Nuremberg trial defendants

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.

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. Hess is not to be confused with Rudolph Hoess, commandant of Auschwitz who was tried in Warsaw in and executed at Auschwitz. According to Telford Taylor The Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials, , Churchill made statements at the Yalta Conference in February, , which indicate that he did not consider Hess to be a "major war criminal" and should be given a "judicial trial.

Vera Laska, ed. 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. 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 at age 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. Like most other security positions, Kaltenbrunner came under the direct authority of Heinrich Himmler.

His position placed him in direct contact with the Einsatzgruppen. Amen, Ohlendorf offers the following testimony:. 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 onwards. To my knowledge, he also occupied this position until the end of the war. AMEN: And when you say "liquidated" do you mean "killed?

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, Ernst Kaltenbrunner was sentenced to death by hanging.

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. 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 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. 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 and died in Rosenberg was a Baltic German who had migrated to Germany in and became a member of the Nazi Party in Throughout his career, he was obsessed with the idea that the Russian Revolution was, in large part, the work of an "international Jewish conspiracy. Alfred Rosenberg was sentenced to death by hanging. He was charged with the solicitation of slave labor -- in violation of the Geneva Convention of Why Hjalmar Schacht was included in the list of defendants is unclear.

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. Likewise, Schacht had never concealed his antisemitism and his agreement that Jews should be excluded from governmental and civil service positions.

Immediately, the new Chancellor invited German troops to enter Austria. The Anschluss was under way. In that position he was instrumental in the formation of the Lublin Plan for the deportation of Jews from the Reich cf. The influence of Rosenberg's ideology had achieved a major triumph, for he states:. Rosenberg's intrigues made a significant contribution to Nazi preparations for aggressive war, and the benefit to Germany's position in the Balkans was great.

Rosenberg reports that upon Goga's resignation he left a personal heir in Marshal Antonescu, who was appointed by Goga as Minister of War against the wishes of the King. Of Antonescu Rosenberg says:. He also maintained continued relations with the Iron Guard. Thereby the possibility of eliminating the king was at hand -- and was exploited.

Antonescu today appears in practice as executor of the heritage bequested to him by Goga, who had led him from political insignificance into the political arena.

Thereby a change to Germany's liking had become possible in Rumania. King Carol abdicated on the following day, and Rumania existed as a German satellite throughout the war. Rosenberg's aims had been achieved. The substantial contribution which Rosenberg had thus made to Germany's strategic plans for aggressive war is evident from a brief review of the military action which followed in the wake of his political maneuvers.

Shortly after King Carol's abdication Antonescu "invited" German troops to "protect" the Rumanian oil fields. When Hungary subscribed to the Axis pact a few weeks later, Germany acquired a continuous land bridge to the Black Sea, through Austria, Hungary, and Rumania.

When Bulgaria subscribed to the Pact in March , a German thrust southward through Yugoslavia and Greece became feasible, for with Hungary, Rumania, and Bulgaria secure, the entire German eastern flank was safe from attack. A month later, Yugoslavia and Greece were invaded. Only when they were overcome was Germany free to attack the Soviet Union.

Seven weeks after the fall of Crete, Germany launched her war on the U. Thus, Rosenberg's intrigue in Rumania provided a vital link in the chain of the German strategy of aggression.

Rosenberg also played a leading role in the development of fifth-column activities in Norway. He fostered the development of close relations between Germany and Quisling, procured financial backing for Quisling's activities, and brought him into contact with Raeder and Hitler.

Rosenberg kept the Reich informed as to internal developments in Norway through his contacts with Hagelin, Quisling's deputy, and took an active part in the development of plans for a Quisling coup in Norway.

The record is clear that Rosenberg provided the inspiration and the means for the betrayal of Norway by Quisling and Hagelin -- treason for which the Norwegian Government has tried, condemned, and executed them. Rosenberg participated in the conspiracy to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity in the areas of the Occupied East which he administered for over three years. Rosenberg bears personal responsibility for these crimes.

Rosenberg may contend that some of these crimes were committed against his wishes. There is, indeed, some evidence that he protested on occasion, not out of humanitarian reasons, but on the ground of political expediency. Rosenberg may also attempt to place the blame for these crimes on other agencies and other defendants.

The documents prove, however, that he himself formulated the harsh policies in the execution of which the rimes were committed; that the crimes were committed for the most part by persons and agencies within his jurisdiction and control; that the other agencies which participated in the commission of these crimes were invited by him to cooperate in the administration of the East, although the brutal methods customarily employed by them were common knowledge; and that his Ministry lent full cooperation to their activities despite the criminal methods that were employed.

The initial preparations undertaken by Rosenberg for fulfillment of his new task indicate the extent to which he cooperated in promoting the military plans for aggression. They also show that he understood his task as requiring the assistance of a multitude of Reich agencies and that he invited their cooperation. Shortly after his appointment by Hitler, Rosenberg conducted a series of conferences with representatives of various Reich agencies PS. Cooperation of the following agencies in the administration of the Eastern Territories was contemplated and solicited by.

These arrangements, it should be noted, were made by Rosenberg in his capacity as Commissioner on Eastern Questions before the attack on the Soviet Union, before Rosenberg was appointed Minister of the Occupied East, and before there was any Occupied Eastern Territory for Germany to administer. Emphasis must be placed on Rosenberg's basic attitudes regarding his new task, and the directives he knew he would be expected to follow.

On 29 April he stated:. The last paragraph of these instructions reads as follows:. It will be necessary that in some territories an uprooting and resettlement of various racial stocks [Voelkerschaften] will have to be effected. In his "Instructions for a Reich Commissar in the Baltic Countries and White Russia" officially referred to together as the "Ostland" Rosenberg directs that the Ostland be transformed into a part of the Greater German Reich by Germanizing racially possible elements, colonizing Germanic races, and banishing undesirable elements.

In a speech delivered by Rosenberg on 20 June he stated that the job of feeding Germans was the top of Germany's claim on the East; that there was no obligation to feed also the Russian peoples; that this was a harsh necessity bare of any feeling; that a very extensive evacuation would be necessary; and that the future would hold many hard years in store for the Russians.

On 4 July a representative of the Rosenberg Bureau attended a conference on the subject of mobilization of labor and utilization of Soviet prisoners of war. The conference proceeded as follows:. Krull, Lt. Breyer of the P. The War Economy and Armament office will approach the Commissioner for the Four-Year Plan with a request for relaxation of the restrictive regulations and express to the Chief of Operational Staff of the Armed Forces its point of view, accordingly.

On 16 July , the day before Rosenberg's appointment as Minister of the Occupied East, he attended a conference at the Fuehrer's Headquarters. At that time Hitler stated that. Hitler further stated that Germany's objectives in the East were three-fold, first, to dominate it; second, to administer it; third, to exploit it.

Thus, the character of the administration contemplated for the Occupied East was well established before Rosenberg took office as Minister of the Occupied East. He knew of these plans and was in accord with them. Persecution of the Jews, forced labor of prisoners of war, Germanization and exploitation were basic points of policy at the time he assumed office. On 17 July Hitler appointed Rosenberg as Reichsminister for the Occupied Eastern Territories, territories which included nearly all the area seized by Germany from the U.

The organizational structure and chain of responsibility within the Ministry for the Occupied East emphasizes Rosenberg's responsibility. A treatise entitled "The Organization of the Administration of the Occupied Eastern Territories" PS is undated and unsigned, but further information regarding it may be obtained by reference to document EC, Goering's "Green Folder.

Brown Folder, Pt. I, pp. The two paragraphs which follow are identical to two paragraphs found in document PS. The directives issued by the Rosenberg Ministry itself PS prove the extent of Rosenberg's authority: he was the Supreme civilian authority in the Eastern Territories. There was a continuous chain of command from Rosenberg down to regional administrative officials, extending even to the local prison warden PS. The relationship which existed between the Rosenberg Ministry and other German agencies varied from full control by Rosenberg, to close cooperation with them made mandatory by his directives and by Hitler's orders.

Finally, the various subdivisions of the Ministry were required to submit period-reports of the situation within their jurisdiction -- so that the numerous reports of brutality which Rosenberg received were submitted to him pursuant to his orders. The treatise on the organization of Rosenberg's ministry states as follows:. By directions of the Fuehrer he establishes a civil administration there upon withdrawal of the military administration. He heads and supervises the entire administration of this area and represents the sovereignty of the Reich in the occupied Eastern Territories.

According to the instructions of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories the Reich Commissar, as a functionary of the Reich, heads and supervises, within his precincts, the entire civil administration. Within the scope of these instructions he acts on his own responsibility. However, the Chief of Staff has the general right to secure information from him also. His official title is:. The scope of Rosenberg's control over the SS in the Occupied Eastern Territories is revealed in a decree signed by Rosenberg, dated 17 July , and found in the Verordnungsblatt of the Reich Minister for the Occupied East, 2, pages 7 and 8.

This decree provides for the creation of summary courts-martial to punish crimes committed by non-Germans in the East, as determined by the Reich Commissar. The courts are to be presided over by a police officer or an SS leader, who have authority to order the death sentence and confiscation of property, and whose decisions are not subject to appeal.

The General Commissar is given the right to reject a summary Courts' decision. Thus, the determination of the SS is subordinated to the authority of Rosenberg's Ministry. The position of the General Commissar is defined as follows in the organizational treatise:. Within his jurisdiction he heads the administration according to the general directives of the Reich Minister for the Occupied Eastern Territories and the prescriptions of the Reich Commissar.

The order of superiority in the service among these various officials is stated as follows:. The Reich Commissar is the superior of all officials and employees of his office and of the offices subordinate to him. The General Commissar is the superior of the officials and employees of his office and of the officials and employees of the offices of the Main and Regional Commissars. The Main Commissar and the Regional Commissar are the superior of the officials and employees of their offices.

Thus, there is a continuous chain of command and of accountability from the Reich Minister, Rosenberg, down through each subdivision of the Ministry.

Furthermore, Rosenberg had authority to legislate for the entire area, and the jurisdiction of his Ministry was exclusive, aside from that of the military. The organizational treatise states:. Other Reich authorities may not be established alongside them. They handle all questions of administration of the area which is subordinate to their sovereignty and all affairs which concern the organization and activity of the administration including those of the Police in the supervision of the native [landeseigenen] agencies and organizations, and of the population.

He can make the law for all the territories. The following passage shows that the economic exploitation of the territory was undertaken in fullest cooperation with the Commissioner of the Four-Year Plan:. The economic inspectorates and economic commands are active there as his representatives [Organe] [see Green Folio]. 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. 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.

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. Jackson called Hess "the engineer tending to the Party machinery. 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 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 at age 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. He also planned attacks against Greece and Yugoslavia Jodl was quoted as saying, "Terror attacks against English centers of population Jodl signed Germany's unconditional surrender on May 7, , 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. Jodl was hanged in Nuremberg on Oct. Critics have called Jodl's death sentence harsh in relation to the sentences received by other German officers of similar rank.

How can they say such things about me? 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.

He gave us the orders. He kept saying that it was all his responsibility. 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.

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, 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. 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.

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 Neurath was sentenced to fifteen years in prison.

He was released because of poor health in , and died two years later. 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. Von Papen helped consolidate Nazi control in 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.