The international trial of the former leaders of Nazi Germany took place from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946 at the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg (Germany). The original list of defendants included the Nazis in the same order that I have in this post. On October 18, 1945, the indictment was handed over to the International Military Tribunal and transmitted through its secretariat to each of the accused. A month before the start of the trial, each of them was handed an indictment in German. The defendants were asked to write on it their attitude towards the prosecution. Raeder and Lay didn't write anything (Ley's response was, in fact, his suicide shortly after the charges were brought), and the rest wrote what I have on the line: "Last word."

Even before the start of the court hearings, after reading the indictment, on November 25, 1945, Robert Ley committed suicide in the cell. Gustav Krupp was declared terminally ill by the medical board, and the case against him was dismissed pending trial.

Due to the unprecedented gravity of the crimes committed by the defendants, doubts arose whether all democratic norms of legal proceedings should be observed in relation to them. The UK and US prosecutions proposed not to give the defendants the last word, but the French and Soviet sides insisted on the opposite. These words, which have entered into eternity, I will present to you now.

List of accused.

Hermann Wilhelm Göring(German: Hermann Wilhelm Göring), Reich Marshal, Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force. He was the most important defendant. Sentenced to death by hanging. 2 hours before the execution of the sentence, he was poisoned by potassium cyanide, which was transferred to him with the assistance of E. von der Bach-Zelevsky.

Hitler publicly declared Göring guilty of failing to organize the air defense of the country. April 23, 1945, based on the Law of June 29, 1941, Goering, after a meeting with G. Lammers, F. Bowler, K. Koscher and others, turned to Hitler on the radio, asking for his consent to accept him - Goering - as head of the government . Goering announced that if he did not receive an answer by 22 o'clock, he would consider it an agreement. On the same day, Goering received an order from Hitler forbidding him to take the initiative, at the same time, on the orders of Martin Bormann, Goering was arrested by an SS detachment on charges of treason. Two days later, Goering was replaced as commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe by Field Marshal R. von Greim, stripped of his ranks and awards. In his Political Testament, on April 29, Hitler expelled Goering from the NSDAP and officially named Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz as his successor in his place. On the same day he was transferred to a castle near Berchtesgaden. On May 5, the SS detachment handed over Göring's guards to the Luftwaffe units, and Göring was immediately released. May 8 arrested by American troops in Berchtesgaden.

The last word: "The winner is always the judge, and the loser is the accused!".
In his suicide note, Goering wrote "The Reichsmarshals are not hanged, they leave on their own."

Rudolf Hess(German: Rudolf Heß), Hitler's deputy in charge of the Nazi Party.

During the trial, lawyers declared that he was insane, although Hess gave generally adequate testimony. Was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Soviet judge, who issued a dissenting opinion, insisted on the death penalty. He was serving a life sentence in Berlin in the Spandau prison. After the release of A. Speer in 1965, he remained her only prisoner. Until the end of his days he was devoted to Hitler.

In 1986, the government of the USSR, for the first time since Hess was imprisoned, considered the possibility of his release on humanitarian grounds. In the autumn of 1987, during the presidency of the Soviet Union in the Spandau International Prison, it was supposed to take a decision on his release, "showing mercy and demonstrating the humanity of the new course" of Gorbachev.

On August 17, 1987, 93-year-old Hess was found dead with a wire around his neck. He left a testamentary note handed over to his relatives a month later and written on the back of a letter from his relatives:

"A request to the directors to send this home. Written a few minutes before my death. I thank you all, my beloved, for all the precious things you have done for me. Tell Freiburg that I am extremely sorry that since the Nuremberg trial I have to acted as if I didn't know her. I had no choice, because otherwise all attempts to gain freedom would have been in vain. I was so looking forward to meeting her. I did get her photo and all of you. Your Senior."

The last word: "I don't regret anything."

Joachim von Ribbentrop(German: Ullrich Friedrich Willy Joachim von Ribbentrop), Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler's foreign policy adviser.

He met Hitler at the end of 1932, when he gave him his villa for secret negotiations with von Papen. With his refined manners at the table, Hitler impressed Ribbentrop so much that he soon joined the NSDAP, and later the SS. On May 30, 1933, Ribbentrop was awarded the title of SS Standartenführer, and Himmler became a frequent visitor to his villa.

Hanged by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal. It was he who signed the non-aggression pact between Germany and the Soviet Union, which Nazi Germany violated with incredible ease.

The last word: "Wrong people charged."

Personally, I consider him the most disgusting type that appeared at the Nuremberg trials.

Robert Lay(German: Robert Ley), head of the Labor Front, by whose order all trade union leaders of the Reich were arrested. He was charged with three counts - conspiracy to wage a war of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He committed suicide in prison shortly after the indictment, before the actual trial, by hanging himself from a sewer pipe with a towel.

The last word: refused.

(Keitel signs the act of unconditional surrender of Germany)
Wilhelm Keitel(German: Wilhelm Keitel), Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command of the German Armed Forces. It was he who signed the act of surrender of Germany, which ended the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War in Europe. However, Keitel advised Hitler not to attack France and opposed the Barbarossa plan. Both times he resigned, but Hitler did not accept it. In 1942, Keitel dared to object to the Fuhrer for the last time, speaking in defense of Field Marshal Liszt, defeated on the Eastern Front. The Tribunal rejected Keitel's excuses that he was only following Hitler's orders and found him guilty of all charges. The sentence was carried out on October 16, 1946.

The last word: "An order for a soldier - there is always an order!"

Ernst Kaltenbrunner(German: Ernst Kaltenbrunner), head of the RSHA - SS Imperial Security Main Office and State Secretary of the German Imperial Ministry of the Interior. For numerous crimes against the civilian population and prisoners of war, the court sentenced him to death by hanging. On October 16, 1946, the sentence was carried out.

The last word: "I am not responsible for war crimes, I was only doing my duty as the head of the intelligence agencies, and I refuse to serve as a kind of Himmler's ersatz."

(on right)

Alfred Rosenberg(German Alfred Rosenberg), one of the most influential members of the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), one of the main ideologists of Nazism, Reich Minister for the Eastern Territories. Sentenced to death by hanging. Rosenberg was the only one of the 10 executed who refused to give the last word on the scaffold.

The last word in court: "I reject the 'conspiracy' charge. Anti-Semitism was only a necessary defensive measure."

(in the center)

Hans Frank(German Dr. Hans Frank), head of the occupied Polish lands. On October 12, 1939, immediately after the occupation of Poland, he was appointed by Hitler as head of the administration for the population of the Polish occupied territories, and then as governor general of occupied Poland. He organized the mass destruction of the civilian population of Poland. Sentenced to death by hanging. The sentence was carried out on October 16, 1946.

The last word: "I view this trial as a God-pleasing supreme court to sort out and bring to an end the terrible period of Hitler's rule."

Wilhelm Frick(German Wilhelm Frick), Minister of the Interior of the Reich, Reichsleiter, head of the NSDAP deputy group in the Reichstag, lawyer, one of Hitler's closest friends in the early years of the struggle for power.

The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg held Frick responsible for bringing Germany under Nazi rule. He was accused of drafting, signing and enforcing a number of laws prohibiting political parties and trade unions, creating a system of concentration camps, encouraging the activities of the Gestapo, persecuting Jews and militarizing the German economy. He was found guilty on counts of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. On October 16, 1946, Frick was hanged.

The last word: "The whole accusation is based on the assumption of participation in a conspiracy."

Julius Streicher(German Julius Streicher), Gauleiter, editor-in-chief of the newspaper "Sturmovik" (German Der Stürmer - Der Stürmer).

He was charged with inciting the murder of Jews, which fell under Charge 4 of the process - crimes against humanity. In response, Streicher called the process "the triumph of world Jewry." According to the test results, his IQ was the lowest of all the defendants. During the examination, Streicher once again told psychiatrists about his anti-Semitic beliefs, but he was found to be sane and capable of answering for his actions, although obsessed with an obsession. He believed that the accusers and judges were Jews and did not try to repent of his deed. According to the psychologists who conducted the survey, his fanatical anti-Semitism is rather a product of a sick psyche, but on the whole he gave the impression of an adequate person. His authority among the other defendants was extremely low, many of them frankly shunned such an odious and fanatical figure as he was. Hanged by the verdict of the Nuremberg Tribunal for anti-Semitic propaganda and calls for genocide.

The last word: "This process is the triumph of world Jewry."

Hjalmar Shacht(German Hjalmar Schacht), Reich Minister of Economics before the war, Director of the National Bank of Germany, President of the Reichsbank, Reich Minister of Economics, Reich Minister without portfolio. On January 7, 1939, he sent a letter to Hitler stating that the course pursued by the government would lead to the collapse of the German financial system and hyperinflation, and demanded that financial control be transferred to the Reichs Ministry of Finance and the Reichsbank.

In September 1939 he strongly opposed the invasion of Poland. Schacht reacted negatively to the war with the USSR, believing that Germany would lose the war for economic reasons. November 30, 1941 sent Hitler a sharp letter criticizing the regime. January 22, 1942 resigned as Reich Minister.

Schacht had contacts with conspirators against the Hitler regime, although he himself was not a member of the conspiracy. On July 21, 1944, after the failure of the July Plot against Hitler (July 20, 1944), Schacht was arrested and held in the Ravensbrück, Flossenburg and Dachau concentration camps.

The last word: "I don't understand why I've been charged."

This is probably the most difficult case, on October 1, 1946 Schacht was acquitted, then in January 1947 a German denazification court sentenced him to eight years in prison, but on September 2, 1948 he was nevertheless released from custody.

Later he worked in the German banking sector, founded and headed the banking house "Schacht GmbH" in Düsseldorf. June 3, 1970 died in Munich. We can say that he was the luckiest of all the defendants. Although...

Walter Funk(German Walther Funk), German journalist, Nazi Minister of Economics after Schacht, President of the Reichsbank. Sentenced to life imprisonment. Released in 1957.

The last word: "Never in my life have I, either consciously or out of ignorance, done anything that would give rise to such accusations. If, out of ignorance or as a result of delusions, I committed the acts listed in the indictment, then my guilt should be considered from the perspective of my personal tragedy but not as a crime.

(right; left - Hitler)
Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach(German: Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach), head of the Friedrich Krupp concern (Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp). From January 1933 - press secretary of the government, from November 1937 the Reich Minister of Economics and Commissioner General for War Economy, at the same time from January 1939 - President of the Reichsbank.

At the trial in Nuremberg, he was sentenced by the International Military Tribunal to life imprisonment. Released in 1957.

Karl Doenitz(German: Karl Dönitz), Grand Admiral of the Third Reich Fleet, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, after Hitler's death and in accordance with his posthumous will - President of Germany.

The Nuremberg Tribunal for war crimes (in particular, the conduct of the so-called unlimited submarine warfare) sentenced him to 10 years in prison. This verdict was contested by some jurists, as the same methods of submarine warfare were widely practiced by the victors. Some of the Allied officers, after the verdict, expressed their sympathy to Doenitz. Doenitz was found guilty on the 2nd (crime against peace) and 3rd (war crimes) counts.

After his release from prison (Spandau in West Berlin), Doenitz wrote his memoirs "10 years and 20 days" (meaning 10 years of command of the fleet and 20 days of the presidency).

The last word: "None of the charges has anything to do with me. American inventions!"

Erich Raeder(German Erich Raeder), Grand Admiral, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy of the Third Reich. On January 6, 1943, Hitler ordered Raeder to disband the surface fleet, after which Raeder demanded his resignation and was replaced by Karl Doenitz on January 30, 1943. Raeder received the honorary position of chief inspector of the fleet, but in fact he had no rights and obligations.

In May 1945, he was taken prisoner by Soviet troops and transferred to Moscow. By the verdict of the Nuremberg trials, he was sentenced to life imprisonment. From 1945 to 1955 in prison. Petitioned to replace his prison sentence with execution; the control commission found that "it cannot increase the punishment." January 17, 1955 released for health reasons. Wrote memoirs "My Life".

The last word: refused.

Baldur von Schirach(German: Baldur Benedikt von Schirach), head of the Hitler Youth, then Gauleiter of Vienna. At the Nuremberg trials, he was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He served his entire sentence in the Spandau military prison in Berlin. Released September 30, 1966.

The last word: "All troubles - from racial politics."

I fully agree with this statement.

Fritz Sauckel(German: Fritz Sauckel), leader of the forced deportations to the Reich of labor from the occupied territories. Sentenced to death for war crimes and crimes against humanity (mainly for the deportation of foreign workers). Hanged.

The last word: "The gap between the ideal of a socialist society, hatched and defended by me, in the past a sailor and a worker, and these terrible events - concentration camps - deeply shocked me."

Alfred Jodl(German: Alfred Jodl), Chief of the Operations Department of the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces, Colonel General. At dawn on October 16, 1946, Colonel-General Alfred Jodl was hanged. His body was cremated, and the ashes were secretly removed and scattered. Jodl took an active part in planning the mass extermination of civilians in the occupied territories. On May 7, 1945, on behalf of Admiral K. Doenitz, he signed in Reims the general surrender of the German armed forces to the Western Allies.

As Albert Speer recalled, "Jodl's accurate and restrained defense made a strong impression. It seems that he was one of the few who managed to rise above the situation." Jodl argued that a soldier cannot be held responsible for the decisions of politicians. He insisted that he honestly fulfilled his duty, obeying the Fuhrer, and considered the war a fair cause. The tribunal found him guilty and sentenced him to death. Before his death, in one of his letters, he wrote: "Hitler buried himself under the ruins of the Reich and his hopes. Let whoever wants to curse him for this, but I can't." Jodl was fully acquitted when the case was reviewed by the Munich court in 1953 (!).

The last word: "The mixture of just accusations and political propaganda is regrettable."

Martin Borman(German: Martin Bormann), head of the party chancellery, accused in absentia. Chief of Staff of the Deputy Fuhrer "since July 3, 1933), head of the NSDAP Party Chancellery" since May 1941) and Hitler's personal secretary (since April 1943). Reichsleiter (1933), Reich Minister without Portfolio, SS Obergruppenführer, SA Obergruppenführer.

An interesting story is connected with it.

At the end of April 1945, Bormann was with Hitler in Berlin, in the bunker of the Reich Chancellery. After the suicide of Hitler and Goebbels, Bormann disappeared. However, already in 1946, Arthur Axman, the chief of the Hitler Youth, who, together with Martin Bormann, tried to leave Berlin on May 1-2, 1945, said during interrogation that Martin Bormann died (more precisely, committed suicide) in front of him on May 2, 1945.

He confirmed that he saw Martin Bormann and Hitler's personal physician, Ludwig Stumpfegger, lying on their backs near the bus station in Berlin where the battle was taking place. He crawled close to their faces and clearly distinguished the smell of bitter almonds - it was potassium cyanide. The bridge over which Bormann was going to escape from Berlin was blocked by Soviet tanks. Bormann chose to bite through the ampoule.

However, these testimonies were not considered sufficient evidence of Bormann's death. In 1946, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg tried Bormann in absentia and sentenced him to death. The lawyers insisted that their client was not subject to trial, since he was already dead. The court did not consider the arguments convincing, considered the case and delivered a verdict, while stipulating that Bormann, in the event of detention, has the right to file a request for pardon within the prescribed time frame.

In the 1970s, while laying a road in Berlin, workers discovered the remains, which were later tentatively identified as the remains of Martin Bormann. His son - Martin Borman Jr. - agreed to provide his blood for DNA analysis of the remains.

The analysis confirmed that the remains really belong to Martin Bormann, who actually tried to leave the bunker and get out of Berlin on May 2, 1945, but realizing that this was impossible, he committed suicide by taking poison (traces of an ampoule with potassium cyanide were found in the teeth of the skeleton). Therefore, the "Bormann case" can safely be considered closed.

In the USSR and Russia, Borman is known not only as a historical figure, but also as a character in the film "Seventeen Moments of Spring" (where Yuri Vizbor played him) - and, in this regard, a character in jokes about Stirlitz.

Franz von Papen(German: Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen), German chancellor before Hitler, then ambassador to Austria and Turkey. Was justified. However, in February 1947, he again appeared before the denazification commission and was sentenced to eight months in prison as the main war criminal.

Von Papen tried unsuccessfully to restart his political career in the 1950s. In his later years he lived in Benzenhofen Castle in Upper Swabia and published many books and memoirs trying to justify his policies in the 1930s, drawing parallels between this period and the beginning of the Cold War. He died on May 2, 1969 in Obersasbach (Baden).

The last word: "The accusation horrified me, firstly, by the realization of irresponsibility, as a result of which Germany was plunged into this war, which turned into a world catastrophe, and secondly, by the crimes that were committed by some of my compatriots. The latter are inexplicable from a psychological point of view. It seems to me that the years of atheism and totalitarianism are to blame for everything. It was they who turned Hitler into a pathological liar."

Arthur Seyss-Inquart(German: Dr. Arthur Seyß-Inquart), chancellor of Austria, then imperial commissioner of occupied Poland and Holland. In Nuremberg, Seyss-Inquart was charged with crimes against peace, planning and unleashing a war of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was found guilty on all counts except criminal conspiracy. After the announcement of the verdict, Seyss-Inquart admitted his responsibility in the last word.

The last word: "Death by hanging - well, I did not expect anything else ... I hope that this execution is the last act of the tragedy of the Second World War ... I believe in Germany."

Albert Speer(German: Albert Speer), Imperial Reich Minister for Armaments and War Industry (1943-1945).

In 1927, Speer obtained a license as an architect at the Technische Hochschule Munich. Due to the depression taking place in the country, there was no work for the young architect. Speer updated the interior of the villa free of charge to the head of the headquarters of the western district - the NSAK Kreisleiter Hanke, who, in turn, recommended the architect Gauleiter Goebbels to rebuild the meeting room and furnish the rooms. After that, Speer receives an order - the design of the May Day rally in Berlin. And then the party congress in Nuremberg (1933). He used red panels and the figure of an eagle, which he proposed to make with a wingspan of 30 meters. Leni Riefenstahl captured in her documentary-staged film "The Victory of Faith" the grandeur of the procession at the opening of the party congress. This was followed by the reconstruction of the NSDAP headquarters in Munich in the same 1933. Thus began Speer's architectural career. Hitler looked everywhere for new energetic people who could be relied upon in the near future. Considering himself an expert in painting and architecture, and possessing some abilities in this area, Hitler chose Speer into his inner circle, which, combined with the latter's strong careerist aspirations, determined his entire future fate.

The last word: "The process is necessary. Even an authoritarian state does not remove responsibility from each individual for the terrible crimes committed."

(left)
Constantin von Neurath(German Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath), in the early years of Hitler's reign, Minister of Foreign Affairs, then Viceroy in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

Neurath was accused in the Nuremberg Court of having "assisted in the preparations for war, ... participated in the political planning and preparation by the Nazi conspirators of aggressive wars and wars in violation of international treaties, ... authorized, directed and took part in war crimes ... and in crimes against humanity, … including in particular crimes against persons and property in the occupied territories.” Neurath was found guilty on all four counts and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In 1953, Neurath was released due to poor health, aggravated by a myocardial infarction suffered in prison.

The last word: "I have always been against accusations without a possible defense."

Hans Fritsche(German: Hans Fritzsche), Head of the Press and Broadcasting Department in the Ministry of Propaganda.

During the fall of the Nazi regime, Fritsche was in Berlin and capitulated along with the last defenders of the city on May 2, 1945, surrendering to the Red Army. He appeared before the Nuremberg trials, where, together with Julius Streicher (due to the death of Goebbels), he represented Nazi propaganda. Unlike Streicher, who was sentenced to death, Fritsche was acquitted on all three charges: the court found it proven that he did not call for crimes against humanity, did not participate in war crimes and conspiracies to seize power. Like the two others acquitted at Nuremberg (Hjalmar Schacht and Franz von Papen), Fritsche, however, was soon tried for other crimes by the denazification commission. After receiving 9 years in prison, Fritsche was released for health reasons in 1950 and died of cancer three years later.

The last word: "This is a terrible accusation of all time. Only one thing can be worse: the coming accusation that the German people will bring against us for abusing their idealism."

Heinrich Himmler(German: Heinrich Luitpold Himmler), one of the main political and military figures of the Third Reich. Reichsführer SS (1929-1945), Reich Minister of the Interior of Germany (1943-1945), Reichsleiter (1934), head of the RSHA (1942-1943). Found guilty of numerous war crimes, including genocide. Since 1931, Himmler has been creating his own secret service - the SD, at the head of which he put Heydrich.

From 1943, Himmler became the Imperial Minister of the Interior, and after the failure of the July Plot (1944), he became the commander of the Reserve Army. Beginning in the summer of 1943, Himmler, through his proxies, began to make contacts with representatives of Western intelligence agencies in order to conclude a separate peace. Hitler, who learned about this, on the eve of the collapse of the Third Reich, expelled Himmler from the NSDAP as a traitor and deprived him of all ranks and positions.

Leaving the Reich Chancellery in early May 1945, Himmler went to the Danish border with someone else's passport in the name of Heinrich Hitzinger, who had been shot shortly before and looked a bit like Himmler, but on May 21, 1945 he was arrested by the British military authorities and on May 23 committed suicide by taking potassium cyanide .

Himmler's body was cremated and the ashes scattered in a forest near Lüneburg.

Paul Joseph Goebbels(German: Paul Joseph Goebbels) - Reich Minister of Public Education and Propaganda of Germany (1933-1945), Imperial NSDAP propaganda leader (since 1929), Reichsleiter (1933), penultimate Chancellor of the Third Reich (April-May 1945).

In his political testament, Hitler appointed Goebbels as his successor as Chancellor, but the very next day after the Fuhrer's suicide, Goebbels and his wife Magda committed suicide by poisoning their six young children. "There will be no act of surrender under my signature!" - said the new chancellor, when he learned about the Soviet demand for unconditional surrender. May 1 at 21 o'clock Goebbels took potassium cyanide. His wife Magda, before committing suicide after her husband, told her young children: "Don't be afraid, now the doctor will give you an inoculation, which is given to all children and soldiers." When the children, under the influence of morphine, fell into a half-asleep state, she herself put a crushed ampoule of potassium cyanide into the mouth of each child (there were six of them).

It is impossible to imagine what feelings she experienced at that moment.

And of course, the Fuhrer of the Third Reich:

Winners in Paris

Hitler behind Hermann Göring, Nuremberg, 1928.

Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Venice, June 1934.

Hitler, Mannerheim and Ruthie in Finland, 1942.

Hitler and Mussolini, Nuremberg, 1940.

Adolf Gitler(German: Adolf Hitler) - the founder and central figure of Nazism, founder of the totalitarian dictatorship of the Third Reich, Fuhrer of the National Socialist German Workers' Party from July 29, 1921, Reich Chancellor of National Socialist Germany from January 31, 1933, Fuhrer and Reich Chancellor of Germany from August 2 1934, Supreme Commander of the German Armed Forces in World War II.

The generally accepted version of Hitler's suicide

On April 30, 1945, in Berlin surrounded by Soviet troops and realizing complete defeat, Hitler, together with his wife Eva Braun, committed suicide, after killing his beloved dog Blondie.
In Soviet historiography, the point of view was established that Hitler took poison (potassium cyanide, like most Nazis who committed suicide), however, according to eyewitnesses, he shot himself. There is also a version according to which Hitler and Brown first took both poisons, after which the Fuhrer shot himself in the temple (thus using both instruments of death).

Even the day before, Hitler gave the order to deliver canisters of gasoline from the garage (to destroy the bodies). On April 30, after dinner, Hitler said goodbye to people from his inner circle and, shaking hands with them, retired to his apartment with Eva Braun, from where the sound of a shot was soon heard. Shortly after 3:15 pm, Hitler's servant Heinz Linge, accompanied by his adjutant Otto Günsche, Goebbels, Bormann and Axmann, entered the Fuhrer's quarters. Dead Hitler sat on the couch; there was a blood stain on his temple. Eva Braun lay next to her, with no visible external injuries. Günsche and Linge wrapped Hitler's body in a soldier's blanket and carried it into the garden of the Reich Chancellery; Eve's body was carried out after him. The corpses were placed near the entrance to the bunker, doused with gasoline and burned. On May 5, the bodies were found on a piece of blanket sticking out of the ground and fell into the hands of the Soviet SMERSH. The body was identified, in part, with the help of Hitler's dentist, who confirmed the authenticity of the corpse's dentures. In February 1946, Hitler's body, along with the bodies of Eva Braun and the Goebbels family - Joseph, Magda, 6 children, was buried at one of the NKVD bases in Magdeburg. In 1970, when the territory of this base was to be transferred to the GDR, at the suggestion of Yu. V. Andropov, approved by the Politburo, the remains of Hitler and others buried with him were dug up, cremated to ashes and then thrown into the Elbe. Only the dentures and part of the skull with the entrance bullet hole (discovered separately from the corpse) survived. They are stored in the Russian archives, as well as the side handles of the sofa on which Hitler shot himself, with traces of blood. However, Hitler's biographer Werner Maser expresses doubts that the discovered corpse and part of the skull really belonged to Hitler.

On October 18, 1945, the indictment was handed over to the International Military Tribunal and transmitted through its secretariat to each of the accused. A month before the start of the trial, each of them was handed an indictment in German.

Results: international military tribunal sentenced:
To death by hanging: Goering, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Seyss-Inquart, Bormann (in absentia), Jodl (who was fully acquitted posthumously, when the case was reviewed by a Munich court in 1953).
To life imprisonment: Hess, Funk, Raeder.
By 20 years in prison: Schirach, Speer.
To 15 years in prison: Neurata.
To 10 years in prison: Denica.
justified: Fritsche, Papen, Shakht.

Tribunal recognized as criminal organizations SS, SD, SA, Gestapo and the leadership of the Nazi Party. The decision to recognize the Supreme Command and the General Staff as criminal was not made, which caused the disagreement of the member of the tribunal from the USSR.

A number of convicts filed petitions: Goering, Hess, Ribbentrop, Sauckel, Jodl, Keitel, Seyss-Inquart, Funk, Doenitz and Neurath - for pardon; Raeder - on the replacement of life imprisonment with the death penalty; Goering, Jodl and Keitel - about replacing hanging with execution if the request for pardon is not granted. All of these applications were denied.

The death penalty was carried out on the night of October 16, 1946 in the building of the Nuremberg prison.

Having passed a guilty verdict on the main Nazi criminals, the International Military Tribunal recognized aggression as the gravest crime of an international character. The Nuremberg trials are sometimes referred to as the "Court of History" because they had a significant impact on the final defeat of Nazism. Funk and Raeder, sentenced to life imprisonment, were pardoned in 1957. After Speer and Schirach were released in 1966, only Hess remained in prison. The right-wing forces of Germany repeatedly demanded that he be pardoned, but the victorious powers refused to commute the sentence. On August 17, 1987, Hess was found hanged in his cell.

Organization of the tribunal

In 1942, British Prime Minister Churchill declared that the Nazi elite should be executed without trial. He expressed this opinion more than once in the future. When Churchill tried to impose his opinion on Stalin, Stalin objected: “Whatever happens, it must be ... an appropriate court decision. Otherwise, people will say that Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin simply took revenge on their political enemies!” Roosevelt, hearing that Stalin insisted on a trial, in turn declared that the trial procedure should not be “too legal”.

The requirement to create an International Military Tribunal was contained in the statement of the Soviet government of October 14, 1942 "On the responsibility of the Nazi invaders and their accomplices for the atrocities committed by them in the occupied countries of Europe."

The agreement on the establishment of the International Military Tribunal and its charter were developed by the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France during the London conference, which took place from June 26 to August 8, 1945. The jointly developed document reflected the coordinated position of all 23 countries participating in the conference, the principles of the charter were approved by the UN General Assembly as universally recognized in the fight against crimes against humanity. On August 29, the first list of the main war criminals was published, consisting of 24 Nazi politicians, military men, ideologists of fascism.

List of defendants

In the initial list of defendants, the defendants were included in the following order:

1. Hermann Wilhelm Göring (ur. Hermann Wilhelm Göring listen)) Reichsmarschall, Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force
2. Rudolf Hess (German) Rudolf Hess), Hitler's deputy for the leadership of the Nazi Party.
3. Joachim von Ribbentrop (ur. Ullrich Friedrich Willy Joachim von Ribbentrop ), Foreign Minister of Nazi Germany.
4. Wilhelm Keitel (ur. Wilhelm Keitel), chief of staff of the German High Command.
5. Robert Ley (German) Robert Ley), head of the Labor Front
6. Ernst Kaltenbrunner (ur. Ernst Kaltenbrunner), leader of the RSHA.
7. Alfred Rosenberg (ur. Alfred Rosenberg), one of the main ideologists of Nazism, Reich Minister for Eastern Territories.
8. Hans Frank (German) Dr. Hans Frank), head of the occupied Polish lands.
9. Wilhelm Frick (German) Wilhelm Frick), Minister of the Interior of the Reich.
10. Julius Streicher (ur. Julius Streicher), Gauleiter, editor-in-chief of the Sturmovik newspaper (German. Der Sturmer - Der Stürmer).
11. Walter Funk (ur. Walther Funk), Minister of Economy after Mine.
12. Hjalmar Schacht (ur. Hjalmar Schacht), the imperial minister of economics before the war.
13. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach (ur. Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach ), head of the Friedrich Krupp concern.
14. Karl Dönitz (ur. Karl Donitz), Grand Admiral of the Fleet of the Third Reich, Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, after the death of Hitler and in accordance with his posthumous will - President of Germany
15. Erich Raeder (ur. Erich Raeder), Commander-in-Chief of the Navy.
16. Baldur von Schirach (ur. Baldur Benedikt von Schirach), head of the Hitler Youth, Gauleiter of Vienna.
17. Fritz Sauckel (ur. Fritz Sauckel), leader of the forced deportations to the Reich of labor from the occupied territories.
18. Alfred Jodl (ur. Alfred Jodl), chief of staff of the operational leadership of the OKW
19. Martin Bormann (ur. Martin Bormann), the head of the party office, was accused in absentia.
20. Franz von Papen (ur. Franz Joseph Hermann Michael Maria von Papen ), Chancellor of Germany before Hitler, then ambassador to Austria and Turkey.
21. Arthur Seyss-Inquart (ur. Dr. Arthur Seyss-Inquart), chancellor of Austria, then imperial commissioner for occupied Holland.
22. Albert Speer (ur. Albert Speer), Imperial Minister of Armaments.
23. Konstantin von Neurath (ur. Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath ), in the early years of Hitler's reign, Minister of Foreign Affairs, then Viceroy in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
24. Hans Fritsche (German) Hans Fritzche), head of the press and broadcasting department in the Propaganda Ministry.

Remarks to the accusation

The defendants were asked to write on it their attitude towards the prosecution. Raeder and Lay wrote nothing (Ley's response was, in fact, his suicide shortly after the charges were brought), while the rest of the defendants wrote the following:

1. Hermann Wilhelm Goering: "The winner is always the judge, and the loser is the accused!"
2. Rudolf Hess: "I don't regret anything"
3. Joachim von Ribbentrop: "The charges against the wrong people"
4. Wilhelm Keitel: "An order for a soldier - there is always an order!"
5. Ernst Kaltenbrunner: "I am not responsible for war crimes, I was only doing my duty as head of intelligence agencies, and I refuse to serve as a kind of Himmler's ersatz"
6. Alfred Rosenberg: "I reject the charge of 'conspiracy'. Anti-Semitism was only a necessary defensive measure.”
7. Hans Frank: "I regard this process as the highest court pleasing to God, designed to understand the terrible period of Hitler's reign and complete it"
8. Wilhelm Frick: "The whole accusation is based on the assumption of participation in a conspiracy"
9. Julius Streicher: "This trial is the triumph of world Jewry"
10. Hjalmar Schacht: "I don't understand at all why I'm charged"
11. Walter Funk: “Never in my life have I done anything consciously or unknowingly that would give rise to such accusations. If, due to ignorance or due to delusions, I committed the acts listed in the indictment, then my guilt should be considered from the perspective of my personal tragedy, but not as a crime.
12. Karl Dönitz: “None of the charges has anything to do with me. American inventions!
13. Baldur von Schirach: "All troubles come from racial politics"
14. Fritz Sauckel: "The gulf between the ideal of a socialist society nurtured and defended by me, a former sailor and worker, and these terrible events - the concentration camps - deeply shocked me"
15. Alfred Jodl: "The mixture of just accusations and political propaganda is regrettable"
16. Franz von Papen: “The accusation horrified me, firstly, by the realization of irresponsibility, as a result of which Germany was plunged into this war, which turned into a world catastrophe, and secondly, by the crimes that were committed by some of my compatriots. The latter are inexplicable from a psychological point of view. It seems to me that the years of godlessness and totalitarianism are to blame for everything. It was they who turned Hitler into a pathological liar."
17. Arthur Seyss-Inquart: "I would like to hope that this is the last act of the tragedy of the Second World War"
18. Albert Speer: “Process is necessary. Even an authoritarian state does not remove responsibility from each individual for the terrible crimes committed.
19. Konstantin von Neurath: "I have always been against accusations without a possible defense"
20. Hans Fritsche: “This is the worst accusation of all time. Only one thing can be more terrible: the coming accusation that the German people will bring against us for abusing their idealism.

Groups or organizations to which the defendants belonged were also accused.

Even before the start of the court hearings, after reading the indictment, on November 25, 1945, the head of the Labor Front, Robert Ley, committed suicide in the cell. Gustav Krupp was declared terminally ill by the medical board, and the case against him was dismissed pending trial.

The rest of the accused were put on trial.

Process progress

The International Military Tribunal was formed on an equal basis from representatives of the four great powers in accordance with the London Agreement.

Members of the tribunal

• from the United States: former Attorney General F. Biddle.
• from the USSR: Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, Major General of Justice I. T. Nikitchenko.
• for the United Kingdom: Chief Justice, Lord Geoffrey Lawrence.
• from France: professor of criminal law A. Donnedier de Vabre.

Each of the 4 countries sent its chief accusers, their deputies and assistants:

• for the US: US Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson.
• from the USSR: Prosecutor General of the Ukrainian SSR R. A. Rudenko.
• for Great Britain: Hartley Shawcross
• for France: François de Menthon, who was absent during the first days of the process and was replaced by Charles Dubost, and then Champentier de Ribes was appointed instead of de Menthon.

A total of 216 court hearings were held, the chairman of the court was the representative of the UK, J. Lawrence. Various evidences were presented, among them for the first time appeared the so-called. "secret protocols" to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact (were presented by I. Ribbentrop's lawyer A. Seidl).

Due to the post-war aggravation of relations between the USSR and the West, the process was tense, this gave the accused hope for the collapse of the process. The situation escalated especially after Churchill's Fulton speech, when the real possibility of a war against the USSR arose. Therefore, the defendants behaved boldly, skillfully playing for time, hoping that the coming war would put an end to the process (Goering contributed most of all to this). At the end of the process, the USSR prosecution provided a film about the concentration camps of Majdanek, Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz, filmed by front-line cameramen of the Soviet army.

accusations

1. Nazi party plans:
   • The use of Nazi control for aggression against foreign states.
   • Aggressive actions against Austria and Czechoslovakia.
   • Attack on Poland.
   • Aggressive war against the whole world (-).
   • German invasion of the USSR in violation of the non-aggression pact of August 23, 1939.
   • Cooperation with Italy and Japan and aggressive war against the USA (November 1936 - December 1941).
2. Crimes against the world:
   • « All the accused and various other persons participated in the planning, preparation, initiation and conduct of aggressive wars for a number of years up to May 8, 1945, which were also wars in violation of international treaties, agreements and obligations.».
3. War crimes:
   • Killings and ill-treatment of the civilian population in the occupied territories and on the high seas.
   • Withdrawal of the civilian population of the occupied territories into slavery and for other purposes.
   • Murder and ill-treatment of prisoners of war and military personnel of countries with which Germany was at war, as well as with persons who were sailing on the high seas.
   • Aimless destruction of cities and towns and villages, devastation not justified by military necessity.
   • Germanization of the occupied territories.
4. Crimes against humanity:
   • The accused pursued a policy of persecution, repression and extermination of enemies of the Nazi government. The Nazis threw people into prison without a trial, subjected them to persecution, humiliation, enslavement, torture, and killed them.

Hitler did not take all responsibility with him to the grave. All guilt is not wrapped in Himmler's shroud. These living have chosen these dead to be their accomplices in this grandiose brotherhood of conspirators, and each of them must pay for the crime they have committed together.

It can be said that Hitler committed his last crime against the country he ruled. He was a mad messiah who started a war for no reason and continued it pointlessly. If he could no longer rule, then he did not care what would happen to Germany ...

They stand before this court, as blood-stained Gloucester stood before the body of his slain king. He begged the widow, as they beg you: "Say that I didn't kill them." And the queen answered: “Then say that they are not killed. But they are dead." If you say that these people are innocent, it's like saying that there was no war, no dead, no crime.

From the indictment of Robert Jackson

Sentence

International Military Tribunal sentenced:

• To death by hanging: Goering, Ribbentrop, Kaitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Seyss-Inquart, Bormann (in absentia), Jodl.
• To life imprisonment: Hess, Funk, Raeder.
• By 20 years in prison: Schirach, Speer.
• By 15 years in prison: Neurath.
• By 10 years in prison: Dönitz.
• Justified: Fritsche, Papen, Schacht

The Soviet judge I. T. Nikitchenko filed a dissenting opinion, where he objected to the acquittal of Fritsche, Papen and Schacht, the non-recognition of the German cabinet of ministers, the General Staff and the supreme command of criminal organizations, as well as life imprisonment (not the death penalty) for Rudolf Hess.

Jodl was fully acquitted posthumously when the case was reviewed by a Munich court in 1953, but later, under pressure from the United States, the decision to annul the Nuremberg court verdict was annulled.

The Tribunal declared the SS, SD, SA, Gestapo and leadership of the Nazi Party to be criminal organizations.

A number of convicts petitioned the Allied Control Commission for Germany: Goering, Hess, Ribbentrop, Sauckel, Jodl, Keitel, Seyss-Inquart, Funk, Doenitz and Neurath - for pardon; Raeder - on the replacement of life imprisonment with the death penalty; Goering, Jodl and Keitel - about replacing hanging with execution if the request for pardon is not granted. All of these applications were denied.

The death penalty was carried out on the night of October 16, 1946 in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg prison. Goering poisoned himself in prison shortly before his execution (there is an assumption that the capsule with poison was given to him by his wife during the last meeting with a kiss).

Trials of smaller war criminals continued in Nuremberg until the 1950s (see Subsequent Nuremberg Trials), not in the International Tribunal, but in an American court.

On August 15, 1946, the American Information Administration published a survey of surveys conducted, according to which the overwhelming majority of Germans (about 80 percent) considered the Nuremberg trials fair, and the guilt of the defendants was undeniable; about half of the respondents answered that the defendants should be sentenced to death; only four percent responded negatively to the process.

Execution and cremation of the bodies of convicts

One of the witnesses to the execution, the writer Boris Polevoy, published his memoirs and impressions of the execution. The verdict was carried out by the American sergeant John Wood - "of his own free will."

Going to the gallows, most of them tried to appear brave. Some behaved defiantly, others resigned themselves to their fate, but there were also those who appealed to God's mercy. All but Rosenberg made brief last-minute announcements. And only Julius Streicher mentioned Hitler. In the gym, where 3 days ago the American guards played basketball, there were three black gallows, of which two were used. They hung one by one, but in order to finish sooner, the next Nazi was brought into the hall when the previous one was still hanging on the gallows.

The condemned climbed 13 wooden steps to an 8-foot-high platform. Ropes hung from beams supported by two poles. The hanged man fell into the interior of the gallows, the bottom of which on one side was hung with dark curtains, and on three sides it was lined with wood so that no one could see the death throes of the hanged.

After the execution of the last convict (Seiss-Inquart), a stretcher with the body of Goering was brought into the hall so that he would take a symbolic place under the gallows, and also so that journalists would be convinced of his death.

After the execution, the bodies of the hanged and the corpse of the suicide Goering were placed in a row. “Representatives of all the allied powers,” wrote one of the Soviet journalists, “examined them and signed on the death certificates. Photographs were taken of each body, dressed and naked. Then each corpse was wrapped in a mattress along with the last clothes that he was wearing, and rope, on which he was hanged, and put in a coffin. All the coffins were sealed. While they were managing the rest of the bodies, Goering's body was brought on a stretcher, covered with an army blanket ... At 4 o'clock in the morning, the coffins were loaded into 2.5-ton trucks, waiting in the prison yard, covered with a waterproof tarpaulin and driven off, accompanied by a military escort. An American captain rode in the front car, followed by French and American generals. Then followed trucks and a jeep guarding them with specially selected soldiers and a machine gun. The convoy drove through Nuremberg and , leaving the city, took the direction to the south.

At dawn, they drove up to Munich and immediately headed to the outskirts of the city to the crematorium, the owner of which was warned about the arrival of the corpses of "fourteen American soldiers." In fact, there were only eleven corpses, but they said so in order to lull the possible suspicions of the crematorium personnel. The crematorium was surrounded, radio contact was established with the soldiers and tankers of the cordon in case of any alarm. Anyone who entered the crematorium was not allowed to go back until the end of the day. The coffins were opened, and the bodies checked by the American, British, French, and Soviet officers present at the execution to make sure they hadn't been switched along the way. After that, the cremation began immediately and continued throughout the day. When this matter was also finished, a car drove up to the crematorium, and a container with ashes was placed in it. The ashes were scattered from the plane into the wind.

Conclusion

Having passed a guilty verdict on the main Nazi criminals, the International Military Tribunal recognized aggression as the gravest crime of an international character. The Nuremberg Trials are sometimes referred to as " By the court of history", as he had a significant impact on the final defeat of Nazism. Funk and Raeder, sentenced to life imprisonment, were pardoned in 1957. After Speer and Schirach were released in 1966, only Hess remained in prison. The right-wing forces of Germany repeatedly demanded that he be pardoned, but the victorious powers refused to commute the sentence. On August 17, 1987, Hess was found hanged in a gazebo in the prison yard.

The Nuremberg trials are dedicated to the American film "Nuremberg" ( Nuremberg) ().

At the trial in Nuremberg, I said: “If Hitler had friends, I would be his friend. I owe him the inspiration and glory of my youth, as well as later horror and guilt.

In the image of Hitler, as he was in relation to me and others, you can catch some pretty features. There is also the impression of a person who is in many ways gifted and selfless. But the longer I wrote, the more I felt that it was about superficial qualities.

Because such impressions are countered by an unforgettable lesson: the Nuremberg Trials. I will never forget one photographic document depicting a Jewish family going to their death: a man with his wife and his children on their way to death. He still stands before my eyes today.

In Nuremberg I was sentenced to twenty years in prison. The verdict of the military tribunal, however imperfectly portrayed history, tried to formulate guilt. Punishment, always ill-suited to measure historical responsibility, put an end to my civil existence. And that photo took my life from the ground. It turned out to be more durable than the sentence.

Museum

Currently, the meeting room ("Room 600"), where the Nuremberg trials took place, is the usual working premises of the Nuremberg Regional Court (address: Bärenschanzstraße 72, Nürnberg). However, on weekends there are guided tours (from 13:00 to 16:00 every day). In addition, the Documentation Center for the History of the Nazi Congresses in Nuremberg has a special exhibition dedicated to the Nuremberg Trials. This new museum (opened November 4th) also has audio guides in Russian.

Notes

Literature

• Gilbert G. M. Nuremberg diary. The process through the eyes of a psychologist / transl. with him. A. L. Utkina. - Smolensk: Rusich, 2004. - 608 pages. ISBN 5-8138-0567-2

see also

• The Nuremberg Trials is a feature film by Stanley Kramer (1961).
• The Nuremberg Alarm is a 2008 two-part documentary film based on the book by Alexander Zvyagintsev.

History knows many examples of cruelty and inhumanity, bloody crimes of imperialism, but never before have such atrocities and atrocities been committed and on such a scale as the Nazis did. “German fascism,” noted G. Dimitrov, “is not only bourgeois nationalism. This is animal chauvinism. This is a government system of political banditry, a system of provocations and torture against the working class and the revolutionary elements of the peasantry, the petty bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia. This is medieval barbarism and atrocity. This is unbridled aggression against other peoples and countries” (961) . The Nazis tortured, shot, and gassed over 12 million women, the elderly, and children, exterminated prisoners of war in cold blood and mercilessly. They razed thousands of towns and villages to the ground, drove millions of people from the European countries they occupied to hard labor in Germany.

It is characteristic of German fascism that, simultaneously with the military, economic and propaganda preparations for the next act of aggression, monstrous plans were being prepared for the mass destruction of prisoners of war and civilians. Extermination, torture, plunder were elevated to the rank of state policy. “We,” said Hitler, “must develop the technique of depopulation. If you ask me what I mean by depopulation, I will say that I mean the elimination of entire racial units ... to eliminate millions of an inferior race ... "(962)

The department of the Reichsführer SS Himmler, the Supreme High Command of the Armed Forces and the High Command of the Ground Forces were directly involved in the development and implementation of plans for the mass extermination of civilians. They created a sinister "industry of human extermination" from which the German monopolies profited. In order to enslave the survivors, historical monuments and national relics were barbarously destroyed, and the material and spiritual culture of the peoples was destroyed.

Atrocities in Nazi Germany became the norm of behavior, the everyday life of its rulers, officials, military personnel. The entire system of fascist institutions, organizations and camps was directed against the vital interests of entire peoples.

That is why fair retribution has become the demand of all honest people, one of the conditions for maintaining lasting peace on earth. Soviet soldiers and soldiers of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition paved the way for international justice - the Nuremberg trials of the main Nazi war criminals. True, reactionary circles in the United States and Great Britain, under various pretexts, launched a campaign aimed at preventing a trial of the fascist conspirators. Even during the war, American reactionary sociologists tried to convince their readers that war criminals were nothing more or less than mentally ill people who needed to be treated. The press discussed the proposal to deal with Hitler in the same way as in his time with Napoleon, who, as is known, by decision of the victorious states, was exiled for life to St. Helena (963) without trial. The wording was different, but they all pursued the same goal - to punish the main war criminals without investigation or trial. The main argument put forward was that their guilt in the crimes was indisputable, and the collection of forensic evidence would allegedly require a lot of time and effort (964) . According to Truman, already in October 1943 Churchill tried to convince the head of the Soviet government that the main war criminals should be shot without trial (965).

The real reason for such proposals was the fear that in an open trial, unsightly sides in the activities of the governments of Great Britain, the United States and other Western states could emerge: their complicity with Hitler in creating a powerful military machine and encouraging Nazi Germany to attack the Soviet Union. In the ruling circles of the Western powers, fears arose that a public trial of the crimes of German fascism might develop into an accusation of the imperialist system that fostered him and brought him to power.

The bourgeois falsifiers of history are trying to distort the position of the USSR on the question of trying the main war criminals. For example, the West German journalists D. Heidecker and I. Leeb claim that "the Soviet Union was also in favor of putting the Nazis against the wall" (966) . Such a statement has nothing to do with reality. It was the USSR that put forward the idea of ​​a trial of fascist criminals and defended it. The position of the Soviet state was supported by all the freedom-loving peoples of the world.

The Soviet Union consistently and steadfastly sought to ensure that the Nazi leaders were brought before the International Court, and the adopted declarations and international agreements on the punishment of all war criminals were strictly observed, for there is no greater encouragement of crimes than impunity. Moreover, the United Nations program for the defeat of fascism also demanded severe and just punishment for all those who committed grave crimes against humanity.

Already in the notes of the Soviet government of November 25, 1941 “On the outrageous atrocities of the German authorities against Soviet prisoners of war”, January 6, 1942 “On the widespread robberies, ruin of the population and the monstrous atrocities of the German authorities in the Soviet territories they captured”, April 27, 1942 “On the monstrous atrocities, atrocities and violence of the German fascist invaders in the occupied zones and the responsibility of the German government and command for these crimes” (967), it was indicated that all responsibility for the crimes committed by the Nazis rests with the fascist rulers and their accomplices. The documents were sent to all countries with which the Soviet Union maintained diplomatic relations and made widely known.

The inevitability of the criminal responsibility of the Nazis for their atrocities found expression in the Declaration of Friendship and Mutual Assistance signed on December 4, 1941 by the governments of the USSR and Poland. It also established an inextricable link between the punishment of fascist criminals and the provision of a lasting and just peace.

On October 14, 1942, the Soviet government, with all resoluteness and inflexibility, reiterated that the criminal Hitlerite government and all its accomplices must suffer and will suffer the deserved severe punishment for the atrocities committed by them against the Soviet people and all freedom-loving peoples. The government of the USSR stressed the need to immediately bring to trial a special International Tribunal and punish, to the fullest extent of the criminal law, any of the leaders of fascist Germany who, already during the war, found themselves in the hands of the authorities of the states that fought against it (968) . The task of just and severe punishment of the fascist elite became an important element of the foreign policy of the USSR.

The statement of the Soviet government was met with great interest and understanding by the world community, especially by the governments of the countries that had become victims of Hitler's aggression. Thus, the government of Czechoslovakia indicated that it considered this document as an extremely important step towards realizing the unity of all the United Nations in solving the problem of punishment for atrocities committed during the war (969) .

Statements about the responsibility of the Nazis for their monstrous crimes were also made by the governments of the United States and Great Britain as early as October 1941. Roosevelt noted that severe retribution awaited the committed atrocities of the Nazis, and Churchill emphasized that “retaliation for these crimes will henceforth become one of the main purposes of the war" (970) .

The Moscow Declaration, signed by the leaders of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain on October 30, 1943, as well as other international agreements, spoke about the strict punishment of fascist criminals.

In turn, at the Potsdam Conference it was written: "German militarism and Nazism will be eradicated ..." (971) .

Attempts by international reaction to prevent an open trial of the leaders of the Reich failed. The peoples who won the great battle with Nazi Germany perceived the trial of its rulers as a just act of retribution, a natural outcome of the Second World War.

The idea of ​​the International Criminal Court was put into practice by the organization of the trial of the main fascist war criminals, which lasted almost a year - from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946, by the activities of the International Military Tribunal, established on the basis of the London Agreement of August 8, 1945. between the governments of the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France, which was joined by 19 other states. At the same time, the Charter of the Tribunal was adopted, in which, as a basic provision, it was recorded that the International Military Tribunal was established for a fair and speedy trial and punishment of the main war criminals of the European Axis countries (972) .

The Tribunal was international not only because it was organized on the basis of an agreement of 23 states, but, as indicated in the introductory part of this agreement, it was established in the interests of all the United Nations. The fight against German fascism should have become and has become a global concern that united the peoples of both hemispheres, because fascism, its misanthropic ideology and policy have always been and are a direct threat to world peace and social progress. The states of the anti-Hitler coalition managed to achieve a coordinated policy, which included the task of defeating German fascism militarily, as well as providing conditions for a just peace. “Cooperation in the accomplishment of the great military task before us,” Roosevelt pointed out, “should be the threshold to cooperation in the fulfillment of the even greater task of creating world peace (973)

In the USSR, preparations for the trial of the main war criminals were completed in a relatively short time, since as early as 1942, by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, an Extraordinary State Commission was formed to establish and investigate the atrocities of the Nazi invaders and their accomplices. It included Secretary of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions H. M. Shvernik, Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks A. A. Zhdanov, writer A. N. Tolstoy, Academicians E. V. Tarle, N. N. Burdenko, B. E. Vedeneev, I. P. Trainin, T. D. Lysenko, pilot V. S. Grizodubova, Metropolitan Nikolai of Kyiv and Galicia (974). More than 7 million workers and collective farmers, engineers and technicians, scientists and public figures (975) took part in the preparation of acts. With the help of documents and by interviewing many thousands of eyewitnesses, the commission established the facts of the monstrous atrocities of the Nazis.

Soon after the signing of the London Agreement, on an equal basis, the International Military Tribunal was formed from representatives of states: from the USSR - Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Court of the USSR Major General of Justice I. T. Nikitchenko, from the USA - member of the Federal Supreme Court F. Biddle, from Great Britain - chief judge Lord D. Lawrence, from France - professor of criminal law D. de Vabre. Deputy members of the Tribunal were appointed: from the USSR - Lieutenant Colonel of Justice A.F. Volchkov, from the USA - a judge from the state of North Carolina J. Parker, from Great Britain - one of the leading lawyers of the country N. Birkett, from France - a member of the Supreme Court of Cassation R. Falco. Lawrence (976) was elected presiding at the first trial.

Prosecution was organized in the same way. The main accusers were: from the USSR - the Prosecutor of the Ukrainian SSR R. A. Rudenko, from the USA - a member of the Federal Supreme Court (former assistant to President Roosevelt) R. Jackson, from Great Britain - the Attorney General and a member of the House of Commons X. Shawcross, from France - the Minister Justice F. de Menthon, who was then replaced by C. de Riebe. In addition to the main prosecutors, the prosecution was supported (provided evidence, interrogated witnesses and defendants) by their deputies and assistants: from the USSR - Deputy Chief Prosecutor Yu. V. Pokrovsky and assistants to the Chief Prosecutor N. D. Zorya, M. Yu. Raginsky, L. N. Smirnov and L. R. Sheinin.

Under the Chief Prosecutor from the USSR, documentary and investigative parts were organized for the preliminary interrogation of the accused and witnesses, as well as for the proper processing of evidence submitted to the Tribunal. The documentary part was led by the assistant to the Chief Prosecutor D. S. Karev, and the investigative part, which included N. A. Orlov, S. K. Piradov and S. Ya. Rosenblit, was headed by G. N. Alexandrov (977) . A. N. Trainin, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, was the scientific adviser to the Soviet delegation.

It was decided to hold the first trial of the main war criminals in Nuremberg, a city that had been a stronghold of fascism for many years. It hosted congresses of the National Socialist Party, held parades of assault squads.

The list of defendants to be tried by the International Military Tribunal included: G. Goering, Reichsmarschall, Commander-in-Chief of Aviation, authorized under the so-called "four-year plan", since 1922 the closest accomplice of Hitler; R. Hess, Hitler's deputy for the fascist party, member of the council of ministers for the defense of the empire; I. Ribbentrop, Minister of Foreign Affairs, authorized by the fascist party for foreign policy; R. Ley, head of the so-called labor front, one of the leaders of the fascist party; V. Keitel, Field Marshal, Chief of Staff of the Supreme High Command; E. Kaltenbrunner, SS Obergruppenführer, head of the Reich Security Administration and the Security Police, Himmler's closest accomplice; A. Rosenberg, Hitler's deputy for the ideological training of members of the National Socialist Party, Imperial Minister for the Eastern Occupied Territories; G. Frank, Reichsleiter of the Fascist Party and President of the Academy of German Law, Governor-General of the occupied Polish territories; W. Frick, Minister of the Interior and Reich Plenipotentiary for Military Administration; J. Streicher, Gauleiter of Franconia, ideologist of racism and anti-Semitism, organizer of Jewish pogroms; V. Funk, Minister of Economics, President of the Reichsbank, Member of the Council of Ministers for the Defense of the Empire; G. Mine, the organizer of the rearmament of the Wehrmacht, one of Hitler's closest advisers on economic and financial matters; G. Krupn, head of the largest military-industrial concern, which took an active part in the preparation and implementation of the aggressive plans of German militarism, responsible for the deaths of many thousands of people driven to hard labor in Nazi Germany; K. Doenitz, grand admiral, commander of the submarine fleet, and from 1943 - of the naval forces, Hitler's successor as head of state; E. Reder, Grand Admiral, until 1943 Commander-in-Chief of the Naval Forces; B. Shirakh, organizer and leader of the fascist youth organizations in Germany, Hitler's governor in Vienna; F. Sauckel, SS-Obergruppenführer, Plenipotentiary General for the Use of Manpower; A. Jodl, Colonel General, Chief of Staff of the Operational Command of the High Command of the Armed Forces; F. Papen, one of the organizers of the seizure of power in Germany by the Nazis, Hitler's closest accomplice in the "annexation" of Austria; A. Seyss-Inquart, leader of the fascist party of Austria, deputy governor-general of Poland, Hitler's governor in the Netherlands; BUT. Speer, Hitler's closest adviser and friend, Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions, one of the leaders of the Central Planning Committee; K. Neurath, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, member of the Imperial Defense Council, and after the capture of Czechoslovakia, protector of Bohemia and Moravia; G. Fritsche, the closest collaborator of Goebbels, head of the internal press department of the Ministry of Propaganda and head of the radio broadcasting department; M. Bormann, since 1941, Hitler's deputy for the fascist party, head of the party office, Hitler's closest accomplice.

They were accused of unleashing an aggressive war in order to establish the world domination of German imperialism, that is, of crimes against peace, of killing and torturing prisoners of war and civilians of the occupied countries, deporting the civilian population to Germany for forced labor, killing hostages, robbing public and private property, the aimless destruction of towns and villages, innumerable ruins not justified by military necessity, that is, in war crimes, in extermination, enslavement, exile and other cruelties committed against the civilian population for political, racial or religious reasons, that is, in crimes against humanity.

On October 18, 1945, the International Military Tribunal accepted the indictment signed by the chief prosecutors from the USSR, the USA, Great Britain and France, which on the same day, that is, more than a month before the start of the trial, was served on all the defendants in order to give them the opportunity to advance prepare for the defense” Thus, in the interests of a fair trial, from the very beginning, a course was taken for the strictest observance of the rights of the defendants. The world press, commenting on the indictment, noted that this document speaks on behalf of the offended conscience of mankind, that this is not an act of revenge, but a triumph of justice, and not only the leaders of Nazi Germany, but the entire system of fascism will appear before the court (978) .

Almost the entire fascist elite was in the dock, with the exception of Hitler, Goebbels and Himmler, who committed suicide, the paralyzed Krupn, whose case was singled out and suspended, the disappeared Bormann (he was convicted in absentia) and Ley, who, having familiarized himself with the indictment, hanged himself in a cell at Nuremberg prison.

The defendants were given a wide opportunity to defend themselves against the charges, they all had German lawyers (some even two), enjoyed such rights for defense that the accused were deprived not only in the courts of Nazi Germany, but also in many Western countries. The prosecutors handed over copies of all documentary evidence in German to the defense, assisted the lawyers in searching for and obtaining documents, delivering witnesses whom the defense wanted to call (979) .

The Nuremberg trial attracted the attention of millions of people around the world. As presiding Lawrence emphasized on behalf of the Tribunal, "the process which must now begin is the only one of its kind in the history of world jurisprudence, and it is of the greatest public importance for millions of people throughout the globe" (980) . Supporters of peace and democracy saw in it the continuation of post-war international cooperation in the fight against fascism and aggression. It was clear to all honest people of the world that a condescending attitude towards those who criminally violated the universally recognized norms of international law, committed atrocities against the world and humanity, was a great danger. Never before has a lawsuit united all the progressive elements of the world in such a unanimous desire to end aggression, racism and obscurantism. The Nuremberg trials reflected the anger and indignation of mankind at the atrocities, the perpetrators of which must be punished so that such a thing never happens again. Fascist organizations and institutions, misanthropic “theories” and “ideas”, criminals who took possession of the entire state and made the state itself an instrument of monstrous atrocities appeared before the court.

The Hitler regime in Germany was incompatible with the elementary concept of law; terror became its law. Organized by Hitler and his closest accomplices, an unheard of provocation - the burning of the Reichstag - served as a signal for the start of the most severe repressions against the progressive forces of Germany. The streets and squares were lit with bonfires from the works of German and foreign writers, which all mankind is rightfully proud of. The Nazis created the first concentration camps in Germany. Many thousands of patriots were killed and tortured by stormtroopers and SS executioners. As a state system, German fascism represented a system of organized banditry. A wide network of organizations endowed with enormous power operated in the country, which carried out terror, violence, and atrocities.

The Tribunal considered the issue of recognizing the criminal organizations of German fascism - the SS, SA, Gestapo, SD, the government, the general staff and high command of the German armed forces, as well as the leadership of the National Socialist Party. The recognition of the criminal nature of the organizations was necessary in order to give national courts the right to prosecute individuals for belonging to organizations recognized as criminal. Consequently, the principle of "criminal liability to specific individuals" was retained. The question of the guilt of individuals in their affiliation with criminal organizations, as well as the question of responsibility for such affiliation, remained within the jurisdiction of the national courts, which were supposed to decide on the issue of punishment in accordance with the deed. There was only one limitation: the criminality of an organization recognized as such by the Tribunal could not be reviewed by the courts of individual countries.

The Nuremberg trials were a public process in the broadest sense of the word. None of the 403 court hearings were closed (981) . More than 60 thousand passes were issued to the courtroom, some of them were received by the Germans. Everything that was said in court was carefully transcribed. The transcripts of the process amounted to almost 40 volumes, containing more than 20 thousand pages. The process was conducted simultaneously in four languages, including German. The press and radio were represented by about 250 correspondents who broadcast reports on the progress of the process to all corners of the globe.

The process was dominated by an atmosphere of the strictest legality. There was not a single case where the rights of the defendants were somehow infringed. In the speeches of the prosecutors, along with an analysis of the facts, the legal problems of the process were analyzed, the jurisdiction of the Tribunal was substantiated, a legal analysis of the corpus delicti was given, and the unfounded arguments of the defense of the defendants were refuted (982) . Thus, the Chief Prosecutor from the USSR in his opening speech proved that the legal regime of international relations, including those that find their expression in the coordinated fight against crime, rests on other legal foundations. The source of law and the only legislative act in the international sphere is a treaty, an agreement between states (983). The London Agreement and its constituent part - the Charter of the International Tribunal - were based on the principles and norms of international law, long established and confirmed by the Hague Convention of 1907, the Geneva Convention of 1929 and a number of other conventions and pacts. The Charter of the Tribunal gave legal form to those international principles and ideas that have been put forward for many years in defense of the rule of law and justice in the sphere of international relations. For a long time, the peoples interested in strengthening peace put forward and supported the idea of ​​the criminal nature of aggression, and this was officially recognized in a number of international acts and documents.

As for the USSR, as is known, the first foreign policy act of the Soviet government was the Decree on Peace signed by V.I. Lenin, adopted the day after the victory of the October Revolution - November 8, 1917, which declared aggression the greatest crime against humanity and put forward the about the peaceful coexistence of states with different social systems. The Soviet Union is doing everything to make this most important principle of its foreign policy the law of international relations. The special chapter of the Constitution of the USSR of 1977 consolidates the peaceful nature of the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. The entire historical path of the USSR is a purposeful struggle for peace and the security of peoples. “Not a single people,” F. Castro noted at the First Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, “wanted peace and defended it like the Soviet people ... History also proves that socialism, unlike capitalism, does not need to impose its will on others countries through wars and aggressions” (984) .

The fascist aggressors, who found themselves in the dock, knew that by carrying out perfidious attacks on other states, they were thereby committing the gravest crimes against peace, they knew and therefore tried to disguise their criminal actions with false conjectures about defense. They counted on the fact, emphasized the Chief Prosecutor from the USSR R. A. Rudenko, that “total war, having ensured victory, would bring impunity. Victory did not come in the footsteps of atrocities. Complete unconditional surrender of Germany came. The hour has come for a severe answer for all the atrocities committed ”(985) .

The Nuremberg trials were exceptional in terms of the impeccability and strength of the prosecution's evidence. The testimony of numerous witnesses, including former prisoners of Auschwitz, Dachau and other Nazi concentration camps - eyewitnesses of fascist atrocities, as well as material evidence and documentaries appeared as evidence. But the decisive role belonged to the official documents signed by those who were placed in the dock. In total, 116 witnesses were heard in court, 33 of them in individual cases were called by the prosecutors and 61 by the defense lawyers, and more than 4 thousand documentary evidence was presented. compiled by themselves, the authenticity of which has not been disputed, except in one or two cases” (986) .

Thousands of documents from the archives of the Hitlerite General Staff and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the personal archives of Ribbentrop, Rosenberg, Goering and Frank, the correspondence of the banker K. Schroeder, etc., which revealed the preparation and unleashing of aggressive wars, lay on the table of the International Military Tribunal and spoke so convincingly language, that the defendants could not oppose them with a single serious argument. They were sure that documents marked "Top Secret" would never be made public, but history judged otherwise. Broad publicity and impeccable legal validity were the most important features of the Nuremberg Trials. On January 3, 1946, the leader of one of the operational groups that carried out the mass extermination of the civilian population, O. Ohlendorf, testified: only his group destroyed 90 thousand men, women and children during the year in the south of Ukraine. The extermination of civilians was carried out on the basis of an agreement between the high command of the armed forces, the general staff of the ground forces and Himmler's department (987) .

From the orders of Keitel, Goering, Doenitz, Jodl, Reichenau and Manstein, as well as many other Nazi generals, noted the Chief Prosecutor from the USSR, a bloody trail was laid to numerous atrocities committed in the occupied territories (988) . On January 7, SS Obergruppenführer, a member of the National Socialist Party since 1930, E. Bach-Zelewski, testified at the trial. He spoke about the meeting that took place in early 1941, at which Himmler stated that one of the goals of the campaign against the USSR "was the extermination of the Slavic population up to 30 million ...". And to the question of the lawyer A.Thoma, what explained such a goal setting, the SS Obergruppenführer replied: “... this was a logical consequence of our entire National Socialist worldview ... If for decades they have been preaching that the Slavs are an inferior race, that Jews are not at all people, - such a result is inevitable ... ”(989) . Far from wanting this, Bach-Zelewski contributed to the exposure of the misanthropic essence of fascism.

The National Socialist Party, like its leaders, was nurtured by monopoly capital and militarist circles, and fascism was called into being by the greedy goals of German imperialism. It is no coincidence that during the putsch in Munich in 1923, E. Ludendorff, the ideologist of the Prussian military, marched next to Hitler and his closest accomplice R. Hess. It is also no coincidence that such influential representatives of finance capital as G. Schacht, E. Staus, and F. Papin joined the fascist party. The latter wrote in The Road to Power that the Reichswehr was a decisive factor in the struggle for power, "not only a certain group of generals was responsible for the events leading up to January 30, 1933, but also the officer corps as a whole" (990) .

Having ensured the establishment of a fascist regime, the monopolies and militarists began to prepare the country for an aggressive war. Already at the first meeting of Hitler with the generals, which took place on February 3, 1933, the task of future aggression was set: the development of new markets, the capture of new living space in the East and its merciless Germanization (991) .

During the trial, the criminal methods of transferring the German economy to a military footing, the implementation of the sinister slogan “guns instead of butter”, the militarization of the entire country and the decisive role in this of the owners of monopolies, who occupied key positions in the military-economic apparatus, were revealed. The German monopolies willingly financed not only the general predatory plans of the Nazis, but also the "special events" of H. Himmler.

The defendants tried to convince the Tribunal that only Himmler and his subordinate professional assassins from the SS were to blame for all the atrocities. However, it was irrefutably proven that the massacres and other atrocities were conceived and planned not only by Himmler's department, but also by the supreme high command, and the extermination of the civilian population and prisoners of war was carried out by the SS and Gestapo executioners in close cooperation with the generals. So, the former commandant of the concentration camp R. Hess, under oath, stated that among the gassed and burned were Soviet prisoners of war, who were brought to Auschwitz by officers and soldiers of the regular German army (992), and Bach-Zelewski said that the extermination of the civilian population (under the guise of fight against partisans), he regularly informed G. Kluge, G. Krebs, M. Weichs, E. Bush and others (993) . Field Marshal G. Rundstedt, speaking in 1943 to the students of the military academy in Berlin, taught: “The destruction of neighboring peoples and their wealth is absolutely necessary for our victory. One of the serious mistakes of 1918 was that we spared the lives of the civilian population of enemy countries ... we are obliged to destroy at least a third of their inhabitants ... "(994)

The Deputy Chief Prosecutor T. Taylor, on the basis of the evidence presented by him about the criminality of the Hitlerite General Staff and the Supreme High Command, concluded that they had come out of the war tainted with crimes. Expressing the opinion of all the accusers, he spoke convincingly about the danger of militarism in general, and German militarism in particular. German militarism, Taylor noted, “if it comes out again, it will not necessarily do so under the auspices of Nazism. The German militarists will link their fate with the fate of any person or any party that stakes on the restoration of German military power ”(995) . That is why it is necessary to uproot militarism with all its roots.

With regard to the Hitlerite generals, the International Military Tribunal wrote in the Judgment: they are responsible to a large extent for the misfortunes and suffering that befell millions of men, women and children; they dishonored the honorable profession of a warrior; without their military leadership, the aggressive aspirations of Hitler and his accomplices would have been abstract and fruitless. “Modern German militarism,” the Judgment emphasized, “bloomed for a short time with the assistance of its last ally, National Socialism, just as or even better than in the history of past generations” (996) .

In recent years, a particularly large amount of revanchist literature has appeared in West Germany, in which an attempt is made to whitewash the Nazi criminals, to prove the unprovable - the innocence of the Nazi generals. The materials of the Nuremberg trials completely expose such falsification. He revealed the true role of the generals and the monopolies in the crimes of German fascism, and this is its enduring historical significance.

The Nuremberg Trials helped lift the veil on the origins of the Second World War. He convincingly showed that militarism was the breeding ground in which fascism developed so rapidly. R. Kempner, an assistant to the American prosecutor, emphasized in his speech that one of the causes of the world catastrophe was the fiction about the "communist danger." This danger, he declared, "was a fiction which, among other things, led in the end to the Second World War" (997) .

Trying to disguise their goals, the Hitlerite clique, as usual, yelled about the alleged danger from the USSR, declaring a predatory war against the Soviet Union "preventive." However, the "defensive" masquerade of the defendants and their defenders was exposed with the utmost clarity at the trial, and the falsehood of Hitler's propaganda about the "preventive" nature of the attack on the Land of Soviets was proved to the whole world.

On the basis of numerous documentary evidence, testimonies, including those of Field Marshal F. Paulus, and the confessions of the defendants themselves, the Tribunal recorded in the Judgment that the attack on the Soviet Union was carried out “without a shadow of legal justification. It was clear aggression” (998) . This decision has not lost its significance even today. It is an important argument in the struggle of progressive forces against the falsifiers of the history of the outbreak of the Second World War, who are trying to justify Hitler's aggression against the USSR for the purpose of revanchism directed against the socialist countries.

The Nuremberg trials went down in history as an anti-fascist trial. The misanthropic essence of fascism, its ideology, especially racism, which is the ideological basis for the preparation and unleashing of aggressive wars and the mass extermination of people, was revealed to the whole world. With the help of the Nuremberg trials, fascism appeared for what it is - a conspiracy of bandits against freedom and humanity. Fascism is a war, it is rampant terror and arbitrariness, it is a denial of the human dignity of non-Aryan races. And this is inherent in all the successors of German fascism in any form. At the trial, the whole danger of the revival of fascism for the destinies of the world was clearly and convincingly shown. The last word of the Defendant Ribbentrop once again confirmed the close connection that existed between the rulers of Germany and those circles of political reaction which, as soon as the bloodiest war in the history of mankind had just ended, set about provoking new wars in order to establish their domination over the world. The materials of the trial call: we must not allow the crimes of fascism to be downplayed, to inspire the new generation with a completely false and blasphemous version in its nature, that there was no Auschwitz and Majdanek, Buchenwald and Ravensbrück, that gas chambers and gas chambers never existed. The process has acquired special significance also because the fact of condemning the aggressors is a very serious warning for the future.

On July 30, 1946, the speeches of the main prosecutors ended. In his final speech, delivered on July 29-30, the Chief Prosecutor from the USSR R. A. Rudenko, summing up the results of the judicial investigation against the main war criminals, noted that “the Court judges, created by peace-loving and freedom-loving countries, expressing the will and protecting the interests of all progressive humanity, which does not want a repetition of disasters, which will not allow a gang of criminals to prepare with impunity the enslavement of peoples and the extermination of people ... Humanity calls criminals to account, and on its behalf we, the accusers, accuse in this process. And how pitiful are the attempts to challenge the right of mankind to judge the enemies of mankind, how untenable are the attempts to deprive peoples of the right to punish those. who made it their goal to enslave and exterminate peoples, and for many years in a row carried out this criminal goal by criminal means” (999) .

September 30 - October 1, 1946 The verdict was announced. Tribunal: sentenced Göring, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Kaltenbrunner, Rosenberg, Frank, Frick, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl, Seyss-Inquart, and Bormann (in absentia) to death by hanging, Hess, Funk, etc. Raeder - to life imprisonment, Schirach and Speer - to 20, Neurath - to 15 and Doenitz - to 10 years in prison. Fritsche, Papen and Schacht were acquitted. The Tribunal declared the leadership of the National Socialist Party, the SS, SD and Gestapo to be criminal organizations. The member of the Tribunal from the USSR in the Special Opinion declared his disagreement with the decision to acquit Fritsche, Papen and Schacht and not to recognize the General Staff and members of the government cabinet as criminal organizations, since the Tribunal had enough evidence of their guilt. After the Control Council rejected the applications of those sentenced to death for pardon, the sentence was carried out on the night of October 16, 1946.

“... We share the views of the Soviet judge,” Pravda wrote in an editorial. - But even in the presence of a dissenting opinion of a Soviet judge, it cannot be emphasized that the sentence passed in Nuremberg on the Nazi murderers will be positively assessed by all honest people throughout the world, because it justly and deservedly punished the gravest criminals against peace and the good of peoples. The Judgment of History is over...” (1000)

The attitude of the German population towards the process is characteristic. On August 15, 1946, the American Information Administration published another review of the polls: the vast majority of Germans (about 80 percent) considered the Nuremberg trials fair, and the guilt of the defendants was undeniable; about half of the respondents answered that the defendants should be sentenced to death; only four percent responded negatively to the process.

According to the Statute of the International Military Tribunal, subsequent trials must take place "in places determined by the Tribunal" (Article 22). For a number of reasons, such as, for example, the withdrawal of the Western powers from the Potsdam and other agreements adopted during the war and immediately after it, the activities of the Tribunal were limited to the Nuremberg Trials. Nevertheless, the activities of the International Military Tribunal and the significance of its Judgment are of enduring importance. The historical role of the Nuremberg trials is that for the first time in the history of international relations, it put an end to the impunity of aggression and aggressors in the criminal law aspect.

The International Military Tribunal recognized aggression as the gravest crime of an international character. For the first time in history, leaders of the state guilty of preparing, initiating and waging an aggressive war were punished as criminals, the principle of "position as head of state or a leading official of government departments, as well as the fact that they acted on the orders of the government or carried out a criminal order is not a basis for exemption from liability. The Judgment notes: “It was argued that international law only considers the actions of sovereign states, without establishing punishment for individuals”, that if an illegal act is committed by a state, then “the persons who practically carried out this do not bear personal responsibility, but stand under the protection of the doctrine on the sovereignty of the state" (1001) . In the opinion of the Tribunal, both of these provisions should be rejected. It has long been recognized that international law imposes certain obligations on individuals as well as on the State.

In addition, the Tribunal stated: “Crimes against international law are committed by individuals and not by abstract categories, and only by punishing individuals who commit such crimes can the provisions of international law be observed ... The principle of international law, which, under certain circumstances, protects the representative of the state , cannot be applied to acts that are condemned as criminal under international law” (1002) .

The principles of the Charter and the Judgment of the Tribunal, confirmed by the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, were a significant contribution to the current international law, became its universally recognized norms. Such definitions of concepts as an international conspiracy, planning, preparation and waging of an aggressive war, propaganda of war were introduced into the everyday life of the current international law and the modern legal consciousness of peoples, they were recognized as criminal and, therefore, criminally punishable.

The materials of the trial and the Judgment of the Tribunal serve the cause of peace on earth, being at the same time a formidable warning to the aggressive forces that have not yet abandoned their adventurous plans. The results of the Nuremberg trials call for the vigilance of all those who do not want a repetition of the bloody tragedy of the past war, who are fighting for the preservation of peace.

Today the situation is completely different than at the time of the emergence of Hitler's fascism. But even in modern conditions, constant and high vigilance, an active struggle against fascism in all its manifestations is necessary. And here the lessons of the Nuremberg trials are of great importance.

It is widely known that for a number of years in the West, in order to rehabilitate fascist war criminals, mass amnesty was applied to them with reference to the rules on general criminal prescription, voices are heard about the early release of convicts. But the Nuremberg trials convincingly revealed the fact that fascist war criminals and their crimes against peace are by their very nature international crimes and for this reason ordinary criminal prescription is inapplicable to them, that such political adventurers did not stop at any atrocities to achieve their criminal goals, from which the earth was filled with groaning and anger. Can "prescription" erase from the memory of the peoples Oradour sur Glan and Lidice, the ruins of Coventry and Smolensk, Khatyn and Pirchupis, and much, much more, which has become an expression of fascist cruelty and vandalism? Is it possible to forget the cellars of the Reichsbank, in which W. Funk and E. Poole kept chests filled with gold crowns, dentures and spectacle frames that were received from the death camps, and then turned into ingots, sent to Basel, to the Bank of International calculations?

It is known that civilization and humanity, peace and humanity are inseparable. But it is necessary to resolutely reject a humanism that is benevolent towards the executioners and indifferent to their victims. And when the words “no one is forgotten and nothing is forgotten” are uttered, we are guided not by a sense of revenge, but by a sense of justice and concern for the future of peoples. The liberation from Hitler's slavery went to the peoples of the world at too high a price so that they could allow the neo-fascists to cross out the results of the Second World War. “We urge,” said L. I. Brezhnev, “to overcome the bloody past of Europe, not in order to forget it, but so that it never happens again” (1003) .

The verdict of the Tribunal, as an act of international justice, is a constant warning to all those who in various parts of the world are trying to pursue a misanthropic policy, a policy of imperialist seizures and aggression, inciting military hysteria, creating a threat to the peace and security of peoples.

The lessons of the Nuremberg trials show that, despite the differences on individual points, the Tribunal's Judgment expresses the unanimous opinion of the representatives of the four countries in condemning the top of the Nazi gang and such criminal organizations of German fascism as the leadership of the National Socialist Party, the SS, SD and Gestapo. The hopes of the world reaction that a gap between the judges is inevitable and the process will not be brought to an end have not been justified.

The power of the Soviet Union, the leading role it played in the defeat of Nazi Germany, led to an unprecedented growth of its international prestige. It became impossible to solve international problems without the USSR. The Soviet Union fought to ensure that a peaceful settlement in Europe be based on the principles of democracy and progress, consistent with the interests of the masses of the people of the entire continent. This was clearly manifested in the decisions of the Potsdam Conference aimed at eradicating fascism and militarism in Germany and at creating conditions for the post-war revival of Germany as a democratic and peace-loving state.

The merit of the Soviet Union is also great in that it prevented the possibility of exporting counter-revolution to the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe, which took the path of free and democratic development.

In connection with the transition from war to peace, one of the most important problems was the creation of an international organization designed to ensure the preservation of peace and security. And Soviet diplomacy did a lot to make the United Nations correspond to these lofty goals.

The lessons of the Second World War testify to the great significance of the joint actions of the great powers in the struggle against their common enemy, fascist Germany. The lessons of the Nuremberg Trials also convince us of this. The verdict of the Tribunal expressed the common opinion of the representatives of the four countries in condemning war criminals and criminal organizations of German fascism. The Nuremberg trials proved that the will to cooperate is capable of ensuring unity of action to achieve the noble goal of excluding unjust wars from the life of mankind.

True to the Leninist principles of peace and peaceful coexistence of states, regardless of their social system, the Soviet government is deeply interested in seeing that the cooperation established during the war between the states of the anti-Hitler coalition should continue after it ends.

1. The most important element of the denazification of Germany can be considered the Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals. Although they were not sealed by a causal relationship, but without the categorical decision of the Nuremberg trial of the bonzes of the 3rd Reich, the process of lustration of post-war Germany would most likely lead to a repetition of the Versailles syndrome.

   Nuremberg Trial: Judgment on Nazism

   Back in November 1943, at the Moscow conference, the main principles of the Nuremberg trial were announced. The verdict on Nazism was to be passed by the entire world community. The choice of the venue for the tribunal was not accidental - the Nazis especially singled out the city of Nuremberg, where they held their congresses, accepted new members into their ranks, rejoiced under Hitler's speeches. Because of this, it was sometimes said that
   In the city, even now, the same hall in the same house where everything happened is open to the public.

   Particular attention was paid to the preparation of the work of the panel of judges, the statute of the tribunal and document flow. The fact is that the Nuremberg trials are a unique phenomenon in world practice that has no precedents. And according to the conditions, representatives of countries with fundamentally different ideologies should have taken equal part in the work of the court.

   In particular, the fact of the crimes of the Nazi regime was exposed, even before the start of the work of the judicial body, in October 43, at a meeting of foreign ministers of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition.

   In this regard, it was decided not to apply the fundamental principle of legal law - the presumption of innocence - to the defendants.

   With regard to document flow, each of the participating countries had its own specific conditions, which they stipulated at the Potsdam Conference in early August 45. Although these nuances have not yet been fully disclosed, partial information about these exceptions is available in the open press. And even now, the obscenity of these exceptions does no credit to the participants.

   When the Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals began, none of the victorious countries wanted manifestations of racial segregation to be reflected in the documentation of the work of the tribunal in relation to representatives of the German and Japanese nation who lived in the territories of the participants in the anti-Hitler coalition.

   For example, in the United States, during the war, about 500,000 ethnic Japanese were deprived of their civil rights and property without trial or investigation. In the USSR, a similar procedure was applied to the Volga Germans.

   It should be noted that the coordination of all the conditions for the full functioning of the Nuremberg Tribunal took place without any difficulties.

   The trial lasted 10 months and 10 days, but according to the results of the work, the death sentences of the Nuremberg trials were approved only in relation to 12 defendants. Although all the decisions were approved unanimously, the minutes recorded the "dissenting opinion" of Judge Nikitchenko (representative of the USSR), where he expressed the disagreement of the Soviet side with "soft" sentences for some of the defendants who were acquitted or received prison terms.

   Judge Nikitchenko
   

   The essence of the Nuremberg trials

   The inconsistency of the actions of the allies after the First World War led to the formation of the "Versailles Syndrome". This is a special state of the mentality of the population of the whole country, which, after the defeat in the war, did not carefully revise its beliefs, and demanded revenge.

   The basis for the emergence of this syndrome was:

   • The meticulously designed Schlieffen plan;
   • Reassessment of one's strengths;
   • Disdainful attitude towards opponents.

   As a result, after a crushing defeat and the conclusion of the shameful Treaty of Versailles, the German nation did not reassess its aspirations, but only began a “witch hunt”. Jews and socialists were recognized as internal enemies. And the very idea of ​​​​war and world domination of German weapons only got stronger. Which in turn brought Hitler to power.

   The essence of the Nuremberg trials, by and large, was that a radical change occurred in the national self-consciousness of the German people. And the beginning of this change was to serve as a global assessment of the crimes of the Third Reich.

   Results of the Nuremberg Trials

   Nazi criminals executed by the verdict of the Nuremberg trials lived only 16 days after the end of the trial. During this time, they all filed appeals and were denied. At the same time, some of them asked to replace hanging or life imprisonment with execution.

   But only 10 sentenced were executed. One of them was sentenced in absentia (M. Borman).
   

   Another (G. Goering) took poison a few hours before the execution.

   Execution by hanging was carried out by American military personnel in a converted gymnasium.

   Chief executioner of the Nuremberg Trials
   

2. Photos of the Nuremberg executions were published in many newspapers around the world.

   Photo of executions in Nuremberg

   The bodies of Nazi criminals were cremated near Munich, and the ashes were scattered over the North Sea.
   The consolidated investigation into the crimes of the Nazi regime of the Third Reich was undertaken not so much in order to punish the criminals, but more in order to unanimously and finally condemn Nazism and genocide. At the same time, one of the points of the final document was the principle of “the inviolability of the decision of the Nuremberg Tribunal”. In other words: "there will be no revision of decisions."

   Progress of denazification

   For 5 years, the personal files of all German citizens who occupied at least some significant leadership positions during the Third Reich were thoroughly checked. The scrupulously carried out work on denazification allowed the German people to rethink the vector of their aspirations and embark on the path of peaceful development of Germany.

   Although more than 72 years have passed since the end of the Second World War, and de jure Germany is an independent country, in fact, the US occupation troops are still on its territory.

   This fact is carefully hushed up by the liberal media, and only in moments of aggravation of the political situation, it is raised by the nationally oriented associations of Germany.

   Apparently free Germany still inspires fear.

3. Why are you interested in this topic? In general, in general, people with a Soviet education are familiar with this. Well, for those who are younger, it is worth reading.
   

   The essence of the Nuremberg trials, by and large, was that a radical change occurred in the national self-consciousness of the German people. And the beginning of this change was to serve as a global assessment of the crimes of the Third Reich.

   A well-designed plan for the denazification of post-war Germany provided for a phased lustration of the activities of government officials at all levels. At the same time, the procedure should have begun with the leaders of the Wehrmacht, gradually revealing crimes at all levels of government.

   Click to reveal...

   Do you think that even then the powers that be - representatives of the victorious countries were thinking about the self-consciousness of the German people? And how did it succeed? Everywhere they write that they succeeded - that the Germans for the most part shy away from that past and from the theories that were once instilled in their society. But you add that this is only an appearance:

   And the last phrase
   Is it a regret that a great, in general, country is being held back in development in some sense, or do you also think that new aggressive currents can arise there?

   
   

4. It is unlikely that Germany is now something holding back. It used to be, indeed: the Germans, as it were, did not stick out their nationality because of the memory of the Second World War.

   And in the last ten years, especially under Merkel, the Germans are gradually moving away from this.

   But neither then nor now, nothing hindered or held back the growth of the German economy. That is, there were no sanctions in the sense that we understand them.

   
   

5. The main executioner of the Nuremberg trials is the American John Woods.

   In the photo, this man shows his "unique" 13-knot rope knot. John Woods "helped" his victims by clinging to the legs of a freshly hanged man, so the process ended faster.

   The prison where the Nazis were kept during the Nuremberg trials was in the American sector. American soldiers were on duty in this prison, guarding Nazi criminals:

   And Soviet soldiers guarded the entrance to the courthouse, where the Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals took place:

   Woods was accustomed to work quickly, his work experience had an effect, especially since he was accepted for this "service" as a volunteer in Normandy.

   Experienced Woods organized 3 gallows at once in the gym of the Nuremberg prison. Hatches were installed in the scaffolding so that the hanged would fall into the hatch, break their necks and die longer and more painfully.

   The Nuremberg trials were over, the verdict on Nazism was pronounced. The first victim of the executioner was to be Goering.

   But he committed suicide. There is a version that an ampoule with poisonous potassium cyanide was passed to Gernig in a kiss by his wife at a farewell meeting.

   By the way, the executioner John Woods himself died in the service, in 1950, after the war, from electric current.

   Last edit: 29 Sep 2017

6. The Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals led to the fact that some of them were sentenced to death. Executed by the verdict of the Nuremberg trials, photos of their executions and deaths are given above.
   And one person was sentenced in absentia. That man was Martin Bormann.

   One of the key figures of the III Reich, Bormann came from a family of an employee. Martin Bormann has long been something of Hitler's press secretary. And then he began to control Hitler's financial flows: the receipt of money from German industrialists, the fee for the sale of the book Mein Kanf, and much more. He partially controlled the "access to the body" of the Führer for those who requested the meetings.

   A member of the NSDAP, he was an ardent supporter of the persecution of Jews and Christians. In particular, Bormann said that "in the future Germany there will be no place for churches, it's just a matter of time." And in relation to Jews and prisoners of war, Bormann adhered to the position of maximum cruelty. During the Second World War, Martin Bormann strengthened his position and, according to the hierarchy, became subordinate only to Hitler. Many, not without reason, believed that falling out of favor with Bormann was about the same as falling out of favor with Hitler himself. And after the defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad, Hitler remained alone for a long time, not letting anyone in. Bormann had the right to be there at such moments.

   From January 1945, Hitler was in the bunker. In April 1945, the Soviet Army launched an offensive against Berlin. The goal is to surround the city. At the end of April, Hitler marries Eva Braun in a bunker. Martin Bormann and Goebbels were witnesses at this "wedding". Hitler draws up a will, according to which Bormann becomes Minister for Party Affairs. Further, on the orders of the Fuhrer, Bormann leaves the bunker.

   Meanwhile, Bormann, as part of a group of four, among whom was the SS doctor Stumpfegger, are making an attempt to break out of the Soviet encirclement. Crossing the bridge over the river Spree in Berlin, Bormann was injured. On subsequent attempts, the group managed to cross the bridge, after which the group members separated. One of the fugitives recalled that he came across a Soviet patrol, returned to the bridge and saw the dead - Bormann and SS doctor Stumpfegger. But the body of Martin Bormann was not found in reality. And his fate remained unknown until the end.

   The post-war period gave rise to and in every possible way warmed up rumors: either Bormann was seen in Argentina, or his former driver reports that he saw a patron in Munich.

   When the Nuremberg trials began, the official Bormann was "neither alive nor dead." The Nuremberg trials sentenced Martin Bormann to death in absentia for crimes against humanity due to the lack of evidence of his death.

   But attempts to find the body of Reichsleiter Martin Bormann continued. The CIA and the German intelligence services worked. Bormann's son Adolf (pay attention to the name) recalls that in the post-war period several thousand publications were published that his father had been seen somewhere.
   The options were -
   Martin Borman changed his appearance and lives in Paraguay,
   Martin Bormann was a Soviet agent and fled to Moscow
   Martin Bormann hides in South America
   Martin Bormann lives in Latin America, developing activities to create and strengthen the new Nazi organization.
   Etc.

   And in 1972, during the construction of a house near the place of the alleged death of Bormann, human remains were seized. And initially - according to the reconstruction of the remains, and later again - on the basis of a DNA examination, it was proved that the remains belong to Bormann. The remains were burned, and the ashes were scattered over the Baltic Sea.

   
   

7. When the Nuremberg trials of Nazi criminals began, there was even talk of not applying the basic norms of democracy to the accused, their crimes were so large-scale and cruel. However, during the ten months that the Nuremberg war criminal trials lasted, relations between the accusers changed. The aggravation of relations was facilitated by Churchill's speech, the so-called "Fulton speech".

   And the defendants, war criminals, understood and felt this. They and their lawyers played for time as best they could.

   At this stage, the firmness, intransigence and professionalism of the actions of the Soviet side helped. The most compelling evidence of Nazi brutality in concentration camps was also presented in the form of chronicle frames from Soviet war correspondents.

   There were no doubts and loopholes left to challenge the guilt of the defendants.
   This is what the accused Nazis looked like when they announced the verdicts of the Nuremberg trials:

   The essence of the Nuremberg Trials is that the history of international law begins with it. Aggression was recognized as the gravest crime.

   The norms of international law are often questioned today. Sometimes there are words that they simply do not work.

   Only a strong country capable of protecting its borders and its people can talk about independence today.

S. Kara-Murza, in his book "Manipulation of Consciousness", gives an interesting example of a network attack.
Imagine there is a division of super-duper special forces. All in the most modern equipment, body armor, modern weapons. Well, practically, they can only be bombed. So you won't take it.
But then a cloud of mosquitoes, midges and midges flies. They hide under bulletproof vests, under ammunition, they sting and bite the fighters.
And none of the available defenses and no weapons will help this division survive.
Real example?
Here, according to a similar scenario, the USSR was destroyed. To Russia, with a similar event are selected.
The trouble is, after all, that they are preparing to resist one weapon, and the enemy uses another.
And it would be nice if there were external attacks. And then after all, they have been acting from the inside lately.

In October 1946, an end was put in the Nuremberg trials over the highest state and military figures of the Third Reich.

The rapid cooling of relations between yesterday's allies in the anti-Hitler coalition gave rise to the hope among the defendants that the process would fall apart, and they themselves would be released.

But the victorious powers, in spite of everything, had enough political will to complete what they started.

On October 1, 1946, the operative part of the verdict was announced in the courtroom of the tribunal: the penalties for each defendant.

For the announcement of the verdict, the defendants were brought one by one to the chief judge. Geoffrey Lawrence. They were sentenced to death by hanging Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Fritz Sauckel, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Alfred Jodl and Martin Borman(in absentia).

The Tribunal set a four-day time limit within which petitions for clemency could be filed. Of the "suicide bombers" this right was not used only by Kaltenbrunner, who considered this request meaningless. Even the lawyer representing Bormann (whose whereabouts remained unknown) asked for leniency.

Göring, Jodl and Keitel also accompanied their petitions with a request that the hanging be replaced by execution in the event that they were denied pardon.

On October 9-10, 1946, the Control Council for Germany, which consisted of representatives of the Allied Powers, considered the petitions of the sentenced and decided to reject them.

Scaffold in the gym

On the evening of October 15, 8 journalists were admitted to the territory of the Nuremberg prison, two each from the four allied powers: the Soviet Union, the United States, England and France.

Eight journalists and an official photographer were to witness the executions.

In addition to two correspondents, an interpreter, a doctor and a military representative were also present from each of the four countries. In addition, security officers, the executioner and his assistants, medical experts, and a priest were involved in the procedure. There were about 40 people in total.

The venue for the execution was the prison gym, which was refurbished in just a couple of days.

Three gallows were installed in the hall: two were supposed to be involved in the execution, one served as a spare. To speed up the procedure, it was supposed to use the gallows in turn: while the corpse of the executed was removed from one, another “suicide bomber” was being prepared for the second.

Thirteen steps led to the scaffold. The base of the scaffold, more than two meters high, was covered with a tarpaulin. Under each gallows there is a hatch with two wings that open by pressing a lever. The executed fell into the hole to a depth of 2 meters 65 centimeters.

Before the execution, manila ropes were tested using cast iron pigs, which were to play a major role in the execution. Experience has shown that the ropes successfully withstand a load of 200 kilograms.

The right corner of the room was fenced off with a tarpaulin. The bodies of the hanged were to be piled there.

Goering's "Escape"

While preparations were going on, the head of the prison, an American Colonel Burton Andrews visited each convict and reported on the rejection of applications for clemency.

From that moment on, the guards had to watch those sentenced to death with particular care. But this did not help: at about 22:45, Hermann Goering committed suicide with an ampoule of poison. Thus, Goering confirmed the correctness of his own words: "Field marshals are not hanged." Until now, there are several versions of who exactly helped Goering to avoid the loop. Be that as it may, none of the Nazis succeeded in repeating such a trick.

At 23:45 on October 15, the condemned were awakened. They were offered the last supper: sausages with potato salad or pancakes with fruit salad to choose from.

The procedure began at about one in the morning on October 16. The condemned were read out the verdict again, after which, handcuffed, they were led into the gym. Here they were at the disposal of two executioners: the Americans John Woods and Joseph Malta. The eldest was Woods, a professional executioner who, even before the war, carried out about 350 sentences in the United States.

Before the condemned was lifted to the scaffold, his face was illuminated to verify his identity.

Nuremberg prison. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

"The Bolsheviks will hang you someday"

The former Foreign Minister of the Third Reich, Joachim von Ribbentrop, was the first to overcome the 13 steps. The executioner threw on and tightened the noose around his neck. After that, Ribbetrop was asked to give the last word. “God save Germany! Spare my soul!” shouted the former minister. John Woods put a cap on his head, the priest said a prayer, and after turning the lever, Ribbentrop fell down.

The executioners and guards worked quickly and confidently. The Nazis disappeared one by one into the gaping abyss of the gallows hatch.

Writer Boris Polevoy, who was present at the execution, recalled: “The hanged man fell into the inside of the gallows, the bottom of which was hung with dark curtains on one side, and was lined with wood on three sides so that no one would see the death throes of the hanged.”

The body remained hanging until medical experts pronounced him dead.

Most of the suicide bombers, according to the recollections of witnesses, kept their presence of mind. This does not apply to one of the Nazi ideologues, Julius Streicher. He is the only one who kept shouting "Heil Hitler!" even with a bag over his head.

Julius Streicher. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

By the way, Streicher is also the only one for whom the trial in Nuremberg was already the second. Known for his promiscuity and love of pornography, the Nazi was once accused of child molestation, but managed to justify himself.

“Now to God! The Bolsheviks will hang you one day. Adele, my unfortunate wife. Heil Hitler!” Streicher shouted before his execution.

The last to be hanged was Arthur Seyss-Inquart, former head of Austria and Reich Minister of the Netherlands.

Standing on the scaffold, he said: “I hope that this execution will be the last tragedy of the Second World War and that what happened will serve as a lesson: peace and mutual understanding must exist between peoples. I believe in Germany."

Arthur Seyss-Inquart. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

"Their ashes are secretly scattered to the wind..."

After that, a stretcher with the corpse of Goering was brought into the hall, which was symbolically placed under the gallows.

Then representatives of all the allied powers examined them and signed their death certificates. Photographs were taken of every body, dressed and naked. Then each corpse was wrapped in a mattress, along with the last clothes that he was wearing and the rope on which he was hung, and placed in a coffin. All coffins were sealed.

At 4 am on October 16, a new phase of the operation began. The coffins were loaded into specially prepared trucks and, accompanied by an armed convoy, were sent to Munich.

At dawn, the column arrived at the crematorium located on the outskirts of the city. His leadership was alerted to the planned cremation of "fourteen American soldiers". This information was reported in order to prevent a possible leak of information about who was actually brought to be burned.

The crematorium was cordoned off by the military, tanks were stationed nearby. Everyone who entered the building was forced to stay there until the end of the day.

Each coffin was opened in the presence of four officers: one from the USA, England and France and the USSR. After making sure that the body had not been replaced, the corpse was sent for cremation.

The procedure went on all day. When it was over, a car was driven up to the building, into which the ashes were loaded.

The official communiqué, signed by the allies, read: “The bodies of Hermann Goering, together with the bodies of criminals executed by the International Military Tribunal on October 16 in Nuremberg, were burned, and their ashes were secretly scattered to the wind ...”

The place of the last procedure was carefully hidden in order to prevent like-minded people of the executed from turning it into a "sanctuary".

According to one version, the ashes were taken from the crematorium to a building that belonged to the American troops and was listed in the documents under the name "Mortuary No. 1".

On the evening of October 18, American soldiers cordoned off the area around the Marienklausen Bridge over the Isar River and the Isar Canal. Around midnight, a car arrived at the bridge, from which a box of mixed Nazi ashes was unloaded. It was slowly poured from the bridge into the canal.

However, it may have happened somewhere else. One way or another, the history of the leaders of the Third Reich was over.