Joachim von Ribbentrop

The judgment criticised him, in particular, for a meeting concerning the lynching of Allied airmen and attempts to conceal a plan to murder a French general held prisoner. At Nuremberg, he was found guilty of conspiracy, crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and hanged on 16 October 1946.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Accused

Following his appointment to the ministry, Ribbentrop increased Nazi representation and headed an apparatus that disseminated antisemitic propaganda, coordinated policies towards Jews abroad and worked with the RSHA and Eichmann through a “Jewish desk”.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The Nuremberg judgment found that in September 1942 Ribbentrop ordered German representatives in satellite states to accelerate deportations; he also protested to Mussolini about Italy's delay in handing over Jews from occupied zones.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Personally implicated

During a conference with Hitler and Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy, Ribbentrop stated that Jews had to be exterminated or sent to concentration camps, according to the Tribunal's judgment.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Directly implicated

Ribbentrop was informed of or participated in political preparations for several successive acts of aggression, while his ministry produced diplomatic justifications and sought to secure the alignment of allied or satellite states.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility

Ribbentrop maintained tensions with the Sudeten German party, sought regional support and participated in pressure that led first to Munich and then to the occupation of the rest of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility

Ribbentrop signed the German–Soviet non-aggression pact in Moscow and its secret protocol defining spheres of influence concerning, in particular, Poland, the Baltic states, Finland and Bessarabia.

State of the evidence

Documented

The Tribunal found that Ribbentrop played a particularly important role in the diplomatic activity preceding the attack on Poland and negotiated with London while knowing that the attack plan had only been temporarily postponed.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility

Ribbentrop participated in the Berchtesgaden conference where Austria was threatened, subsequently relayed to London an account denying the German ultimatum and signed the law incorporating Austria into the Reich on 13 March.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

Political responsibility