Nuremberg trials

The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals held after the Second World War in Nuremberg, Germany, where leaders of Nazi Germany were prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The most famous was the first trial before the International Military Tribunal, which began in November 1945 and ended with judgments in October 1946. Twenty-two major defendants were tried, including Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess and Albert Speer. Twelve were sentenced to death, three to life imprisonment, four to prison terms and three were acquitted. The trials established principles that individuals can be held responsible for crimes under international law even when acting on state orders, and they influenced the Genocide Convention and the later international criminal courts. Twelve further trials were held by American tribunals, for doctors, judges, industrialists and others.

Open on the timeline