June 21, 2023 - Germany
Nuremberg Trials Courtroom

As World War II in Europe came to an end, the United States and United Kingdom were unsure what to do with the Nazi leadership given their heinous crimes.  Complicating things was the fact that their ally, the Soviet Union had along with Germany invaded Poland in 1939 and had plenty of atrocities of their own:  the Holodomor (also known as the Ukrainian Famine), Katyn massacre, the Gulag (the Soviet labour camp system).  In the end, they decided to have a War Crimes trial.

At the London Conference, held from 26 June to 2 August 1945, representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and France negotiated the form that the trial would take. Until the end of the negotiations, it was not clear that any trial would be held at all.  On 8 August, the Nuremberg Charter was signed in London.  Essentially, the trial would be spearheaded by the U.S. and based on the Anglo-American code of law but with the Soviet Union and France's participation.

Between 20 November 1945 and 1 October 1946, the International Military Tribunal (IMT) tried 21 of the most important surviving leaders of Nazi Germany in the political, military, and economic spheres, as well as six German organizations. The purpose of the trial was not just to convict the defendants but also to assemble irrefutable evidence of Nazi crimes, offer a history lesson to the defeated Germans, and delegitimize the traditional German elite.

The trial took place at the Nuremberg Palace of Justice.  The courtroom is still in use, but it is possible to see it when court is not in session.  There is a small but excellent museum on the floor above the courtroom.  All the information is displayed in both German and English.
   
Outside the Palace of Justice.
   
The four participants.
   
 
   
The courtroom is almost the same as it was back in 1945-6.   The 21 defendents would have sat just to the right of that big door on the left.
   
The area where the defendants sat is smaller now.
   
The spectator's gallery where we sat.   At top right is a screen that came down and we watched a short movie.
   
This is a model of the courtroom as it was during the war crimes trial.  The 21 defendents sat just to the right of the big door at center.   The judges were facing them at lower right.
   
More spectator seating was available at top left.
   
A better look at the judges seats (by the flags).
   
A photograph of the courtroom during the war crimes trial.  The 21 defendents are on the left and the judges are on the right.
   
Fancy sculpture over the big door.
   
Robert H. Jackson was the United States' chief prosecutor.  He was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1941 until his death in 1954. He had previously served as United States Solicitor General and United States Attorney General.
   
Close-up of 11 of the defendents.
   
And the remaining 10.
   
The nearby prison where the defendents were kept.
   
Actual benches upon which some of the 21 defendants sat.
   
A photo of all 21 defendents.   Twelve of the defendants were sentenced to death (Göring, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, Seyss-Inquart, and Bormann-in absentia).  Seven defendants (Hess, Funk, Raeder, Dönitz, Schirach, Speer, and Neurath) were sent to Spandau Prison to serve their sentences.  Three were acquited:  Papen, Schacht, and Fritzsche.
   

The IMT is one of the most well-studied trials in history.  Books have been written on it.  There are a couple of movies as well:  Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) and The Memory of Justice (1976).

The legacy of the trial is controversial, ranging from glorification to condemnation.
   
 
   
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