Editing Ernst Kaltenbrunner (section)

=== Nuremberg trials ===
[[File:War criminal, SS Lieutenant General Ernst Kaltenbrunner (2).jpg|thumb|Kaltenbrunner testifying as a witness on his own behalf at the International Military Tribunal.]]

At the [[Nuremberg trials]], Kaltenbrunner was charged with conspiracy to commit [[crimes against peace]], [[war crime]]s and [[crimes against humanity]].{{sfn|Snyder|1976|p=190}} Due to the areas over which he exercised responsibility as an SS general and as chief of the RSHA, he was acquitted of crimes against peace, but held responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.{{sfn|Marrus|1997|pp=64–70}}
[[File:Ernst Kaltenbrunner.jpg|right|thumb|Kaltenbrunner wheeled into court during the Nuremberg trials after a brain hemorrhage during interrogation.]]

During the initial stages of the Nuremberg trials, Kaltenbrunner was absent because of two episodes of [[subarachnoid hemorrhage]], which required several weeks of recovery time.{{sfn|Conot|2000|pp=95–96}}  He was examined by Chief Medical Officer [[Rene Juchli|Lt. Col. Rene Juchli]] who reported that Kaltenbrunner was suffering from gallstones.{{sfn|''Los Angeles Times'', October 1945}}  After his health improved, the tribunal denied his request for pardon. When he was released from a military hospital he pleaded not guilty to the charges of the indictment against him. Kaltenbrunner said all decrees and legal documents that bore his signature were "[[Rubber stamp (politics)|rubber-stamped]]" and filed by his adjutant(s). He also said Gestapo Chief [[Heinrich Müller (Gestapo)|Heinrich Müller]] had illegally affixed his signature to numerous documents in question.{{sfn|Conot|2000|pp=367–368}}

Kaltenbrunner argued in his defence that his position as RSHA chief existed only theoretically and said he was only active in matters of espionage and intelligence. He maintained that Himmler, as his superior, was the person culpable for the atrocities committed during his tenure as chief of the RSHA. Kaltenbrunner also asserted that he had no knowledge of the [[Final Solution]] before 1943 and went on to claim that he protested against the ill-treatment of the Jews to Himmler and Hitler.{{sfn|Marrus|1997|p=214}} Further denials from Kaltenbrunner included statements that he knew nothing of the [[Commissar Order]] and that he never visited [[Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp|Mauthausen concentration camp]], despite documentation of his visit.{{sfn|Conot|2000|pp=364–365}} At one point, Kaltenbrunner went so far as to avow that ''he'' was responsible for bringing the [[Final Solution]] to an end.{{sfn|Conot|2000|p=370}} In response to his denials, people in the courtroom laughed.{{sfn|''JTA Daily'', 1946}}

==== Conviction and execution ====
On 30 September 1946, the [[International Military Tribunal]] (IMT) found Kaltenbrunner not guilty of crimes against peace, but guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity (counts three and four). On 1 October 1946, the IMT sentenced him to death by hanging.{{sfn|Marrus|1997|p=237}}
[[File:Dead ernstkaltenbrunner.jpg|thumb|Kaltenbrunner's body after execution by hanging on 16 October 1946]]
Kaltenbrunner was [[Nuremberg executions|executed]] on 16 October 1946, around 1:15&nbsp;am, in Nuremberg. His body, like those of the other nine executed men and that of [[Hermann Göring]] (who committed suicide the previous day), was cremated at the [[Ostfriedhof (Munich)|Eastern Cemetery]] in [[Munich]] and the ashes were scattered in a tributary of the River [[Isar]].{{sfn|Manvell|Fraenkel|2011|p=393}}{{sfn|Darnstädt|2005}}