Editing Nuremberg trials (section)

===Defendants===
{{main|List of defendants at the International Military Tribunal}}
[[File:Defendants in the dock at nuremberg trials.jpg|thumb|The defendants in the dock]]

Some of the most prominent Nazis—[[Adolf Hitler]], [[Heinrich Himmler]], and [[Joseph Goebbels]]—had committed suicide and therefore could not be tried.{{sfn|Weinke|2006|p=27}}{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=81}} The prosecutors wanted to try representative leaders of German politics, economy, and military.{{sfn|Weinke|2006|pp=28–29}} Most of the defendants had surrendered to the United States or United Kingdom.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=81–82}}{{sfn|Hirsch|2020|p=74}}

The defendants, who were largely unrepentant,{{sfn|Hirsch|2020|p=5}} included former cabinet ministers: [[Franz von Papen]] (who had [[Adolf Hitler's rise to power|brought Hitler to power]]), [[Joachim von Ribbentrop]] ([[Reich Foreign Ministry|foreign minister]]), [[Konstantin von Neurath]] ([[Reich Foreign Ministry|foreign minister]]),  [[Wilhelm Frick]] ([[Reich Interior Ministry|interior minister]]), and [[Alfred Rosenberg]] (minister for the occupied eastern territories).{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=81}} Also prosecuted were leaders of the German economy, such as [[Gustav Krupp]] (of the conglomerate [[Krupp AG]]), former [[Reichsbank]] president [[Hjalmar Schacht]], and economic planners [[Albert Speer]] and [[Walther Funk]], along with Speer's subordinate and head of the [[forced labor in Nazi Germany|forced labor program]], [[Fritz Sauckel]].{{sfn|Hirsch|2020|p=76}}{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=82, 139}} While the British were skeptical of prosecuting economic leaders, the French had a strong interest in highlighting German economic imperialism.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=82}}  The military leaders were [[Hermann Göring]]—the most infamous surviving Nazi and the main target of the trial{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=81}}—[[Wilhelm Keitel]], [[Alfred Jodl]], [[Erich Raeder]], and [[Karl Dönitz]].{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=82}} Also on trial were propagandists [[Julius Streicher]] and [[Hans Fritzsche]]; [[Rudolf Hess]], Hitler's deputy who had flown to Britain in 1941; [[Hans Frank]], governor-general of the [[General Governorate]] of Poland; [[Hitler Youth]] leader [[Baldur von Schirach]]; [[Arthur Seyss-Inquart]], [[Reichskommissariat Niederlande|Reich Commissioner for the Netherlands]]; and [[Ernst Kaltenbrunner]], the leader of Himmler's [[Reich Security Main Office]].{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=82, 127}} Observers of the trial found the defendants mediocre and contemptible.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=121–122}}

Although the list of defendants was finalized on 29 August,{{sfn|Weinke|2006|p=29}} as late as October, Jackson demanded the addition of new names, but this was rejected.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=83–84}} Of the 24 men indicted, [[Martin Bormann]] was [[tried in absentia|tried ''in absentia'']], as the Allies were unaware of his death; Krupp was too ill to stand trial; and [[Robert Ley]] had committed suicide before the start of the trial.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=83, 106, 133}} Former Nazis were allowed to serve as counsel{{sfn|Priemel|2016|p=91}} and by mid-November all defendants had lawyers. The defendants' lawyers jointly appealed to the court, claiming it did not have jurisdiction against the accused; but this motion was rejected. The defense lawyers saw themselves as acting on behalf of their clients, but also the German nation.{{sfn|Priemel|2016|pp=92–93}} All the defendants entered "not guilty" pleas except for Hess, who refused to enter a plea at all, and Kaltenbrunner, who was hospitalized and unable to attend the early weeks of the proceedings; von Neurath also gave an ambiguous response that could have been interpreted either as his pleading "not guilty" or refusing to enter a plea. "Not guilty" pleas were therefore entered on their behalf, as well as that of Bormann, and no-one pleaded otherwise at any point in the trial.<ref>{{cite web |title=Transcript for IMT: Trial of Major War Criminals |url=https://nuremberg.law.harvard.edu/transcripts/7-transcript-for-imt-trial-of-major-war-criminals?seq=97 |website=HSL Nuremberg Trials Project |publisher=Harvard Law School |access-date=19 January 2025}}</ref>

Initially, the Americans had planned to try fourteen organizations and their leaders, but this was narrowed to six: the [[Hitler cabinet|Reich Cabinet]], the Leadership Corps of the [[Nazi Party]], the [[Gestapo]], the [[Nazi SA|SA]], the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] and the [[Sicherheitsdienst|SD]], and the [[Generalstab|General Staff]] and [[Oberkommando der Wehrmacht|High Command]] of the [[Wehrmacht|German military]] (Wehrmacht).{{sfn|Weinke|2006|pp=27–28}}{{sfn|Tomuschat|2006|p=841}} The aim was to have these organizations declared criminal, so that their members could be tried expeditiously for membership in a criminal organization.{{sfn|Tomuschat|2006|p=841}} Senior American officials believed that convicting organizations was a good way of showing that not just the top German leaders were responsible for crimes, without condemning the entire German people.{{sfn|Hirsch|2020|p=205}}