regard to the Jews was extensive and intimate. Artur Seyss-Inquart was charged on all four counts and was sentenced to death by hanging.

Full Judgement against Seyss-Inquart: CLICK HERE Albert Speer: The following section of Justice Jacksons cross-examination of Speer clarifies his involvement in the Nazi movement: JUSTICE JACKSON: You have stated a good many of the matters for which you were not responsible, and I want to make clear just what your sphere of responsibility was. You were not only a member of the Nazi Party after 1932, but you held high rank in the Party, did you not? SPEER: Correct. MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And what was the position which you held in the Party? SPEER: I have already mentioned that during my pre-trial interrogations. Temporarily in 1934 I became a department head in the German Labor Front and dealt with the improvement of labor conditions in German factories. Then I was in charge of public works on the staff of Hess. I gave up both these activities in 1941. Notes of the conference I had with Hitler about this are available. After 2/8/1942 I automatically became Todts successor in the central office for technical matters in the Reichsleitung of the NSDAP. MR.

JUSTICE JACKSON: And what was your official title? SPEER: Party titles had just been introduced, and they were so complicated that I cannot tell you at the moment what they were. But the work I did there was that of a department chief in the Reichsleitung of the NSDAP. My title was Hauptdienstleiter or something of the kind. MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: In the 1943 directory it would appear that you were head of the "Hauptamt fur Technik." MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And your rank appears to be "Oberbefehlsleiter"? SPEER: Yes, that is quite possible. MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: Which as I understand corresponds 1 roughly to a lieutenant general in the army? SPEER: Well, compared to the other tasks I had it was very little. MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And you attended Party functions from time to time and were informed in a general way as to the Party program, were you not?

SPEER: Before 1942 I joined in the various Party rallies here in Nuremberg because I had to take part in them as an architect, and of course besides this I was generally present at official Party meetings or Reichstag sessions. MR. JUSTICE JACKSON: And you heard discussed, and were generally familiar with, the program of the Nazi Party in its broad outlines, were you not? SPEER: Of course. Albert Speer was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. He was released from Spandau Prison on September 30, 1966. Speer died in 1981. Full Judgement against Speer: CLICK HERE Julius Streicher: As Editor-in-Chief of the venomous antisemitic paper, Der Stuermer, Julius Streicher disseminated hatred and the most virulent strain of anti-Jewish sentiment to be found in all of Germany. And Hitler strongly approved of Streichers publication. The only real trouble he ever got into with the Nazi Party was for raising questions about Goerings sexual prowess.

When Goerings wife, Emma, was about to give birth, Streicher suggested that perhaps Emma had been artificially inseminated (Conot, Justice at Nuremberg, 1983:383). Daniel Goldhagen (Hitlers Willing Executioners, 1996:102) describes him as "the most rabid antisemite in Germany." Jackson called him "the venomous vulgarian." However, Streicher was non-military, he was not part of the planning process of the Holocaust, nor of the invasion of Poland or the Soviet Union. And, yet, his role in inciting the extermination of Jews was significant enough, in the judgment of the prosecutors, to include him in the indictment. Julius Streicher was sentenced to death by hanging. Full Judgement against Streicher: CLICK HERE Constantin von Neurath: The sentence of Neurath has been criticized as relatively harsh. His case was little different from that of Papen and Schacht, both of whom were acquitted.

The most serious charges against him were relative to his position and actions with regard to the recolonization of Czechoslovakia by Germans in keeping with Hitlers lebensraum ideology. The Tribunal seemed unimpressed with his claim that he remained in his position in Czechoslovakia to prevent that country from being taken over completely by the SS (cf. Conot, 1983:450). On the other hand, the Tribunal was convinced that Neurath knowledge of Hitlers plans for aggressive war was to extensive to warrant acquittal. Constantin von Neurath was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. Because of failing health, he was released from Spandau Prison in 1954 and died in 1956. Outline of von Neurath's Crimes: CLICK HERE Full Judgement against von Neurath: CLICK HERE Franz von Papen: In 1932, President Hindenberg appointed Franz von Papen as Reich Chancellor. With Hitlers rise to power, Papen became Vice Chancellor and later served as Ambassador in Vienna. The Tribunal charged him with using his positions to promote the rise and extension of the Nazis power in Europe.

However, the prosecution had serious difficulties linking Papen to conspiracy to initiate an aggressive war. Franz von Papen was acquitted. Outline of von Papen's Crimes: CLICK HERE Full Judgement against von Papen: CLICK HERE Joachim von Ribbentrop: In 1938, Constantin von Ribbentrop was appointed as Hitlers Foreign Minister, replacing Neurath. In that position, he was intimately involved in almost all of the actions to wage "aggressive war." His record in the area of "crimes against humanity" was extremely damning. He had recommended and supported the deportation of Jews from France and Italy to the camps in the east and urged their extermination. Under cross-examination by the British assistant prosecutor, Ribbentrop admitted that he knew of Hitlers intention to deport all Jews from German territories and that he assisted in that process (cf. Conot, 1983:353). Joachim von Ribbentrop was sentenced to death by hanging.

Outline of von Ribbentrop's Crimes: CLICK HERE Full Judgement against von Ribbentrop: CLICK HERE Baldur von Schirach: Shirach was charged on Count One and Count Four of the Indictment. On Count One, planning and preparing for aggressive war, the evidence was slight at best. As head of the Hitler Youth movement, he was accused of preparing the youth of Germany for war. While there is little question of his effectiveness in consolidating all the German youth groups under the Hitler Jungend, Shirachs counsel was successful in separating the Youth Movement from the German Wehrmacht. On Count Four however, Schirach was is much deeper trouble. His antisemitism was not only well-known, Schirach had expressed it openly. Interestingly enough, Shirachs antisemitism was drawn primarily from Henry Fords The International Jew rather than from Rosenberg and Streicher. Thr Tribunal produced powerful documentary evidence that he knew and approved the deportation of Jews from Vienna to the extermination camps. He also knew of the Einsatzgruppens mobile van extermination of Jews in eastern Poland.

This knowledge rendered invalid his claim that he supported the deportation of Reich Jews following Kristallnacht because he thought it was in the best interest of Jews. Baldur von Schirach was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. He served the entire term in Spandau Prison and died in 1974. Outline of von Schirach's Crimes: CLICK HERE Full Judgement against von Schirach: CLICK HERE

Question: Which high ranking Nazi died in 1987 after 46 years in prison?
Answer: Rudolph Hess