Trial Structure
The Nuremberg Trials were the first international court hearing. It was decided that the trials would take place in the same place the war started and boisterous Nazi rallies took place, Nuremberg, Germany. Great Britain, the United States of America, France, and the Soviet Union, the four super powers, made up the International Military Tribunal. Together they decided on four crimes, conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. These crimes would be used to factor in each of the Nazis. Then the Tribunal decided to have a team of prosecutors from each country, and each team would be in change of a certain crime. Lastly, they decided on a panel of judges, which consisted of two judges from each country, a main and an alternate. Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, of Great Britain, was appointed chief judge because of the difficulties, " With men from different nations, with different political systems and laws, that was a big job"(Altman 43). Another decision later made was to allow the defendants to have lawyers and witnesses. In the end, the court structure was set up and it was time to start the trials.
Major War Criminal trial
The first trial was about publishing high-ranked major war criminals. It started on November twentieth 1945, and included twenty-four high-ranking Nazis and six organizations. Each suspect was guilty of at least two crimes. However, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Heinrich Himmler never made it to trial. They ended up committing suicide before the trials. Contrarily, those on trial stated they were not a malice, " Hitler's word was law. . . owed him their unquestioning obedience" (Altman 50). Eventually, the verdict was seven would have prison terms between ten to twenty years, three were innocent, and the twelve others would be executed. On October sixteenth 1946, the twelve criminals were hanged. Then, cremated and thrown in the Iser River. Although this trial eliminated high-ranked Nazis there were still more trials to go.
Subsequent Trials
Two months after the Major War Trial, the subsequent trials started in an effort to punish other Nazi activists. In the twelve other trials, the United States Military Tribunal controlled it because of the tensions between the four original countries. General Telford Taylor was assigned chief prosecutor. He was in charge of operating the twelve trials. Medical, Milch, Justice, Pohl, Flick, I.G. Farben, Hostage, R.U.S.H.A., Einsatzgruppen, Krupp, Ministries, and High Command made up the twelve cases. The United States wanted to make sure every culprit was on trial, " Those who cross the line can- and should- be punished"(Altman 74). On April thirteenth 1949, the trials ended, and the verdict was clear. There ended up being one hundred eighty-three defendants on trial. Out of those eight were sentenced to life in prison, seventy-seven had varying prison terms, and twelve were hanged. Eighty-six defendants were found innocent. As a result of the Nuremburg trials one hundred nineteen Nazi activists were punished, and World War II officially ended.