The document summarizes key events and outcomes of the Nuremberg trials that took place after World War 2 to prosecute prominent members of the Nazi Party for war crimes. It describes how 21 major Nazi figures were put on trial and the sentences that were handed down, including death sentences for 12 officials and prison terms for others. It also notes criticism of the trials for being victor's justice and highlights international laws established in the aftermath to define and prevent future war crimes.

1.  an extremely wicked or cruel act, typically one
involving physical violence or injury.
 EXAMPLE:
"It is just incomprehensible how those
atrocities came about...

3. • End of war in Europe
• By December 1945 the
Allies managed to halt the
last German military
offensives
• Russian forces invading
from the east captured
Berlin in April 1945
• American forces pushing
from the west linked up
with the Russians outside
Berlin by the end of April,
and the last German forces
in Italy surrendered by
May

4. •Yalta Conference
(Happened in 1945)
•The US, UK, and USSR
agreed to accept only an
unconditional German
surrender
•Germany would be
demilitarized and
divided into Allied-
occupied zones
•All traces of the Nazi
party would be removed
from Germany

5. These are the Zones
Germany was divided into.

6. Potsdam Conference (Germany,
April, 1945)
• All German territories
captured during the war were
to be returned to prewar status
• Germany would be
demilitarized and the Nazi
party would be wiped from
existence
• Austria and Germany would
be divided into Allied zones of
military occupation
• All German potential
industrial means for
militaristic production was to
be dismantled

9. • Major War Figures Trial
• 21 of the most prominent
and influential Nazi
officers, government
officials, and party leaders
were put on trial
• Notable absences from trial
were Nazi leader Hitler,
and SS Chief Himmler,
both of whom committed
suicide to avoid capture by
the Allied armies

10.  A)"Don't let anybody tell you that they had no
idea. Everybody sensed there was something
horribly wrong with the system.” (1945)
 "Hitler has disgraced Germany for all time! He
betrayed and disgraced the people that loved
him!...I will be the first to admit my guilt.”
(1946)
 -Hans Frank, Nazi governor of Poland, ‘The
Jew Butcher of Krakow’ (hanged at
Nuremberg)
 B)"It is just incomprehensible how those
things [atrocities] came about...Every genius
has the demon in him. You can't blame him
[Hitler]--it is just in him...It is all very tragic.”
(1945)
 - Rudolph Hess (imprisoned for life;
committed suicide)

11.  C)"The Jews are making a mistake if they make a
martyr (person killed for their beliefs) out of me;
you will see. I didn't create the problem; it
existed for thousands of years." (1945)
 "I am the only one in the world who clearly saw
the Jewish menace as an historical problem."
(1945)
 - Julius Streicher, Nazi editor of Der Sturmer
(hanged at Nuremberg)

12.  Sentencing
 Trial took place at
Nuremberg because of its
historical significance
 12 Nazi officials were
sentenced to death by
hanging; two committed
suicide prior to being
executed
 7 served prison sentences
ranging from 10 years to
life
 2 were acquitted of all
charges

15.  The Doctors' Trial
 The U.S. military put Nazi doctors on trial for performing
unethical experiments on concentration camp prisoners and for
medicinally executing patients deemed 'unworthy of life'
 Sixteen of the twenty three doctors put on trial were sentenced;
seven were put to death and the rest imprisoned
 Noticeably absent was Dr. Josef Mengele, head Nazi physician
at Auschwitz and referred to as the ‘Angel of Death’ for his
horrific experiments . Mengele sailed to Argentina in July 1949,
assisted by a network of former SS members. He initially lived
in and around Buenos Aires, then fled to Paraguay in 1959. He
died while swimming of a stroke.

16.  1) Jury Panel
 The defendants did not have a say in the selection of
the judges and could not appeal the appointment of
any of the justices
 2)Indictments
 Defendants were prosecuted for charges that had
never before been legally defined
 Many claimed that the charges were created after they
were committed
 3) Victor’s Justice
 The Allies were accused by some of being as guilty of
certain war crimes as the Nazis they put on trial
 The Soviets committed atrocities against the Eastern
European nations they occupied, and launched an
aggressive war of conquests
 The United States interned thousands of innocent
Japanese Americans…startlingly reminiscent of Nazi
prison camps

17.  D) "This is a political trial by the
victors and it will be a good thing
when Germany realizes that...“
 - Hermann Goering, 1946
 E) "Politicians brought the Nazis to
power and started the war. They are
the ones who brought about these
disgusting crimes, and now we have
to sit there in the dock with them and
share the blame!" (1946)
 - Karl Doenitz (imprisoned for 10
years)

18.  Fourth Geneva Convention (1949)
 Set forth rules governing how warring nations must
treat civilians
 Granted protection to civilians whose nations were
occupied militarily, whether or not by force
 Extended protection to prisoners of war and
surrendering soldiers
 Nuremberg Principles (1950)
 Created the official definition of war crimes as based
on the trials at Nuremberg
 Nuremberg Code (1949)
 Established a medical code of ethics dealing with
scientific experimentation