What was the purpose of the Nuremberg trials?

Answer 1

Short answer: The punishment of Nazi war criminals.

To bring key Nazis to justice and to show the world what the Nazis had done ... (The alternative considered by the Allies was simply to kill them without trial).

This question is much too extensive to answer here. There was not one trial at Nuremberg - there were a number of them. The first, and best-known one was that of the Major War Criminals (1945-46). There was also a doctors trial, a judges trial, and the list goes on. The Web has many excellent links about the work of the Nuremberg War Crimes tribunal.

You can refer to the related link below regarding the Nuremberg War Trials .

During the Nuremburg Trials (Nuremburg Germany, 1945-46), 24 of the surviving Nazi leaders were tried, most notably:

Hermann Goering - tried and charged with crimes against humanity. The night before he was to be hanged, he killed himself by cyanide tablet.

Joachim von Ribbentrop - Foreign Minister of Germany. Hanged for war crimes.

Wilhelm Keitel - Famed German Field Marshal and Oberkommando der Wehrmacht, or High Command of the Armed Forces. Tried and sentenced to death by hanging as a major war criminal.

Alfred Jodl - Deputy to Wilhelm Keitel. Sentenced to death by hanging.

Ernst Kaltenbrunner - The highest ranking SS officer to be tried, having the full rank of Obergruppenfuhrer, translated as Senior Group Leader. Was tried and executed.

Julius Streicher - Wrote an anti-Semitic children's book, Der Giftpilz. It used the metaphor of an attractive yet deadly mushroom to sway the German people against the Jews. More importantly, he edited Der Stürmer This was a rabidly antisemitic weekly, and from 1941 he called for the extermination of the Jews. Tried and sentenced to death by hanging.

Hjalmar Schacht - Co-founder of the German Democratic Party. Tried, and, ultimately acquitted. He founded his own bank in 1953 and died in 1970. He was against the Nazi regime and was imprisoned by Hitler in 1944.

Martin Bormann - Private secretary to Adolf Hitler. Managed to remain at large during the trials. His remains were found in the 1970's, but not before a 26-year search for him in South America and Europe.

Several other high ranking officers were tried at Nuremburg. In all, 24 were executed, 128 were imprisoned, and 35 were acquitted.

Answer 2

The Nuremberg trials were held after World War II to hold Nazi leaders accountable for their war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The trials aimed to bring justice to the victims, establish legal precedents for prosecuting individuals for such crimes, and deter future acts of aggression and inhumanity.