The Ministries Trial was the eleventh of the twelve trials for war crime

War crime

War crimes are serious violations of the laws applicable in armed conflict giving rise to individual criminal responsibility...

s the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg

Nuremberg

Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...

 after the end of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. 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. The twelve U.S. trials are collectively known as the "Subsequent Nuremberg Trials

Subsequent Nuremberg Trials

The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials were a series of twelve U.S...

" 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 the German Foreign Office was located at the Wilhelmstrasse in Berlin. The defendants in this case were officials of various Reich ministries, facing various charges for their roles in Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...

 and thus their participation in or responsibility

Command responsibility

Command responsibility, sometimes referred to as the Yamashita standard or the Medina standard, and also known as superior responsibility, is the doctrine of hierarchical accountability in cases of war crimes....

 for the numerous atrocities committed both in Germany and in occupied countries during the war.

The judges in this case, heard before Military Tribunal IV, were William C. Christianson (presiding judge) from Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, Robert F. Maguire from Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, and Leon W. Powers

Leon W. Powers

Judge Leon W. Powers from Iowa was one of three judges adjudicating the Subsequent Nuremburg trials known as the Ministries trial...

 from Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

. The Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution was Telford Taylor

Telford Taylor

Telford Taylor was an American lawyer best known for his role in the Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II, his opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, and his outspoken criticism of U.S...

; the chief prosecutor was Robert Kempner

Robert Kempner

Robert Kempner was a German-born American lawyer.Kempner was a successful Jewish lawyer in Berlin during the 1920s who then became the chief legal advisor to the Prussian police...

. The indictment

Indictment

An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...

 was filed on November 15, 1947; the hearings lasted from January 6, 1948 until November 18 that year, and then the judges took a whole five months to compile their 833-page judgment, which they presented on April 11, 1949. The sentences were handed down on April 13, 1949. Of all the twelve trials, this was the one that lasted longest and ended last. Of the 21 defendants arraigned

Arraignment

Arraignment is a formal reading of a criminal complaint in the presence of the defendant to inform the defendant of the charges against him or her. In response to arraignment, the accused is expected to enter a plea...

, two were acquitted, the others were found guilty on at least one count of the indictment and received prison sentences ranging from three years including time served to 25 years' imprisonment.

Defendants

Name	Photo	Function	Sentence
Ernst von Weizsäcker Ernst von Weizsäcker Ernst Freiherr von Weizsäcker was a German diplomat and politician. He served as State Secretary at the Foreign Office from 1938 to 1943, and as German Ambassador to the Holy See from 1943 to 1945...		Permanent Secretary of State Secretary of State Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....  in the Auswärtiges Amt (Foreign Ministry) under Ribbentrop until 1943, then ambassador Ambassador An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....  to the Holy See Holy See The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and... ; SS-Brigadeführer Brigadeführer SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank.... .	7 years' imprisonment; reduced to 5 years on December 12, 1949, released in October 1950.
Gustav Adolf Steengracht von Moyland Gustav Adolf Steengracht von Moyland Gustav Adolf Baron Steengracht von Moyland was a German diplomat and politician of Dutch descent, who served as Nazi Germany's Secretary of State at the Foreign Office from 1943 to 1945.-Early life:...		Successor of von Weizsäcker as Secretary of State in the Foreign Ministry (until 1945)	7 years' imprisonment; reduced to 5 years on December 12, 1949, released 1950
Wilhelm Keppler Wilhelm Keppler Wilhelm Karl Keppler was a German businessman and one of Adolf Hitler's early financial backers. Introduced to Hitler by Heinrich Himmler, Keppler helped to finance the Nazi Party....		Secretary of State; Hitler Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945... 's advisor for economy	10 years' imprisonment; released 1951
Ernst Wilhelm Bohle Ernst Wilhelm Bohle Ernst Wilhelm Bohle was the leader of the Foreign Organization of the German Nazi Party from 1933 until 1945.-Early life:...		NS-Gauleiter Gauleiter A Gauleiter was the party leader of a regional branch of the NSDAP or the head of a Gau or of a Reichsgau.-Creation and Early Usage:... , Secretary of State in the Foreign Ministry; head of the Auslandorganisation (foreign organization) of the NSDAP.	5 years' imprisonment
Ernst Wörmann		Secretary in the Foreign Ministry; head of the political division.	7 years' imprisonment; reduced to 5 years on December 12, 1949; released 1951
Karl Ritter Karl Ritter Karl Ritter was a German diplomat, ambassador to Brazil, a member of the Nazi Party, Special Envoy to the Munich Agreement, a senior official in the Foreign Office during World War II, and convicted war criminal in the Ministries Trial.-Life:Karl Ritter was a graduate in law, and was appointed to...		Liaison between Foreign Office and the High Command of the German armed forces.	4 years' imprisonment incl. time already served; released after the judgment.
Otto von Erdmannsdorff Otto von Erdmannsdorff Otto von Erdmannsdorff was a German diplomat who served as ambassador to Hungary under the Nazis from 1937 to 1941, and was later acquitted of war crimes in the Ministries Trial....		Secretary in the Foreign Ministry; deputy to Wörmann.	acquitted
Edmund Veesenmayer Edmund Veesenmayer Edmund Veesenmayer was a German politician, officer and war criminal. He significantly contributed to The Holocaust in Hungary and Croatia...		Plenipotentiary in Hungary	20 years' imprisonment; reduced to 10 years in 1951 and released the same year.
Hans Heinrich Lammers		Head of the Reich Chancellery	20 years' imprisonment; reduced to 10 years in January 1951 and released December 16, 1951.
Wilhelm Stuckart Wilhelm Stuckart Wilhelm Stuckart was a Nazi Party lawyer and official, a state secretary in the German Interior Ministry and later, a convicted war criminal.-Early life:...		Secretary of State in the Interior Ministry	Time already served (3 years and 10 months)
Richard Walther Darré		Minister for Food and Agriculture	7 years' imprisonment; released 1950
Otto Meissner		Head of the Presidential Chancellery	acquitted
Otto Dietrich Otto Dietrich Dr. Otto Dietrich was an SS-Obergruppenführer, the Third Reich's Press Chief, and a confidant of Adolf Hitler.-Biography:...		Reichspressechef of the NSDAP and Secretary of State in the Propagandaministerium	7 years' imprisonment incl. time already served; released in 1950.
Gottlob Berger Gottlob Berger Gottlob Berger was a German Nazi who held the rank of Obergruppenführer during World War II and was later convicted of war crimes.In 1939, he was Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's main recruiting officer...		Head of the SS-Hauptamt, SS-Obergruppenführer Obergruppenführer Obergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...	25 years' imprisonment; reduced to 10 years in 1951; released the same year.
Walter Schellenberg Walter Schellenberg Walther Friedrich Schellenberg was a German SS-Brigadeführer who rose through the ranks of the SS to become the head of foreign intelligence following the abolition of the Abwehr in 1944.-Biography:...		Second-in-command of the Gestapo Gestapo The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police... , head of the SD Sicherheitsdienst Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...  and the Abwehr Abwehr The Abwehr was a German military intelligence organisation from 1921 to 1944. The term Abwehr was used as a concession to Allied demands that Germany's post-World War I intelligence activities be for "defensive" purposes only... , and successor of Wilhelm Canaris Wilhelm Canaris Wilhelm Franz Canaris was a German admiral, head of the Abwehr, the German military intelligence service, from 1935 to 1944 and member of the German Resistance.- Early life and World War I :...  as the head of the Combined Secret Services; SS-Brigadeführer.	6 years' imprisonment incl. time already served
Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk Lutz Graf Schwerin von Krosigk Johann Ludwig Graf Schwerin von Krosigk, born Johann Ludwig von Krosigk and known as Lutz von Krosigk was a German jurist and senior government official, who served during May of 1945 in the historically unique position of Leading Minister of the German Reich, the equivalent of a Chancellorship in...		Minister of Finance	10 years' imprisonment; released in 1951
Emil Johann Puhl		Vice-president of the Reichsbank Reichsbank The Reichsbank was the central bank of Germany from 1876 until 1945. It was founded on 1 January 1876 . The Reichsbank was a privately owned central bank of Prussia, under close control by the Reich government. Its first president was Hermann von Dechend...	5 years' imprisonment incl. time already served
Karl Rasche Karl Rasche Karl Emil August Rasche was an SS-Obersturmbannführer and a Ph.D. in law as well as a Board member and banker, later spokesman, of the Dresdner Bank during the Third Reich...		Director of the Dresdner Bank Dresdner Bank Dresdner Bank AG was one of Germany's largest banking corporations and was based in Frankfurt. It was acquired by competitor Commerzbank in December 2009.- 19th century :...	7 years' imprisonment incl. time already served
Paul Körner		Secretary of State, deputy of Göring Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring, was a German politician, military leader, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. He was a veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, and a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "The Blue Max"... .	15 years' imprisonment; reduced to 10 years in 1951; released the same year.
Paul Pleiger Paul Pleiger Paul Pleiger was a German state adviser and corporate general director....		Head of the Hermann-Göring-Werke (confiscated steel plants employing slave laborers)	15 years' imprisonment; reduced to 10 years in 1951; released the same year.
Hans Kehrl		Secretary in the Ministry of Armament; head of the planning office	15 years' imprisonment; released in 1951

Stuckart was tried again in 1950 before a denazification

Denazification

Denazification was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of any remnants of the National Socialist ideology. It was carried out specifically by removing those involved from positions of influence and by disbanding or rendering...

 court and sentenced as a Mitläufer (follower) a fine of DM 50,000.

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