Nuremberg trials

Cultural  

1. Trials of Nazi leaders conducted after World War II. A court set up by the victorious Allies tried twenty-two former officials, including Hermann Goering, in Nuremberg, Germany, for war crimes. Goering and eleven others were sentenced to death. Many of the highest officials of Nazi Germany, including Adolf Hitler, Joseph Goebbels, and Heinrich Himmler, had committed suicide before they could be brought to trial, and Goering killed himself before he could be executed.

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Several of those accused at the Nuremberg trials offered the defense that they were merely carrying out the orders of their superiors. This defense was not accepted.

Example Sentences

In the wake of World War II, Jackson took a leave from the court and served as a prosecutor in the Nuremberg trials of Nazi leaders.

From Salon • Jun. 24, 2025

The last living prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials, one of the first outside witnesses to document the atrocities of Nazi labor and concentration camps.

From Seattle Times • Dec. 31, 2023

Ferencz died Friday evening in Boynton Beach, Fla., according to St. John’s University law professor John Barrett, who runs a blog about the Nuremberg trials.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2023

Benjamin Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials, died on Friday at 103.

From New York Times • Apr. 10, 2023

He also read an account of Nazi general Ernst Kaltenbrunner, a leader of the SS who ended up being found guilty at the Nuremberg trials and executed.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady