Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremburg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946, Volume 01

In Short

This volume serves as the foundational official record of the International Military Tribunal assembled at Nuremberg to try twenty-four major German war criminals following World War II. It details the structural rules, the formal indictments alleging conspiracy, aggressive war, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and the logistical coordination required by the Allied powers to conduct the trial. Through meticulously documented evidence, court minutes, medical evaluations, and detailed legal rationale, the text traces the entire legal process from the opening session in Berlin through the individual verdicts, dissents, and final sentences handed down in October 1946.

The Story

The narrative begins with four Allied powers—the United States, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union—establishing a joint tribunal under the Charter of London to try the political, military, and economic leaders of Nazi Germany. At its opening session in Berlin on October 18, 1945, presided over by Soviet General Nikitchenko, the members of the court take an oath to exercise their duties honorably, impartially, and conscientiously. The prosecution presents a sweeping indictment against individual defendants and core state and party organizations—including the Reich Cabinet, the SS, the Gestapo, and the High Command—charging them with a common plan or conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

To ensure a fair and orderly trial, the Tribunal establishes rigorous administrative rules for evidence handling, document translation across four official languages, and widespread public dissemination of legal notices across occupied zones. Pre-trial procedures require evaluating the physical and mental competence of key defendants, such as Rudolf Hess, who undergoes exhaustive psychiatric and neurological examinations by a multi-national medical commission to determine if he possesses sufficient intellect to comprehend the proceedings and assist in his own defense.

As the proceedings unfold, the narrative establishes the historical arc of the regime's rise and aggression. It details how the Nazi Party consolidated domestic power by eliminating political opponents, seizing control of the civil service and judiciary, establishing secret police networks like the Gestapo, and creating special courts to bypass constitutional protections. The record demonstrates how this domestic consolidation transitioned into international aggression, outlining calculated diplomatic maneuvers, deceptive assurances to neighboring states, and secret military plans such as "Case Grün" against Czechoslovakia and the swift, unannounced invasions of Yugoslavia and Greece.

The narrative shifts to the vast scale of war crimes and atrocities committed across occupied territories. It documents the systematic murder and ill-treatment of civilian populations, the wanton destruction of villages, the execution of captured Allied personnel, and the deliberate starvation and liquidation of Soviet prisoners of war under explicit orders that stripped them of Geneva Convention protections. It further records the establishment of a massive, forced slave labor program that conscripted millions of European civilians and prisoners under brutal, hazardous conditions.

The chronicle culminates in the detailed individual judgments handed down on September 30 and October 1, 1946. The court meticulously evaluates the specific actions, command responsibilities, and defenses of each defendant. While rejecting blanket excuses of obedience to orders, the Tribunal carefully weighs evidence to deliver individual verdicts, ranging from complete acquittals to long prison terms and death sentences by hanging, accompanied by detailed Soviet dissents regarding specific acquittals.

How It Unfolds

The court convenes The four Allied powers assemble in Berlin to formally receive the indictment against twenty-four major leaders and Nazi organizations. The judges publicly swear an oath of strict impartiality, establishing the legal authority and administrative ground rules for the international proceeding.

Pre-trial sanity and logistics The Secretariat coordinates the printing and widespread posting of trial notices across the occupied military zones. Meanwhile, a multi-national commission of medical experts conducts extensive physical and neurological examinations of Rudolf Hess to determine his mental competency to stand trial.

Documenting domestic tyranny The Tribunal's judgment traces how the regime seized total domestic power by abolishing competing political parties, subverting the civil service, overriding judicial independence through special political courts, and establishing concentration camps and secret police to crush internal opposition.

Planning aggressive war Evidence documents the step-by-step preparation for armed invasion, highlighting deceptive diplomatic assurances made by leaders like Göring alongside explicit internal military directives like "Case Grün" aimed at dismantling neighboring nations.

Systematic atrocities and slave labor The trial record exposes the widespread execution of civilians, the deliberate liquidation of political commissars and Soviet prisoners, and the forced conscription of nearly two million civilians in France and vast populations across Eastern Europe into unsanitary, dangerous war labor.

The final judgments and sentences The Tribunal delivers individual verdicts and rationale for each defendant, pronouncing sentences ranging from acquittals and lengthy prison terms to death by hanging, alongside formal dissenting opinions regarding specific acquittals.

The People

• Hermann Wilhelm Göring: The prominent Nazi leader, Luftwaffe chief, and Four Year Plan director who seeks to defend his role as Hitler's primary agent while denying criminal intent; he is convicted on all counts and sentenced to death by hanging.
• Rudolf Hess: The former Deputy to the Führer whose mental condition and memory loss are intensely evaluated by a joint medical commission; declared competent to stand trial, he is convicted on counts one and two and sentenced to life imprisonment.
• Hans Frank: The Governor General of occupied Poland who instituted a reign of terror, public executions, and forced labor camps while treating the population as slaves; he is convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging.
• Albert Speer: The Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions who directed the wartime industrial effort and utilized forced labor; acquitted of aggressive war charges due to taking office later, he is convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity and sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment.
• Hjalmar Schacht: The former Reichsbank president and economics minister accused of building the financial foundation for rearmament; he maintains his independence from aggressive war planning and is found not guilty, drawing a formal Soviet dissent.

In Its Own Voice

“I solemnly declare that I will exercise all my powers and duties as a Member of the International Military Tribunal honorably, impartially, and conscientiously.”

— Every member and alternate of the four-power court takes this oath upon the opening of the Berlin session.

“When Allied airmen were forced to land in Germany, they were sometimes killed at once by the civilian population. The police were instructed not to interfere with these killings, and the Ministry of Justice was informed that no one should be prosecuted for taking part in them.”

— The Tribunal's judgment summarizes the routine, state-sanctioned violations of international law regarding captured personnel.

“This is an amusing thing, that Russians must work the guns.”

— Field Marshal Milch reflects during a 1943 Central Planning Board meeting on forcing captured Soviet prisoners to operate German anti-aircraft weapons.

What It's Really About

This text explores the fundamental assertion that individuals, regardless of state rank or military position, remain legally and morally accountable for international crimes. It examines the breakdown of statutory protections, civil service integrity, and judicial independence under totalitarian rule, demonstrating how administrative centralization can be weaponized to execute systemic violence. At its core, the volume directly confronts the argument of unconditional military obedience, establishing that executing illegal orders during unlawful aggression offers no shield from individual criminal responsibility under global law.

Why Read It Today

This text appeals to readers of legal history, international relations, and political science who seek an unvarnished, original-source record of a pivotal moment in human rights law. Reading it feels like sitting in an austere, rigorous courtroom where abstract concepts of international justice are transformed into binding legal precedent through precise documentation. The prose is dry, highly structured, and entirely unemotional, shifting between dense formal court rules, technical medical jargon, and chillingly direct summaries of state-sponsored violence.

What lingers long after reading is the clinical clarity with which vast, horrific historical events are reduced to evidence, dates, directives, and individual responsibility. The text offers no dramatic flourishes; its impact rests entirely on the weight of undisputed historical facts and the deliberate, transparent effort of an international tribunal to substitute the rule of law for naked retribution.