The Nuremberg Trials
A German newspaper announces the verdict of the first trial.
The Nuremberg trials and their counterparts in Tokyo were born out of the Allies' horror at the enormity of the crimes perpetrated by the Axis. They were followed by a raft of international humanitarian legislation and organisations that all had the aim of preventing such terrible atrocities from ever happening again.
This section of The Holocaust website examines the basis of the trials, how they were carried out and the sentences they passed. It also looks at their weaknesses and controversies, their legacy and how, even today, they attract the fiercest critics.
- Setting the scene
The terrible crimes perpetrated by the Nazis and the Japanese and the Allies' reaction to them - The trials begin
The procedure in Nuremberg and Tokyo - Crimes defined
The four acts recognised as crimes subject to individual responsibility - Sentencing
Who was convicted and of which crimes - Weaknesses and controversies
How the laws and nature of the prosecutions may have been flawed - The legacy of the trials
Human rights legislation and restorative justice.