Charter of the International Military Tribunal

(Selected Articles)

In pursuance of the Agreement signed on the 8th day of August 1945 by the Government of the United States of America, the Provisional Government of the French Republic, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, there shall be established an International Military Tribunal (hereafter called "the Tribunal") for the just and prompt trial and punishment of major war criminals of the European Axis.

ARTICLE 2

The Tribunal shall consist of four members, each with an alternate.  One member and one alternate shall be appointed by each of the Signatories.  The alternates shall, so far as they are able, be present at all sessions of the Tribunal.  In case of illness of any member of the Tribunal or his incapacity for some other reason to fulfill his functions, his alternate shall take his place....
 

ARTICLE 6

The Tribunal established by the Agreement referred to in Article 1 hereof for the trial and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis countries shall have the power to try and punish persons who, acting in the interests of the European Axis countries, whether as individuals or as members of organizations, committed any of the following crimes.
 The following acts, or any of them, are crimes coming within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal for which there shall be individual responsibility:

(a) Crimes against Peace: namely, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression, or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or participation in a Common Plan or Conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the foregoing;
(b) War Crimes: namely, violations of the laws or customs of war.  Such violations shall include, but not be limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity;
(c) Crimes against Humanity: namely, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, and other inhumane acts committed against any civilian population, before or during the war,14 or persecutions on political, racial, or religious grounds in execution of or in connection with any crime within the jurisdiction of the Tribunal, whether or not in violation of domestic law of the country where perpetrated.

ARTICLE 7

The official position of defendants, whether as Heads of State or responsible officials in Government departments, shall not be considered as freeing them from responsibility or mitigating punishment.

ARTICLE 8

The fact that the defendant acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior shall not free him from responsibility, but may be considered in mitigation of punishment if the Tribunal determine that justice so requires.

ARTICLE 9

At the trial of any individual member of any group or organization the Tribunal may declare (in connection with any act of which the individual may be convicted) that the group or organization of which the individual was a member was a criminal organization.
 After receipt of the Indictment the Tribunal shall give such notice as it thinks fit that the Prosecution intends to ask the Tribunal to make such declaration and any member of the organization will be entitled to apply to the Tribunal for leave to be heard by the Tribunal upon the question of the criminal character of the organization.  The Tribunal shall have power to allow or reject the application.  If the application is allowed, the Tribunal may direct in what manner the applicants shall be represented and heard.

ARTICLE 10

In cases where a group or organization is declared criminal by the Tribunal, the competent national authority of any Signatory shall have the right to bring individuals to trial for membership therein before national, military, or occupation courts.  In any such case the criminal nature of the group or organization is considered proved and shall not be questioned.

ARTICLE 11

Any person convicted by the Tribunal may be charged before a national, military, or occupation court, referred to in Article 10 of this Charter, with a crime other than of membership in a criminal group or organization and such court may, after convicting him, impose upon him punishment independent of and additional to the punishment imposed by the Tribunal for participation in the criminal activities of such group or organization....

ARTICLE 13

The Tribunal shall draw up rules for its procedure.  These rules shall- not be inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter.

ARTICLE 14

Each Signatory shall appoint a Chief Prosecutor for the investigation of the charges against and the prosecution of major war criminals.
 The Chief Prosecutors shall act as a committee for the following purposes:

(a) to agree upon a plan of the individual work of each of the Chief Prosecutors and his staff,
(b) to settle the final designation of major war criminals to be tried by the Tribunal,
(c) to approve the Indictment and the documents to be submitted therewith,
(d) to lodge the Indictment and the accompanying documents with the Tribunal,
(e) to draw up and recommend to the Tribunal for its approval draft rules of procedure, contemplated by Article 13 of this Charter.  The Tribunal shall have power to accept, with or without amendments, or to reject, the rules so recommended.

ARTICLE 16

In order to ensure fair trial for the defendants, the following procedure shall be followed:

 (a) 'Me Indictment shall include full particulars specifying in detail the charges against the defendants.  A copy of the Indictment and of all the documents lodged with the Indictment, translated into a language which he understands, shall be furnished to the defendant at a reasonable time before the Trial.
(b) During any preliminary examination or trial of a defendant he shall have the right to give any explanation relevant to the charges made against him.
(c)  A preliminary examination of a defendant and his trial shall be conducted in, or translated into, a language which the defendant understands.
(d)  A defendant shall have the right to conduct his own defense before the Tribunal or to have the assistance of counsel.
 (e) A defendant shall have the right through himself or through his counsel to present evidence at the Trial in support of his defense, and to cross-examine any witness called by the Prosecution....

ARTICLE 18

The Tribunal shall:

(a) confine the Trial strictly to an expeditious hearing of the issues raised by the charges,
(b) take strict measures to prevent any action which will cause unreasonable delay, and rule out irrelevant issues and statements of any kind whatsoever,
(c) deal summarily with any contumacy, imposing appropriate punishment, including exclusion of any defendant or his counsel from some or all further proceedings, but without prejudice to the determination of the charges.

ARTICLE 19

The Tribunal shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence.  It shall adopt and apply to the greatest possible extent expeditious and nontechnical procedure, and shall admit any evidence which it deems to have probative value....

ARNCLE 26

The judgment of the Tribunal as to the guilt or the innocence of any defendant shall give the reasons on which it is based, and shall be final and not subject to review.

ARTICLE 27

The Tribunal shall have the right to impose upon a defendant on conviction, death or such other punishment as shall be determined by it to be just.
 

Indictments

Count One: Conspiracy to Wage Aggressive War

This count helped address the crimes committed before the war began, showing a plan to commit crimes during the war.

Count Two: Waging Aggressive War, or "Crimes Against Peace"

Count Three: War Crimes

Count Four: Crimes Against Humanity

Verdicts and Sentences

Defendants:

Martin Bormann

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

Bormann was in charge of the Aid Fund of the SA and became the head of the party Chancellery in 1941.  He later became Secretary to the Fuehrer.  He was known to have a strong influence on Hitler’s decisions, although the evidence does not show he attended the important meetings where Hitler announced plans for war.

He is directly linked to orders for enslaving and annihilating people in the occupied territories.  He was particularly active in the persecution of Jewish people.  He issued orders with respect to the slave labor programs as well as for prisoners of war.

There was little evidence for defense counsel to use in light of the numerous documents signed by Bormann.  His council did argue that Bormann was dead (no actual proof of this but he had not appeared) and therefore the tribunal should not waste its time arguing his fate.  Article 12 of the Nuremberg Charter, however, allows proceedings in the absence of the defendant.  Article 29 allows mitigation facts to be heard if Bormann is later found.
 

Karl Doenitz

Sentenced to:    Ten years imprisonment

Doenitz became Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy in 1943 but the evidence does not show he knew of Hitler’s plans
to initiate war.  He did have the U-boat arm of the Navy prepared for war, however, and was solely in charge of this area of
the military.  While in control of the U-boats, Doenitz allowed them to sink all merchant ships, regardless of the ships were
enemy or neutral.  In 1944 he ordered 12,000 concentration camp prisoners to be employed in the shipyards for additional
labor.  He is ultimately unsure if this order was carried out as Doenitz was not in charge of the shipyards, but it does offer
evidence of his knowledge of the concentration camps’ existence.
 

Hans Frank

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

Frank held positions such as President of the Academy of German Law until he was dismissed from the position as a result of a dispute with Himmler.  He did not play a significant role in the plans for war.  He was instrumental in the attacks against Poland, however, and for that he was found guilty.  He is quoted as saying “Poland shall be treated like a colony; the Poles will become the slaves of the Greater German World Empire.”  This attack was especially violent.  He was also a key player in the initial plan to use slave laborers.  He oversaw the first ghettos created for Jewish German people.

Frank’s testimony included feelings of guilt for what he did.  “A thousand years will pass and the guilt of Germany will not be
erased.”  He also explained that the police, rather than Frank himself carried out these atrocities.  He tried to give the
responsibility for his actions to others high in command, but Frank was a willing participant in too many crimes against humanity
to put the blame on other people.
 

Wilhelm Frick

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

Frick held numerous positions, including Minister of the Interior, that gave him knowledge of the plans for war.  He signed laws and issued orders against many countries and their citizens.    He also signed many laws ordering the elimination of Jewish people.  He also had knowledge of the torture committed against people in nursing homes, hospitals, and asylums.  Although others complained to Frick about the murder of these innocent people, Frick turned his head and allowed it to continue.
 

Hans Fritzsche

Fritzche was active as a radio commentator and later became the head of the Wireless News Service for the Reich Government.  He was in charge of the Media when anti-semitic messages were printed.  The tribunal found, however, that he
did not hold any positions that gave him control over the decisions to wage war or the crimes against humanity, and he was therefor acquitted of all charges.
 

Walther Funk

Sentenced to:    Imprisonment for life

Funk was one of Hitler’s economic advisers, but did not serve in this role until after the important conferences that established the plans for war.  He did assist in the attack on the U.S.S.R.  He participated in plans to ban Jewish people from German
society.  His role as economic advisor gave him power to order the belongings of Jewish people into the possession of the SS.
He also participated in the plan to take the gold reserves of the Czech banks.  His main mitigating evidence that ultimately saved his life was that Funk never took a lead role in the activities in which he participated.
 

Hermann Wilhelm Goering

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging.  Goering committed suicide in his cell by swallowing poison before his hanging.

Known as the second in command to Hitler until their relationship deteriorated in 1943, commanding the SA during most of the war and developing the Gestapo.  He also served as Chief of the Air Force.  Goering was arrested in 1945.  He freely told the Tribunal the positions he held, the conferences he attended, and the fact that he treated humans as slave labor, demonstrating
his violation of both the crimes against peace, the war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

In court Goering said, “I must take 100 percent responsibility.  I even overruled objections by the Fuehrer and brought everything to its final development.”  Although Himmler was the one in charge of the extermination of the Jewish people, Goering signed several anti-Jewish decrees and he often directed Himmler’s actions.
 

Rudolf Hess

Sentenced to:    Imprisonment for life.  Hess committed suicide in prison in 1987 at age 92.

Hess was imprisoned with Hitler in 1924, during which time he became Hitler’s Deputy and confidant.  He was the top ranking official in the Nazi Party.  His every action was in support of Hitler’s ultimate plan until he escaped to England after the war.

Although there was evidence linking Hess to the proposed laws against Jewish people and Polish people, the Tribunal did not find enough evidence to find him guilty of these crimes.

Hess’ psychological health was questioned before the trial.  One medical exam was completed before the trial and he was found competent to stand trial despite repeated motions to have him examined again.  Although he may have acted in an unusual manner during the trial, he seemed to realize the nature of the charges and had council appointed by the tribunal specifically to help defend himself.
 

Alfred Jodl

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

Jodl held high-ranking positions in the Reich starting in 1935, including Chief of Army Operations.  Jodl was instrumental in planning the attack on Czechoslovakia as well as Norway, Greece and Yugoslavia.  He wrote “The genius of the Fuehrer and
his determination not to shun even a World War have again won the victory without the use of force.  The hope remains that the incredulous, the weak, and the doubtful people have been converted and will remain that way”.

Jodl and his staff signed numerous documents detailing plans to annihilate people, including the plan to kill Soviet commissars.  But the evidence does not show he was involved in the slave labor program.

His defense was that he was an obedient soldier, signing orders only as a command from Hitler.  This was not a defense allowed under Article Eight of the Charter, however, and no other mitigation evidence could be offered.
 

Ernst Kaltenbrunner

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

By 1935 Kaltenbrunner was the leader of the Austrian branch of the SS and parts of the Gestapo.  He was part of the plans to end the rein of the Austrian government, but he did not appear to be a part of the general plans for war.  Rather, Kaltenbrunner was involved with the crimes against humanity.  He issued orders against Jewish people, prisoners of war, and slave laborers.
He took a leading role in the “final solution”.  People under Kaltenbrunner’s command killed over four million Jewish people in concentration camps.

Kaltenbrunner’s defense was that he was under orders involving foreign intelligence and never assumed control of the activities of the SS police.  He claims he did not know of the overall plan.  This defense only convinced the tribunal that Kaltenbrunner
was not part of the plans to wage war.
 

Wilhelm Keitel

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

Keitel was the Chief of Staff of the High Command of the Armed Forces while Hitler was in power.  He attended all of the conferences that discussed the plans for war.  Many of these meetings were with Hitler, Jodl, and Raeder.  Although he testified he was opposed to the invasion of the U.S.S.R., he ultimately helped plan the invasion.  Evidence also showed Keitel was aware of the plans to rid Poland of Jewish people.  He also issued orders to kill Communists.

There was no mitigation evidence to be heard, and his defense that he was just following orders as a soldier is not valid under the Charter.
 

Erich Raeder

Sentenced to:    Imprisonment for life

Raeder was the Chief of Naval Command as early as 1928, later replaced by Doenitz at Raeder’s request.  He admitted during the trial that under his command the Navy violated the Versailles Treaty.  Raeder was against the idea of invading the U.S.S.R. but followed the decision to invade fully.  Raeder is charged with the sinking of a British passenger ship headed to America in 1939.

Raeder shares the charges related to unrestricted submarine warfare with Doenitz for sinking merchant ships, whether enemy or neutral.
 

Alfred Rosenberg

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

Rosenberg was in charge of the Nazi party while Hitler was in jail.  He later took part in plans to attack Norway.  He is also held responsible for many of the actions in the occupied Eastern Territories.  Rosenberg planned the confiscation of art treasures in France.  He is also credited with the invasion of almost 70,000 homes in France in 1941.  He knew of and participated in crimes against slave laborers and mass killings of Jewish people.  Although he occasionally acknowledged the brutality being used, he continued in his post until the end of the war.
 

Fritz Sauckel

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

Sauckel was instrumental in the use of slave labor.  The evidence overwhelmingly showed Sauckel established labor service in Germany, to which more than 5.000.000 people were subjected.  He is quoted as saying “out of five million foreign workers
who arrived in Germany not even 200,000 came voluntarily”.
 

Hjalmar Schacht

Schacht served as Commissioner of Currency, President of the Reichbank, and Minister of Economics during the war.  By 1936, however, Goering had taken the position Schacht once held as an influential person in the rearmament effort.  Although he continued to participate in economic decisions, he was not involved in any of the war plans.  For this reason he was acquitted of all crimes.
 

Arthur Seyss-Inquart

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

Seyss-Inquart was active in the Austrian Nazi party, taking the position of Minister of Security and Interior in 1938.  He created a program to take Jewish people’s property in Austria and later created economic discrimination policies in the Netherlands.  He was also in control during the periods that Jewish people were victims of pogroms, sent to concentration camps, or forced to emigrate.

He also took part in plans in Poland and the Netherlands, including supporting the occupation policies.  In the Netherlands, Seyss-Inquart sent forced laborers to Germany.

As did many of the defendants, Seyss-Inquart used as a defense the idea that he only followed orders from above.
 

Albert Speer

Sentenced to:    Twenty years imprisonment

Speer was Hitler’s personal architect and a personal friend.  He also held important positions in the Nazi party. The evidence did not show him as a participant in the plans for war.  He was, however, extremely active in the slave labor program.  His defense was that he used these laborers only because the demand for labor was so great.  He was known to ensure the laborers had food and sufficient work conditions so their work was effective.  He also condoned the use of concentration camps for “slackers”.
 

Julius Streicher

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

After joining the Nazi party in 1921, Streicher held appointed and elected positions that made him notorious for his crimes against humanity.  Evidence did not show that Streicher participated in the plans for war, however.  He was a spokesman for the annihilation of the Jewish people.  He is quoted as saying “a punitive expedition must come against the Jews in Russia.  A punitive expedition which will provide the same fate for them that every murder and criminal must expect:  Death sentence and execution.  The Jews in Russia must be killed.  They must be exterminated root and branch.”  He also published “If the danger of the reproduction of that curse of God in the Jewish blood is finally to come to an end, then there is only one way the extermination of that people whose father is the devil.”  No defense could justify these remarks!
 

Konstantin von Neurath

Sentenced to:    Fifteen years imprisonment.  He was released after serving just eight years for health reasons.

Von Neurath was Minister of Foreign Affairs.  He advised Hitler on many strategic military moves.  Von Neurath was allowed to resign in 1938, but continued to be active in the party as a Reich Minister.  He was responsible for proclamations and memorandum repressing citizens of Czechoslovokia.

His defense was that the enforcement of his proclamations were carried out by the police and not Von Neurath himself.  His mitigation evidence that he did request the release of Czech prisoners in 1939 and 1941.  He was reprimanded personally by Hitler for not being harsh enough.
 

Franz von Papen

Von Papen was once the Chancellor of Germany.   Although Von Popen held positions in the Reich, there is not enough evidence that he was part of the plans to wage war.  He was therefor acquitted.
 

Joachim von Ribbentrop

Sentenced to:    Death by hanging

Von Ribbentrop became Foreign Policy Adviser to Hitler in 1933.  He later served as Ambassador to England.  He was active in the plans to attack Poland.  He was aware of plans for the pogroms as well as plans to kill prisoners of war.  Von Ribbentrop participated in Hitler’s “final solution”.

Von Ribbentrop’s defense was that he was only carrying out orders from the man he followed so faithfully, Hitler.  Not only is this not a valid defense, but the tribunal found convincing evidence that showed Von Ribbentrop’s independent belief in what he was doing.
 

Baldur von Schirach

Sentenced to:    Twenty years imprisonment

Von Schirach was the Youth Leader for the Nazi party in 1931 and later the Leader of Youth in the German Reich.  While in this position, he took over all youth groups who competed with the Hitler Youth programs.  These youth programs were intense and prepared the youth to be replacements for the SS, stressing the importance of giving your life for Hitler.  By 1944 the Youth were being used as auxiliaries in the German military.  The evidence does not show he was part of the plans to wage war.

Von Schirach was aware of the plans against Jewish people.  His office received reports of the deportation, many of which were signed by people on Von Shirach’s staff.