The Nuremberg trials were held from November 20, 1945, to April 1949. The opening and best-known proceeding, the International Military Tribunal trial of major war criminals, ran from November 20, 1945, to October 1, 1946. Twelve additional trials followed under U.S. military authority in the same Palace of Justice, with the final judgment delivered in April 1949.
The Main Trial: November 1945 to October 1946
The International Military Tribunal opened in Courtroom 600 of the Nuremberg Palace of Justice on November 20, 1945, with twenty-one defendants present.1The National WWII Museum. The Nuremberg Trials Nuremberg was chosen because its Palace of Justice had survived the war largely intact and stood next to a prison that could hold the accused.
The prosecution built its case through the fall and winter of 1945–46, relying heavily on the regime’s own documents. On November 29, 1945, prosecutors screened the film “Nazi Concentration Camps,” compiled from footage shot by Allied troops during the camp liberations.2United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Film Presented as Evidence: Nazi Concentration Camps The prosecution rested in early March 1946, and the defense case ran through spring and summer. The final day of testimony was August 31, 1946, the trial’s 216th day.3The Avalon Project. Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 22 – Two Hundred and Sixteenth Day
The eight judges deliberated through September. The tribunal began reading its judgment aloud on September 30, 1946, and announced individual sentences on October 1, 1946.4Memorium Nuremberg Trials. Verdicts of the IMT Twelve defendants were sentenced to death, three to life imprisonment, four to lesser prison terms, and three were acquitted. The executions by hanging took place on October 16, 1946, in the gymnasium on the Nuremberg Prison grounds.
Why the Trial Started When It Did
The proceedings could not begin until the Allies had agreed on the legal machinery. On August 8, 1945, the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Soviet Union signed the London Agreement, which created the International Military Tribunal and defined the crimes it could prosecute.5The Avalon Project. London Agreement of August 8th 1945 The formal indictment against twenty-four individuals and several organizations was filed in Berlin on October 18, 1945, roughly a month before the trial opened.6Crime of Aggression. International Military Tribunal Nuremberg Judgment That compressed timeline — charter in August, indictment in October, trial in November — explains why the proceedings started when they did rather than immediately after Germany’s surrender in May 1945.
The Twelve Subsequent Trials: December 1946 to April 1949
Once the IMT concluded, the United States conducted twelve more trials in the same courthouse under its own military tribunal authority. These prosecutions targeted specific groups whose participation had made the regime’s crimes possible, including doctors, judges, industrialists, and senior military commanders.
The first subsequent trial, the Doctors’ Trial, opened on December 9, 1946.7United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Doctors Trial: The Medical Case of the Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings Additional trials followed through 1947:
- Milch Trial (Case 2): opened January 2, 1947
- Justice Case (Case 3): opened March 5, 19478Harvard Law School Library. The Justice Case
- Pohl Trial (Case 4): opened April 8, 1947
- Flick Trial (Case 5): opened April 19, 1947
- Hostages Trial (Case 7): opened July 15, 1947
- IG Farben Trial (Case 6): opened August 27, 19479Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. The Subsequent Nuremberg Trials: An Overview
- RuSHA Trial (Case 8): opened October 20, 194710United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings, Case 8, The RuSHA Case
- Einsatzgruppen Trial (Case 9): began in fall 1947
- Ministries Case (Case 11): opened November 1947
- Krupp Trial (Case 10): prosecution opened December 8, 194711Harvard Law School Library. Case 10: The Krupp Case
The final case to begin was the High Command Trial (Case 12), which ran from February 5, 1948, to October 28, 1948.12United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Subsequent Nuremberg Proceedings, Case 12, The High Command Case
The Ministries Case was the last to conclude. Its judgment was read in open court from April 11 to 13, 1949, closing out the Nuremberg proceedings after more than three and a half years of continuous legal activity.13Harvard Law School Library. Case 11: The Ministries Case
Timeline at a Glance
- August 8, 1945: London Agreement signed, creating the International Military Tribunal
- October 18, 1945: Indictment filed in Berlin
- November 20, 1945: Main IMT trial opens in Nuremberg
- August 31, 1946: Final day of testimony in the main trial
- September 30 – October 1, 1946: Judgment read and sentences announced
- October 16, 1946: Ten defendants executed by hanging
- December 9, 1946: First subsequent trial (Doctors’ Trial) opens
- February 5, 1948: Last subsequent trial (High Command Case) opens
- October 28, 1948: High Command Case concludes
- April 11–13, 1949: Ministries Case judgment read, ending the Nuremberg proceedings
The name “Nuremberg trials” therefore covers thirteen separate proceedings held in the same building over roughly forty-one months. When people refer to “the Nuremberg trial” in the singular, they usually mean the November 1945 to October 1946 IMT case against the major war criminals; when they refer to “the trials” in the plural, they mean the full sequence running through April 1949.