March 5, 1947
Nuremberg Justice Trial Opens
Historical context
On this day, March 5, 1947, the United States opened the Justice Case in Nuremberg against German judges and prosecutors.
Archive record
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- Date
- March 5, 1947
- Verified sources
- 1
- Archive threads
- 6
On this day, Military Tribunal III opened the Justice Case, the third of twelve Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings conducted by United States military tribunals. Sixteen defendants, officials of the Reich Ministry of Justice and members of the People’s and Special Courts, were charged with using the forms of legal process for persecution and mass murder.
The tribunal had been created on 13 February 1947. Defendants gave final statements on 18 October. Judgment came on 3–4 December 1947: ten convicted, four acquitted, one dead before trial, and one mistrial for illness. Four received life terms and six received prison terms of five to ten years. This article dates the opening, not the later International Military Tribunal of 1945–1946.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings, Case #3, The Justice Case · United States Holocaust Memorial Museum · Holocaust Encyclopedia View source
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