Overview
- The ARTE two‑part documentary “Auf den Spuren der Geschichte: Die Nürnberger Prozesse” is slated to air on Nov. 18, using period journalism to re-examine the proceedings and Allied tensions.
- The main trial ran from Nov. 20, 1945 to Oct. 1, 1946 with 24 defendants; verdicts delivered Sept. 30–Oct. 1 sentenced 12 to death, seven to prison terms, and acquitted three, with executions on Oct. 16 after Hermann Göring’s suicide.
- The tribunal grew from the 1943 Moscow declaration and the Aug. 8, 1945 London Statute, which created the International Military Tribunal and defined conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
- Evidentiary breakthroughs included survivor testimony and the first courtroom use of American and Soviet film footage documenting Nazi crimes.
- Lasting outcomes included declaring the SS, Gestapo, SD, and the NSDAP leadership corps criminal organizations, subsequent U.S.-run follow-up trials, UN endorsement of Nuremberg principles, and Courtroom 600’s evolution into a memorial.