Editing Ministries Trial

{{Short description|Trial}}
{{no footnotes|date=February 2013}}
[[File:Theodor von Hornbostel testifies for the prosecution during the Ministries Trial.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Theodor von Hornbostel testifies for the prosecution during the Ministries Trial]]
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The '''Ministries Trial''' (or, officially, the '''''United States of America vs. Ernst von Weizsäcker, et al.''''') was the eleventh of the twelve trials for [[war crime]]s the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in [[Nuremberg]] after the end of [[World War II]]. These twelve trials were all held before U.S. military courts, not before the [[International Military Tribunal]], but took place in the same rooms at the [[Palace of Justice (Nuremberg)|Palace of Justice]]. The twelve U.S. trials are collectively known as the "[[subsequent Nuremberg trials]]" or, more formally, as the "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" (NMT).

This case is also known as the '''Wilhelmstrasse Trial''', so-named because both the [[Reich Chancellery]] and the [[German Foreign Office]] were located at the [[Wilhelmstrasse]], a street in Berlin that was often used as a [[metonym]] for overall German governmental administration. The defendants in this case were officials of various ''[[Nazi Germany|Reich]]'' ministries, facing various charges for their roles in [[Nazi Germany]] and thus their participation in or [[command responsibility|responsibility]] for the numerous atrocities committed both in Germany and in occupied countries during the war.

The judges in this case, heard before Military Tribunal VI, were [[William C. Christianson]] (presiding judge) from [[Minnesota]], Robert F. Maguire from [[Oregon]] and [[Leon W. Powers]] from [[Iowa]]. The Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution was [[Telford Taylor]]; the chief prosecutor was [[Robert Kempner]]. The [[indictment]] was filed on 15 November 1947; the hearings lasted from 6 January 1948 until 18 November that year. Five months later, on 11 April 1949, the judges presented their 833-page judgment. Sentences were handed down on 13 April 1949. Of all the twelve trials, this was the one that lasted longest and ended last. Of the 21 defendants [[arraignment|arraigned]], two were acquitted, and 18 others were found guilty on at least one count of their indictments and received prison sentences ranging from three years to 25 years. In addition, one defendant, [[Ernst Wilhelm Bohle]], pleaded guilty, becoming the only defendant to do so in the [[subsequent Nuremberg trials]].

==Indictment==

[[File:Ministries Trial Opening.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Telford Taylor]] delivers the prosecution's opening statement.]]
The defendants were all indicted on at least one of seven counts:

Count 1: [[Crime against peace]]

Count 2: Taking part in a common plan or conspiracy to commit the aforementioned crimes (later dropped by the NMT in all trials)

Count 3: [[War crimes]] against [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]]

Count 4: [[Crimes against humanity]] through atrocities against German nationals on political, racial, and religious grounds between 1933 and 1939 (count dropped)

Count 5: War crimes and crimes against humanity through atrocities against civilian population

Count 6: War crimes and crimes against humanity through the plundering and spoliation of the [[military occupation|occupied territories]]

Count 7: War crimes and crimes against humanity through the enslavement and deportation of concentration camp prisoners and civilians in the occupied countries for slave labor

Count 8: Membership in a criminal organization, the NSDAP and the SS

== Defendants ==
{| class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Name
!align=center|Photo
!align="left"|Function
!align="left"|Verdict and sentence
|-
|valign="top"|[[Ernst von Weizsäcker]]
|[[Image:Ernst Heinrich von Weizsäcker.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Permanent [[Secretary of State]] in the ''[[Auswärtiges Amt]]'' (Foreign Ministry) under [[Joachim Ribbentrop|Ribbentrop]] until 1943, then [[ambassador]] to the [[Holy See]]; [[SS]]-''[[Brigadeführer]]''.
|valign="top"|7 years for counts 1 and 5; count 1 overturned and reduced to 5 years on 12 December 1949; commuted to time served and released in October 1950; died in 1951
|-
|valign="top"|[[Gustav Adolf Steengracht von Moyland|Gustav&nbsp;Adolf&nbsp;Steengracht von&nbsp;Moyland]]
|[[Image:Gustav Adolf Steengracht von Moyland.JPG|60px]]
|valign="top"|Successor of von Weizsäcker as Secretary of State in the Foreign Ministry (until 1945).
|valign="top"|7 years for counts 3 and 5; count 3 overturned and reduced to 5 years on 12 December 1949; released in January 1950; died in 1969
|-
|valign="top"|[[Wilhelm Keppler]]
|[[Image:Wilhelm Keppler.JPG|60px]]
|valign="top"|Secretary of State; [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]'s advisor for economy.
|valign="top"|10 years for counts 1, 5, 6, and 8; commuted to time served and released in February 1951
|-
|valign="top"|[[Ernst Wilhelm Bohle]]
|[[Image:Ernst Wilhelm Bohle.JPG|60px]]
|valign="top"|[[NSDAP|NS]]-''[[Gauleiter]]'', Secretary of State in the Foreign Ministry; head of the ''Auslandorganisation'' (foreign organization) of the NSDAP.
|valign="top"|5 years for count 8; released in December 1949; died in 1960
|-
|valign="top"|[[Ernst Woermann]]
|[[Image:Ernst Woermann.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Secretary in the Foreign Ministry; head of the political division. [[German Ambassador to China]], [[Wang Jingwei regime]].
|valign="top"|7 years for counts 1 and 5; count 1 overturned and reduced to 5 years on 12 December 1949; released in January 1950; died in 1979
|-
|valign="top"|[[Karl Ritter (diplomat)|Karl Ritter]]
|[[Image:Karl Ritter, defendant in Ministries Trial.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Liaison between Foreign Office and the [[OKW|High Command]] of the German armed forces.
|valign="top"|4 years for count 3; released after the judgment; died in 1968
|-
|valign="top"|[[Otto von Erdmannsdorff]]
|
|valign="top"|Secretary in the Foreign Ministry; deputy to Woermann.
|valign="top"|Acquitted; died in 1978
|-
|valign="top"|[[Edmund Veesenmayer]]
|[[Image:Edmund Veesenmayer.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Plenipotentiary in Hungary. 
|valign="top"|20 years for counts 5, 7, and 8; commuted to 10 years in January 1951; released in December 1951; died in 1977
|-
|valign="top"|[[Hans Heinrich Lammers]]
|[[image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-H28193, Hans Heinrich Lammers.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Head of the ''Reich'' Chancellery. Indicted on all counts.
|valign="top"|20 years for counts 1, 3, 5, 7, and 8; commuted to 10 years in January 1951; released in December 1951; died in 1962
|-
|valign="top"|[[Wilhelm Stuckart]]
|[[File:Wilhelm Stuckart at the Ministries Trial.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Secretary of State in the Interior Ministry.
|valign="top"|Time served (3 years and 10 months) for counts 5, 6, and 8. Died in a car crash in 1953.{{ref|1|1}}
|-
|valign="top"|[[Richard Walther Darré]]
|[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 119-2179, Walter Richard Darré.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Minister for Food and Agriculture.
|valign="top"|7 years for counts 5, 6, and 8; released in August 1950; died in 1953
|-
|valign="top"|[[Otto Meissner]]
|[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-09313, Otto Meißner.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Head of the Presidential Chancellery.
|valign="top"|Acquitted; died in 1953
|-
|valign="top"|[[Otto Dietrich]]
|[[Image:Dietrich, Otto - Obergruppenführer mugshot.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Reich Press Chief of the [[NSDAP]] and Secretary of State in the ''[[Propagandaministerium]]''.
|valign="top"|7 years for counts 5 and 8; released in 1950; died in 1952
|-
|valign="top"|[[Gottlob Berger]]
|[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S73321, Gottlob Berger.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Head of the ''SS-Hauptamt'', SS-''[[Obergruppenführer]]''.
|valign="top"|25 years imprisonment for counts 3, 5, 7, and 8; commuted to 10 years in January 1951; released in December 1951
|-
|valign="top"|[[Walter Schellenberg]]
|[[Image:Walter Schellenberg.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Second-in-command of the [[Gestapo]], head of the [[Sicherheitsdienst|SD]] and the ''[[Abwehr]]'', and successor of [[Wilhelm Canaris]] as the head of the Combined Secret Services; SS-''Brigadeführer''.
|valign="top"|6 years for counts 5 and 8; released in December 1950; died in 1952
|-
|valign="top"|[[Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk]]
|[[Image:Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk.JPG|60px]]
|valign="top"|Minister of Finance, de facto [[Chancellor of Germany]], officially titled "Leading Minister", in May 1945 after the death of [[Joseph Goebbels]].
|valign="top"|10 years for counts 5 and 6; commuted to time served and released in February 1951
|-
|valign="top"|[[Emil Puhl]]
|[[Image:Emil Puhl.jpg|60px]]
|valign="top"|Vice-president of the ''[[Reichsbank]]''..
|valign="top"|5 years for count 5; released in December 1949; died in 1962
|-
| valign="top" |[[Paul Körner (Nazi official)|Paul Körner]]
|[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1993-086-12, Paul Körner.jpg|60px]]
| valign="top" |Secretary of State and deputy to [[Hermann Göring|Göring]] in the [[Four Year Plan]]; SS-''Obergruppenführer''. 
| valign="top" |15 years for counts 1, 6, 7, and 8; commuted to 10 years in January 1951; released in December 1951; died in 1957
|-
| valign="top" |[[Paul Pleiger]]
|[[Image:Paul Pleiger - DPLA - bbf2f051e7daa2b8bdcd24012fab3302.jpg|60px]]
| valign="top" |Head of the [[Reichswerke Hermann Göring]] (confiscated steel plants employing slave laborers).
| valign="top" |15 years for counts 6 and 7; commuted to 10 years in January 1951; released in December 1951
|-
| valign="top" |{{Interlanguage link multi|Hans Kehrl|de}}
|[[Image:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1998-0525-500, Hans Kehrl.jpg|60px]]
| valign="top" |Secretary in the Ministry of Armament; head of the planning office.
| valign="top" |15 years for counts 5-8; commuted to time served and released in February 1951
|-
| valign="top" |[[Karl Rasche]]
|[[Image:Karl Rasche.jpg|60px]]
| valign="top" |Director of the [[Dresdner Bank]].
| valign="top" |7 years for counts 6 and 8; released in August 1950; died in 1951
|}

{{note|1|1}} Stuckart was tried again in 1950 before a [[denazification]] court and sentenced as a ''[[Mitläufer]]'' (follower) a fine of [[Deutsche Mark|DM]] 50,000.

[[Herbert Backe]], the former minister for agriculture who should also have been tried, committed suicide on 6 April 1947 while in custody awaiting the trial.

== References ==
{{commons category|Ministries trial}}
*[http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007082 Description] from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20041204084148/http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/genocide/cntrl10_trials.htm#Ministries Another description]
*[http://www.annette-wilmes.de/50jahren/wilhelmstr.htm Transcript] of a German radio broadcast from 1999 (in German).
*{{cite book|last=Heller |first= Kevin Jon |year=2011 |title=The Nuremberg Military Tribunals and the Origins of International Criminal Law |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-955431-7}}

{{Nuremberg Trials}}

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[[Category:United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals]]
[[Category:1947 in Germany]]
[[Category:1948 in Germany]]
[[Category:1940s trials]]
[[Category:Incitement to genocide case law]]