The downfall of Hermann Göring at the Nuremberg Trials

DW (English)

Hermann Göring was, at one point, the second most powerful Nazi in Germany's Third Reich. After World War II, he was tried for his crimes at the Nuremberg trials in 1945–1946. Throughout the proceedings, Göring denied all guilt and showed no repentance, right up to his final act.

Transcript

00:00Hermann Göring was Hitler's longtime number two and a key figure in establishing the first

00:04concentration camps. But at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945-1946, which sought to bring

00:10Nazi leaders to justice for their crimes, Göring made an outrageous claim about the Holocaust.

00:18I already have said that not even approximately did I know to what degree this thing took place.

00:23You did not know to what degree, but you knew there was a policy that aimed at the liquidation

00:28of the Jews. No, not liquidation of the Jews. I only knew that certain perpetrations had

00:37taken place. The Nuremberg Trials broke new ground in international law with the idea of

00:42individual responsibility. The Allies wanted the Nazis to be prosecuted for the millions

00:47of people they had murdered. For the first time, leaders were held personally accountable

00:51for the atrocities committed during World War II.

00:54The evidence was devastating. There was film footage showing unimaginable suffering in

01:11concentration camps, testimony from survivors and letters and orders issued by the defendants,

01:16that revealed their direct involvement. Göring was found guilty on all counts.

01:20Guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Death by

01:27hanging. But hours before his execution, he took his own life in his cell, avoiding accountability,

01:33just like he did at the trial.

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