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HistoryGermany

The Third Reich in the Dock - The First Nuremburg Trial

01:22:50

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November 13, 2025

The Nuremberg trials started 80 years ago and marked a milestone in the establishment of international law. The images of high-ranking Nazis in the dock are seared into our collective memory.

The Nuremberg trials were a series of military tribunals staged by the Allies after World War Two. The first and best-known trial ended in October 1946 with the sentencing to death of 12 high-ranking Nazis. Adolf Hitler’s right-hand man, Hermann Göring, Germany’s foreign minister during the Nazi regime, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Armaments Minister and chief architect Albert Speer, anti-Semitic demagogue Julius Streicher and high-ranking SS officer Ernst Kaltenbrunner were among those in the dock. The court met for the first time in Nuremberg in November 1945 and was in session for 218 days. By making the Nazi elite answer for their crimes in this hugely complex trial, the Allies ushered in the era of modern international law. Using photos and archive film material, the documentary reconstructs what went on in the court room, as well as revealing what went on behind the scenes.

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