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Nuremberg Files · 022:35 min

Nuremberg trial: who sat in the dock?

21 November 1945, Nuremberg. None of the defendants present pleads guilty. What did each one do?

Göring, Ribbentrop, Keitel, Frank, Streicher, Sauckel, Jodl: first their own voice in the courtroom, then one sentence from the judgment of the Tribunal, with volume and page. No commentary in between.

14 documented1 open17 Sources

StatementsSources

Episode 02

Statements

Every on-screen statement of the episode, in order. Red only when the source carries it word for word; open when a check is missing.

  1. 01
    open

    None of the defendants present pleaded guilty.

    IMT Vol. 2, p. 97IMT Vol. 2, p. 98

    Check in progress, approval pending
  2. 02
    documented

    Göring: Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 279

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  3. 03
    documented

    Judgment: Göring was the moving force for aggressive war, second only to Hitler.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 280

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  4. 04
    documented

    Ribbentrop: Foreign Minister.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 285

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  5. 05
    documented

    Judgment: Ribbentrop took part in all Nazi aggressions, from Austria to the Soviet Union.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 287

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  6. 06
    documented

    Keitel: Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 288

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  7. 07
    documented

    Judgment: Keitel signed many directives on “Fall Gruen”, including Hitler’s decision to smash Czechoslovakia.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 288

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  8. 08
    documented

    Frank: Chief Civil Administration Officer for occupied Polish territory.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 296

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  9. 09
    documented

    Judgment: Frank took part in terror in Poland and in the murder of at least 3 million Jews.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 298

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  10. 10
    documented

    Streicher: publisher of “Der Stürmer”.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 301

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  11. 11
    documented

    Judgment: for 25 years Streicher spoke, wrote and preached hatred of the Jews.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 302

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  12. 12
    documented

    Sauckel: Plenipotentiary General for the Utilization of Labor.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 320

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  13. 13
    documented

    Judgment: Sauckel ran the deportation of more than 5,000,000 people for slave labor.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 322

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  14. 14
    documented

    Jodl: Chief of the Operations Staff of the High Command of the Armed Forces.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 322

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  15. 15
    documented

    Judgment: on 7 October 1941 Jodl signed an order that Hitler would not accept the surrender of Leningrad or Moscow, but insisted they be completely destroyed.

    IMT Vol. 1, p. 324

    Quote checked verbatim, two AI reviewers: holds
  16. 16
    question

    What exactly were they charged with? Episode 3.

Episode 02

Sources

Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal (IMT, “Blue Series”), English edition. Page = printed page.

  1. IMT Vol. 2, p. 97

    Document
    IMT Vol. 2 (transcript 21.11.1945)
    Volume
    2
    Page
    97 (PDF page 109)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source (shortened)

    Hermann Wilhelm Göring. HERMANN WILHELM GÖRING: Before I answer the question of the Tribunal whether or not I am guilty . . . THE PRESIDENT: I informed the Court that defendants were not entitled to make a statement. You must plead guilty or not guilty. GÖRING: I declare myself in the sense of the Indictment not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Rudolf Hess. RUDOLF HESS: No. THE PRESIDENT: That will be entered as a plea of not guilty. [Laughter.] THE PRESIDENT: If there is any disturbance in court, those who make it will have to leave the court. Joachim von Ribbentrop. JOACHIM VON RIBBENTROP: I declare myself in the sense of the Indictment not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Wilhelm Keitel. …

  2. IMT Vol. 2, p. 98

    Document
    IMT Vol. 2 (transcript 21.11.1945)
    Volume
    2
    Page
    98 (PDF page 110)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    WILHELM FRICK: Not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Julius Streicher. JULIUS STREICHER: Not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Walter Funk. WALTER FUNK: I declare myself not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Hjalmar Schacht. HJALMAR SCHACHT: I am not guilty in any respect. THE PRESIDENT: Karl Dönitz. KARL DÖNITZ: Not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Erich Raeder. ERICH RAEDER: I declare myself not guilty.

  3. IMT Vol. 2, p. 98

    Document
    IMT Vol. 2 (transcript 21.11.1945)
    Volume
    2
    Page
    98 (PDF page 110)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source (shortened)

    THE PRESIDENT: Baldur von Schirach. BALDUR VON SCHIRACH: I declare myself in the sense of the Indictment not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Fritz Sauckel. FRITZ SAUCKEL: I declare myself in the sense of the Indictment, before God and the world and particularly before my people, not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Alfred Jodl. ALFRED JODL: Not guilty. For what I have done or had to do, I have a pure conscience before God, before history and my people. THE PRESIDENT: Franz von Papen. FRANZ VON PAPEN: I declare myself in no way guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Arthur Seyss-Inquart. ARTHUR SEYSS-INQUART: I declare myself not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: Albert Speer. ALBERT SPEER: Not guilty. THE PRESIDENT: …

  4. IMT Vol. 1, p. 279

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    279 (PDF page 295)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Goring is indicted on all four Counts. The evidence shows that after Hitler he was the most prominent man in the Nazi regime. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe

  5. IMT Vol. 1, p. 280

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    280 (PDF page 296)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Goring was the moving force for aggressive war, second only to Hitler.

  6. IMT Vol. 1, p. 285

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    285 (PDF page 301)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    When Von Ribbentrop became Foreign Minister

  7. IMT Vol. 1, p. 287

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    287 (PDF page 303)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Von Ribbentrop participated in all of the Nazi aggressions from the occupation of Austria to the invasion of the Soviet Union.

  8. IMT Vol. 1, p. 288

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    288 (PDF page 304)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    making Keitel Chief of the High Command of the Armed Forces.

  9. IMT Vol. 1, p. 288

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    288 (PDF page 304)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Keitel signed many directives and memoranda on "Fall Gruen", including the directive of 30 May containing Hitler's statement: "It is my unalterable decision to smash Czechoslovakia by military action in the near future.

  10. IMT Vol. 1, p. 296

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    296 (PDF page 312)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Frank was appointed Chief Civil Administration Officer for occupied Polish territory

  11. IMT Vol. 1, p. 298

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    298 (PDF page 314)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    But it is also true that Frank was a willing and knowing participant in the use of terrorism in Poland; in the economic exploitation of Poland in a way which led to the death by starvation of a large number of people; in the deportation to Germany as slave laborers of over a million Poles; and in a program involving the murder of at least 3 million Jews.

  12. IMT Vol. 1, p. 301

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    301 (PDF page 317)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Streicher is indicted on Counts One and Four. One of the earliest members of the Nazi Party, joining in 1921, he took part in the Munich Putsch. From 1925 to 1940 he was Gauleiter of Franconia. Elected to the Reichstag in 1933, he was an honorary general in the SA. His persecution of the Jews was notorious. He was the publisher of Der Stürmer, an anti-Semitic weekly newspaper

  13. IMT Vol. 1, p. 302

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    302 (PDF page 318)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    For his 25 years of speaking, writing, and preaching hatred of the Jews, Streicher was widely known as "Jew-Baiter Number One".

  14. IMT Vol. 1, p. 320

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    320 (PDF page 336)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    On 21 March 1942 Hitler appointed Sauckel Plenipotentiary General for the Utilization of Labor

  15. IMT Vol. 1, p. 322

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    322 (PDF page 338)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    The evidence shows that Sauckel was in charge of a program which involved deportation for slave labor of more than 5,000,000 human beings, many of them under terrible conditions of cruelty and suffering.

  16. IMT Vol. 1, p. 322

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    322 (PDF page 338)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    Jodl is indicted on all four Counts. From 1935 to 1938 he was Chief of the National Defense Section in the High Command. After a year in command of troops, in August 1939 he returned to become Chief of the Operations Staff of the High Command of the Armed Forces.

  17. IMT Vol. 1, p. 324

    Document
    IMT Vol. 1 (Urteil)
    Volume
    1
    Page
    324 (PDF page 340)
    Check
    quote found verbatim on the page

    Wording of the source

    On 7 October 1941, Jodl signed an order that Hitler would not accept an offer of surrender of Leningrad or Moscow, but on the contrary he insisted that they be completely destroyed.

Further sources of the episode

audio NARA 238.24B (21 Nov 1945) · IMT Vol. 2, pp. 97/98 (pleas) · Vol. 1, pp. 279 to 324 (judgment) · Film NARA 111-ADC-5547, 5562, 5585

How to cite this episode

FUNDSTELLE: „Nuremberg trial: who sat in the dock?“, Nuremberg Files 02. https://fundstelle.online/en/f/02/

Found a mistake? Write to us; every correction is listed with its date on the corrections page. Corrections

Narrator voice partly AI-generated (labelled). Original sound, transcripts and films come from public archives, credited per episode.