The main Nuremberg Trial of 22 leading Nazi officials was held in Nuremberg. The International Military Tribunal opened on 20 November 1945 and delivered its judgments on 1 October 1946. The defendants included senior Nazi leaders such as Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Rudolf Hess.
The trial charged individuals with crimes against peace, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conspiracy. It established the important principle that government officials could be held personally responsible for international crimes. Twelve defendants received death sentences, while others received prison terms or were acquitted.
Nuremberg was chosen partly because its Palace of Justice had survived the war and offered a large courtroom with an adjoining prison. The city also carried powerful symbolic importance because the Nazi Party had held major rallies there and enacted the Nuremberg Laws there in 1935.
The later Nuremberg proceedings involved additional trials of doctors, judges, industrialists, and other officials. They were separate from the first International Military Tribunal.