Welt im Film 71/1946 04.10.1946

01-Nuremberg trials: the judgment façade of the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg, close to half. Soldiers on armored car in front of the Justice Palace. Tanks seal off the area around the Palace of Justice. Military police in a moving Jeep. People go through checks at the courthouse. The defendants and the present rise. The judge entered the room. The present contact. The dock, total. Sir Geoffrey Lawrence talks interview. ("Since August 1945...") The defendants, half-close. Guilty verdict for the defendant organizations. Lord Justice Lawrence, close to half of the judges table, the present, the accused. 2 day: The dock, total. Göring, Hess, von Ribbentrop, behind Dönitz, wheels, von Schirach, half-close. The judges of the four Nations in reading the convictions against the individual defendants. Göring, half close, in addition to Hess, with headphones and black glasses. Göring supports the head in his hand. Hess pages in files, half-close. By Ribbentrop, Hess and Keitel, half-close. Keitel besides Kaltenbrunner, half-close. Kaltenbrunner, Keitel and Rosenberg, half-close. Rosenberg, as well as Hans Frank, half-close. Hans Frank, Rosenberg and Wilhelm Frick, half-close. Wilhelm Frick, half-close. Julius Streicher, half-close. Walter Funk, along with Julius Streicher and Hjalmar Schacht, half-close. Hjalmar shaft, in addition to Walter Funk. 2nd row: Dönitz in addition to Erich wheels, half-close. Erich wheels, in addition to Dönitz and Baldur von Schierach, half-close. Baldur by Schierach behind Göring and Hess, half close. Fritz Sauckel, half-close. Jodl, in addition to von Papen, half-close. By Papen, in addition to Arthur Seyss in quart, half-close. Arthur Seyss in Landquart, writing in addition to Albert Speer, half-close. Albert Speer, behind Julius Streicher and Walter Funk, half-close. Konstantin von Neurath in addition to spear and Hans Fritsche, half-close. Hans Fritsche, half-close. Pan across the courtroom. Soldier shuts the door.
(340 m)

Nuremberg trials: the judgement before the international military tribunal in Nuremberg was the largest process of in history to end. He began on 20 November 1945 and to - included 403 public sessions of the Tribunal. The verdict against the 22 defendants took place on October 1, 1946. Here are the images of the historic final session of the Nuremberg process.
Nuremberg, once the city of the party days, z today becomes the town of in retaliation. The street scene reflects the importance of the upcoming event. The area around the Palace of Justice is closed to all traffic. Tank and post back up the street corners, military and police patrols cruise through the city. Each admitted to the final stage negotiations must pass a multiple control lock.
Point 10 o'clock in the morning the judge enter the meeting room. The first part of the sentencing hearing begins.
First, the President of the Tribunal is Sir Geoffrey Lawrence, a comprehensive overview of the history of the process. He reviewed the four major aspects of the Statute, according to which all 22 defendants are accused. The four points are: 1) crimes against peace, 2) planning. Unleashing and conduct a war of aggression, 3) War crimes, 4.) Crimes against humanity.
(Original sound Lawrence "on the 8th of August 1945 the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain...")
The first part is devoted to the reading of this summary; Alternately, it happens by the judge of all four Nations. The text is a factual but profound facts - and work report.
He brings the huge total complex of this largest and most significant process of history on clear and simple formulas. He investigated the epidemic of national socialism by the germ up to the mass poisoning of people and conclusively answered the three dominant issues in this negotiation: who is guilty? Why is he guilty? and how far is he guilty?
The first day of closed organizations with the verdict against the defendants. Four of the organizations were judged as criminal: namely the SS, the SD, the Gestapo, and certain groups of the Corps of the political leaders. The other four were found as not criminal organizations, namely: the SA, the Reich Cabinet, the Joint Chiefs and the OKW.
The convictions against the individual defendants and the justification of these convictions were read on the second and final day in the final session. The personality and the work each of the 22 was outlined shortly before Schuldig - or not guilty Declaration.
The convictions began with the handling of the case of Göring by Lord Justice Lawrence. Next to Hitler, Hermann Göring was the most important man of the Nazi regime. He built up the Gestapo, created the first concentration camp and was the driving force behind the wars of aggression. He was the head of the Sklavenarbeitsprogrammes and the author of the repressive measures against the Jews and other races in the country and abroad.
The Court said the defendant Göring on all four counts of the indictment, guilty and sentenced him to death by hanging. No filming was done at the request of the Tribunal during the announcement of penalties on the individual defendants.
Rudolf Hess was taught according to the Court about the attack plans from the outset as a Deputy and confidant of Hitler. He helped through his actions to prepare the wars and carry out. There is no reason to believe that he was mentally not completely healthy at the time of the Commission of these offences.
Hess was sentenced by the Court to imprisonment in prison. Joachim von Ribbentrop as Foreign Minister was involved in all offensive action governed by the occupation of Austria until the invasion of the Soviet Union. He worked war crimes and crimes against peace and humanity unreservedly with Hitler and the other defendants to the implementation.
Ribbentrop, the Court sentenced to death by hanging.
Wilhelm Keitel as Chief of the oberkommando of der Wehrmacht has participated in the Commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was convicted of having planned and carried out wars of aggression. He has partly followed commands to the murder of prisoners of war and civilians of occupied territories, partly even adopted. Keitel was sentenced to death.
Ernst Kaltenbrunner is as the head of the Reichssicherheits main Office for an extensive program of war crimes and crimes against humanity responsible, etc. for the abuse and murder of prisoners of war and the atrocities of the Gestapo. Six million Jews were murdered by the Reichssicherheits main office under the direction of Kaltenbrunners.
Kaltenbrunner was sentenced to death by hanging.
Alfred Rosenberg was the ideologue of the Nazi party and the Apostle of racial hatred. He participated in the exploitation and slave labor policy leader as well as the extermination of opponents of Nazi rule.
Rosenberg was sentenced to death by train.
As Governor General of Poland, Hans Frank introduced the deportation of slave labor to Germany. 3 million Jews of the generalgouvernement were eradicated systematically and brutally. Frank even in early 1944, estimated that only 100,000 Jews were left.
Frank was sentenced to death by hanging. As Reich Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick was partly responsible for the Gestapo and the concentration camps; He signed the Nuremberg laws and ordered the killing of sick and infirm persons, who were in nursing homes.
Frick was sentenced to death by hanging.
Julius Streicher has harassed as editor of the "striker" to the extermination of the Jews, he poisoned the morale of the people and was the murder propagandist of the party.
The Court sentenced Streicher to death by hanging.
Walter Funk spearheaded by the years of 1938 as Reich Economy Minister on the upgrade and created the plans to finance the war against Poland and Soviet Russia. In the vaults of the Bank deposited the valuables of the victims in the concentration camps destroyed. Their gold teeth and-Plomben were kept there.
The Court sentenced to imprisonment prison radio.
Hjalmar shaft. The Court ruled that although contributed to the financing of the earliest stages of the upgrade, that he but the war refusing to stand. As a later enemy of Hitler, he was arrested and placed in a concentration camp.
Bay considered Cermak in the sense of the accusation and was acquitted.
Karl Dönitz. As leader of the submarine gun in 1943 and later Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy, he is complicit in the wars of aggression and the sinking of neutral merchant vessels by him doing. The accusation that the bombardment of lifeboats and shipwrecked was on the express orders of Dönitz was not proven.
The Court sentenced Dönitz to ten years in prison.
Erich wheels. Wheels was decisive as Chief of the Supreme command of the Navy in the planning and carrying out the aggression. He is the author of the invasion plan against Norway and worked on the plans of attack against Poland and the Soviet Union. The Court sentenced to imprisonment prison wheels.
Baldur von Schirach was found guilty of crimes against humanity. As Gauleiter of Vienna, Schirach is responsible for the implementation of the Zwangsarbeiterprogrammes and for the deportation of Jews. As Reich Youth leader he was keen to make ready for the German Youth for the political and military objectives of the party. Schirach, the Court sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Fritz Sauckel bore ultimate responsibility for the forced labor program as Plenipotentiary for labour deployment. He made 5 million deported foreign workers using the cruellest methods of slave labor for the German war machine.
Sauckel was sentenced to death by hanging.
Alfred Jodl, Hitler's attack plans and was one of the main responsible persons for their implementation. He was found guilty to all four counts. His Excuse me was "Higher command". The Court declared that military obedience at any price is no Excuse me for committing such crimes. Jodl was sentenced to death.
Franz by Papen main objective as German Ambassador to Austria was: the hazard of the Schuschnig regime to strengthen the Austrian National Socialists. According to Hitler's intention, the occupation of Austria should pave the way for further attacks. Papen did not participate in these plans.
The Court decided that Papen is not guilty according to the four points of the indictment and acquitted him.
Arthur Seyss-Inquart methods of relentless terror became Reich Governor of Austria, as Reichskommissar in the Netherlands and Deputy Governor-General of Poland for the. He ruthlessly exploited the areas managed by him and was one of the most cruel persecutor of the Jews.
Seyss-Inquart was sentenced to death by hanging. Albert Speer attended the foreign workers program of Sauckels as Minister of armaments and knew the methods of forced deportation. Regarded as a mitigating factor, that he opposed in the final stages of the war of the senseless destruction of European industrial plants befohlenen by Hitler.
The Court sentenced Speer to 20 years in prison.
Konstantin von Neurath as Foreign Minister took part in the planning of wars of aggression and played an important role in Hitler's decisions. As Reich protector for Bohemia and Moravia, he conducted a program of repression and exploitation.
Neurath, the Court sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Hans Fritsche. The Court came to the conclusion that he played a subordinate role to crucial meetings and planning was not consulted and served only as the voice of Goebbels propaganda.
As a result, he is considered Cermak in the sense of the charges.
Fritsche was acquitted. Martin Bormann was sentenced in absentia to death, since the evidence of his death not deemed sufficient. He was the successor of Hess and led the ruthless exploitation of the population by the party. He was instrumental in the enslavement and extermination of the inhabitants of the occupied territories and responsible for the lynching of allied pilots.
Thus ended the process of Nuremberg.

Nuremberg trial:

The sentence (title:)
Before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg the greatest trial in history came to an end. It opened Nov. 20th 1945 and consisted of 403 public sessions of the Tribunal. On Oct. 1st 1946 the sentence were delivered against the 22 defendants. This is the camera record of the historic last days of the Nuremberg trial.
Nuremberg, once the city of the party rallies, to-day >becomes the city of justice. The street scene mirrors the importance of the impending event. The area round the Palace of Justice is closed for all traffic, tanks and sentries guard the intersections, military and police patrol cars cruise through the town. Every person who is admitted to the final session has to pass through a whole system of checkpoints.
On the stroke of ten the judges enter the courtroom.
The first part of the judgment commences.
At first, the President of the Tribunal, Lord Justice Geoffrey Lawrence, delivers a compretensive review of the history of the trial. He emphosizes the four main provisions of the charter under which all 22 defendants are accused. They are: 1.) conspiracy against the peace, 2.) planning, initiation and waging of a war of aggression, 3.) war crimes, 4.) crimes against humanity.
The entire first part is devoted to the reading of this review it is read alternatingly by the judges of all four nations. The review is a factual but profound report of work done and facts found. It reduces the enormous scope of this greatest and most significant trial of history to plain and simple formulas. It examines the disease of National Sozialism from it's incubation to the mass poisoning of a nation and answers decisively the three dominating questions of this proceeding: who is guilty? Why is he guilty? and: to what extent is he guilty?
The first day was concluded with the sentencing of the accused organizations. Four of the organisations were found guilty, namely: the SS, the SD, the Gestapo and certain groups of the Corps of Political Leaders. The four others were found not guilty, namely: the SA, the Reich Cabinet, the General Staff and High Command.
On the second and last day of the final session judgment was given against the individual defendants and the reasons for the findings. The personalities and records of each one of the 22 was briefly outlined before declaring him guilty or not guilty.
The first case to be dealt with was that of the defendant Göring.
Hermann Göring was after Hitler the most prominent man in the Nazi Regime. He developed the Gestapo, created the first concentration camps and was the moving force for aggressive war. He was the director of the slave labour program and the creator of the oppression measures against the jews and other races at home and abroad.
The Tribunal found the defendant Göring on all four counts of the indictment and sentenced him to death by hanging. By request of the Tribunal no newsreel-pictures were taken of the pronouncement of the sentence to the individual defendants.
Rudolf Hess as Hitlers deputy and closest personal confidant had - in the view of the Tribunal - full knowledge of the existing plans of aggression from the time of their conception. He assisted in preparing and carrying out these wars. There is no reason to assume that he was not completely sane when the acts charged against him were committed.
Hess was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Joachim von Ribbentrop participated as Foreign Minister in all aggressive acts from the occupation of Austria to the invasion of the Soviet Union. He colloborated whole-heartedly with Hitler and with the other defendants in the commission of crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Tribunal sentenced Ribbentrop to death by hanging.
Wilhelm Keitel participated as Chief of the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht in the commission of crimes against peace and against humanity. He was found guilty of having planned and conducted wars of aggression. He was either followed or himself issued orders to kill prisoners of war or civilians in the occupied territories.
Keitel was sentenced to death.
Ernst Kaltenbrunner. Head of the Reich Security. Head Office is responsible for an extensive program of war crimes and crimes against humanity, i.a. the mistreatment and murder of prisoners of war and the evil deeds of the Gestapo. Under his direction 6 million jews were murderd by the Reich Security Head Office.
Kaltenbrunner was sentenced to death by hanging.
Alfred Rosenberg was the Party's ideologist and apostle of racial hatred. He played a leading role in forming the policies of exploitation and slave labour as well as in the extermination of the opponents of a Nationalsozialism rule.
Rosenberg was sentenced to death by hanging.
Hans Frank introduced, as Governor General of Poland, the deportation of slave labourer into Germany. The 3 million jews of the General Government were exterminated systematically and brutally. Early in 1944, Frank himself estimate that there were only 100.000 jews left.
Frank was sentenced to death by hanging.
Wilhelm Frick. As Reichsminister of the Interior was one of these responsible for the Gestapo and the concentration camps; he signed the Nuremberg laws and ordered the murder of sick and aged people. Frick was sentenced to death by hanging.
Julius Streicher, the publisher of the "Sturmer" has incited the German people to exterminate the jews. He poisoned the public mind and was the chief murder advocate of the Party.
Streicher was sentenced to death by hanging.
Walter Funk, Minister of Economics since 1938, continued the re-armament program and created the plans to finance the war against Poland and Russia. The Reichsbank received the valuables taken from the victims who had been exterminated in the concentration camps. Also their gold teeth and -fillings were stored in the Reichsbank vaults.
The Tribunal sentenced Funk to life imprisonment.
Hjalmar Schacht. The Tribunal decided that, though he contributed to the financing of the earliest phases of the re-armament, Schacht was opposed to a war of aggression. As a subsequent enemy of Hitler he was arrested and confined in a concentration camp.
Schacht was found not guilty in the sense of the indictment and acquitted.
Karl Dönitz. As Commander of the Submarine Arm and, later, as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy he was active in waging aggressive war and one of those responsible for the sinking of neutral merchant vessels. Evidence was not established that the killing of shipwrecked survivors took place on his specific orders.
The Tribunal sentenced Dönitz to a prison term of 10 years.
Erich Raeder. As Chief of Naval Command he was one of the most responsible for the planning and waging of aggressive warfare. The condeption of the invasion of Norway first arose in his mind and he also contributed in the schemes of aggression against Poland and the Soviet Union.
The Tribunal sentenced Raeder to life imprisonment.
Baldur von Schirach was found guilty of crimes against humanity. As Gauleiter of Vienna he was responsible for carrying out the slave labour program and the deportation of jews. As Reichs Youth Leader he endeavoured to prepare the youth of Germany for the political and military aims of the Party.
The Tribunal sentenced Schirach to a prison term of 20 years.
Fritz Sauckel, Plenipotentiary General for the Utilization of Labour, had top responsibility for the slave labour program. He forced more than 5 million deported foreign workers to slave for the German war machine, often under terrible conditions of cruelty and suffering.
Sauckel was sentenced to death by hanging.
Alfred Jodl elaborated Hitler's aggressive plans and was chiefly responsible for their practical execution. He was found guilty on all four points of the indictment. His defense, in brief, was: "Superior orders."
The Tribunal ruled that soldierly obedience at all costs is no excuse for the commission of such crimes.
Jodl was sentenced to death.
Franz von Papen's primary purpose as Minister to Austria was to undermine the Schuschnigg regime and strengthen the position of the Austrian Nazis. According to Hitler's plans, the occupation of Austria was to be a step in the direction of further aggressive action. It has not been established beyond reasonable doubt that Papen participated in these plans.
The Tribunal found Papen not guilty on the four counts of the indictment and acquitted him.
Arthur Seyss-Inquart, in his capacities as Reichs Governor of Austria, as Reichs Commissioner for the occupied Netherlands and as Deputy Governor General of the General Government of Poland, advocated and practised a policy of ruthless terror. He exploited the territories under his administration mercilessly and was one of the most cruel persecuters of the jews.
Seyss-Inquart was sentenced to death by hanging.
Albert Speer participated as Reich Armaments Minister in Sauckels slave labour program and had full knowledge of the methods of forced deportation. In mitigation it was recognized that in the closing stages of the war he obstructed Hitler's orders for senseless destruction of production facilities in Europe.
Speer was sentenced to a prison term of 20 years.
Konstantin von Neurath participated as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the planning of aggressive wars and played an important part in Hitler's decisions. As Reichs Protector for Bohemia and Moravia he carried out a program of suppression and exploitation. The Tribunals sentenced Neurath to a prison term of 15 years.
Hans Fritzsche. The Tribunals gained the conviction that he played a subordinate part, was not invited to attend the decisive planning conferences, and was no more than the mouthpiece of Goebbel's propaganda. He was therefore found not guilty in the sense of the indictment.
Fritzsche was acquitted.
Martin Bormann was sentenced to death in contumacian as the proofs for his death were not considered conclusive. He was the successor of Hess and through the mechanism of the Party controlled the ruthless exploitation of the population. He was one of those mainly responsible for the enslavement and annitilation of the populations of the occupied territories and for the lynching of Allied airmen.
Thus ended the trial of Nuremberg.

Date of Release:

04.10.1946

Year of Production:

1946

Rights Holder:

Federal Republic of Germany

Commissioned by:

USIS

Film Format:

35 mm

Colour:

b/w

Audio:

Sound

Languages:

German