On December 20, 1945, the Allied Control Council issue Control Law No. 10, establishing the basis for "the prosecution of war criminals and similar offenders." Each of the occupying authorities was authorized, in its occupation zone, to try persons suspected of committing war crimes. The Military Governor of the American Zone subsequently enacted Ordinance No. 7, establishing military tribunals with the power to try and punish. Each of thetribunals was comprised of three American lawyers, usually past or present members of state judiciaries. The judges were recruited by the War Department. Basic information on each of the eleven subsequent trials appears in the table below.
| CASE NAME (Numbered by date of indictments.) |
DEFENDANTS AND CHARGES | TRIAL DATES (Opening statements to verdict.) |
VERDICT | IMAGE FROM TRIAL |
| #1 The Doctors (or Medical) Case |
Twenty-three Nazi physicians charged with conducting inhuman experiments on German civilians and nationals of other countries. The experiments ranged from studying the effects of high altitude and malaria to sterilization. |
Dec. 9,1946
to
Aug. 20, 1947
|
Sixteen defendants convicted (including seven sentenced to death), seven acquitted. | Defendant Dr. Waldemar Hoven, chief doctor at Buchenwald, testifies at Doctors Trial . |
|
#2
|
Former German Field Marshall Erhard Milch charged with murder and cruel treatment of POWs, and with participation in experiments dealing with effects of high altitude and freezing. |
Jan. 2,1947
to
Apr.16,1947
|
Convicted and sentenced to life in prison. | Erhard Milch (far right) plays cards with other Nuremberg witnesses. |
|
#3
|
Nine members of the Reich Ministry of Justice and seven members of the People's and Special Courts charged with using their power as prosecutors and judges to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. (This trial inspired the movie Judgment at Nuremberg.) |
Mar. 5,1947
to
Dec. 4, 1947
|
10 defendants convicted, 4 acquitted (one defendant died before verdict and a mistrial was declared in one case). | Benedict Wein, a priest from Amberg prison, testifies for prosecution in the Justice Case. |
|
#4
|
Oswald Pohl and seventeen other members of WVHA (Economic and Administrative Office) charged with war crimes against POWs in concentration camps which WVHA controlled after spring of 1942. |
Apr. 8, 1947
to
Nov. 3, 1947
|
15 defendants convicted, 3 acquitted. Three defendants were sentenced to death, the rest to prison terms. | Oswald Pohl standing to receive his sentence of death. |
|
#5
The Flick Case
|
Six members of the Flick Concern, a group of industrial enterprises (including coal mines and steel plants) charged with using slave labor and POWs, deporting persons for labor in Geman-occupied territories, and plundering private property--the "Aryanization" of Jewish properties. |
Apr. 19, 1947 to
Dec. 22, 1947
|
Three defendants (including Friedrich Flick) convicted and sentenced to prison, three acquitted. | Judges at the Flick Trial. |
|
#6
The I. G. Farben Case
|
Twenty-four defendants, all in the IG Farben industrial concern, charged with plunder and spoliation of private property in German-occupied territories and other war crimes. |
Aug. 27, 1947 to Jul. 30, 1948
|
Thirteen defendants found guilty on one or more charged and sentenced to prison. | Defendants in the Farben Trial hear the indictments against them. |
|
#7
The Hostage Case
|
Twelve defendants, officers in the German Armed Forces, charged with murdering thousands of civilians in Greece, Yugoslavia, and Albania, commiting acts of devastation in Norway and other countries, drafting orders denying POWs rights, and ordering the slaughter of surrendered troops. |
Jul. 15, 1947
to
Feb. 19, 1948
|
Eight defendants found guilty and sentenced to prison, two acquitted. Two other defendants committed suicide before the verdict. | Defendants in the Hostage Case walk in the prison yard. |
|
#8
The R. U. S. H. A. Case
|
Fourteen defendants, officials in the Race and Settlement Office and the Office for the Strenghtening of Germandom, charged with crimes against humanity relating to murder, deportation, and torture on political, racial, and religious grounds. |
Oct. 20, 1947 to
Mar. 10, 1948
|
Thirteen defendants found guilty on one or more charge, one defendant acquitted. | Maria Dolezalova, a 15-year-old Czech girl kidnapped by the Germans, testifies for prosecution at RuSHA Trial. |
|
#9
|
Twenty-four defendants, all members of German mobile killing units, the Einsatzgruppen, charged with the murder and ill-treatment of POWs and civilians in occupied countries, and with wanton destruction not justified by military necessity. |
Sep. 29, 1947 to
Apr. 9, 1948
|
All twenty-four defendants were found guilty on one or more charge. Fourteen defendants were sentenced to die, but ten later had their sentences reduced. | Defendant Paul Blobel (later sentenced to death) at the Einsatzgrubben Trial. |
|
#10
The Krupp Case
|
Alfred Krupp and eleven other defendants, all members of the Krupp industrial concern, charged with enslavement and other war crimes, including the plunder of public and private property. |
Dec. 8, 1947
to
Jul. 31, 1948
|
Eleven defendants were found guilty on one or more charge and sentenced to jail terms, one defendant acquitted. | Brig. General Telford Taylor (standing) delivers the prosecution's opening statement in the Krupp Trial. |
|
#11
The Ministries Case
|
Twenty-one defendants, including three Reich Ministers, as well other members of the Nazi Party hierarchy, charged with waging wars of aggression, violating international treaties, and committing various crimes of war and crimes against humanity. |
Jan. 6, 1948
to
Apr. 13, 1949
|
Nineteen defendants found guilty on at least one charge and sentenced to terms ranging from four to twenty-five years. | Theodore Monbostel testifies for the prosecution in the Ministries Trial. |
*LINK TO HARVARD LAW SITE