The
Krupp Trial (or officially,
The United States of America vs. Alfried Krupp, et al.) was the tenth of twelve trials for
war crime.War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war"; including "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of hostages, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns...
s that
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
authorities held in their occupation zone at
NurembergThe Nuremberg trials were a series of trials, or tribunals, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after its defeat in World War II....
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
after the end of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
These twelve trials were all held before U.S. military courts, not before the International Military Tribunal, but took place in the same rooms at the Palace of Justice.
The
Krupp Trial (or officially,
The United States of America vs. Alfried Krupp, et al.) was the tenth of twelve trials for
war crime.War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war"; including "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of hostages, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns...
s that
U.S.The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
authorities held in their occupation zone at
NurembergThe Nuremberg trials were a series of trials, or tribunals, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after its defeat in World War II....
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
after the end of
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
These twelve trials were all held before U.S. military courts, not before the International Military Tribunal, but took place in the same rooms at the Palace of Justice. The twelve U.S. trials are collectively known as the "
Subsequent Nuremberg TrialsThe Subsequent Nuremberg Trials were a series of twelve U.S...
" or, more formally, as the "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" (NMT). The Krupp Trial was the third of three trials of German industrialists; the other two were the
Flick TrialThe United States of America vs. Friedrich Flick, et al. or the Flick Trial was the fifth of twelve Nazi war crimes trials held by U.S. authorities in their occupation zone Germany after World War II...
and the
IG Farben TrialThe United States of America vs. Carl Krauch, et al., also known as the IG Farben Trial, was the sixth of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany after the end of World War II....
.
In the Krupp Trial, twelve former directors of the
KruppThe Krupp family, a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
Group were accused of having enabled the armament of the German military forces and thus having actively participated in the
NazisNazism, known officially in German as National Socialism , is the totalitarian ideology and practices of the Nazi Party or National Socialist German Workers’ Party under Adolf Hitler, and the policies adopted by the dictatorial government of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945.Nazism is often considered...
' preparations for an aggressive war, and also for having used slave laborers in their companies. The main defendant was Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, CEO of the Krupp Holding since 1943 and son of Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach who had been a defendant in the main
Trial of the Major War CriminalsThe Nuremberg trials were a series of trials, or tribunals, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after its defeat in World War II....
before the IMT (where he was considered medically unfit for trial).
The judges in this case, heard before Military Tribunal III-A, were Hu C. Anderson (presiding judge), president of the
court of appealsThe Tennessee Court of Appeals was created in 1925 by the Tennessee General Assembly as an intermediate appellate court to hear appeals in civil cases from the Tennessee state trial courts...
of
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
, Edward J. Daly from
ConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and New York to the west and south ....
, and
William J. WilkinsWilliam J. Wilkins was a Washington State lawyer and the last surviving judge of the post-World War II Nuremberg trials that convicted many Nazis of war crimes....
from
Seattle, WashingtonSeattle is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Situated in the western part of Washington State on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes...
. The Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution was
Telford TaylorTelford Taylor was an American lawyer best known for his role in the Counsel for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials after World War II, his opposition to Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s, and his outspoken criticism of U.S...
; the Chief Trial Counsel was H. Russell Thayer, and
Benjamin B. FerenczBenjamin Berell' Ferencz is an American lawyer. He was an investigator of Nazi war crimes after World War II and the Chief Prosecutor for the United States Army at the Einsatzgruppen Trial, one of the twelve military trials held by the U.S. authorities at Nuremberg, Germany...
participated as a Special Counsel. The
indictmentIn the common law legal system, an indictment is a formal accusation that a person has committed a criminal offence. In those jurisdictions which retain the concept of a felony, the serious criminal offence would be a felony; those jurisdictions which have abolished the concept of a felony often...
was presented on November 17, 1947; the trial lasted from December 8, 1947 until July 31, 1948. One defendant (Pfirsch) was acquitted, the others received prison sentences between three and twelve years, and the main defendant Alfried Krupp was ordered to sell all his possessions.
The main defendant Alfried Krupp always denied any guilt. In 1947, he stated:
- "Die Wirtschaft brauchte eine ruhige oder aufwärts steigende Entwicklung. Infolge des Kampfes zwischen den vielen deutschen Parteien und der Unordnung gab es keine Möglichkeit für aufbauende Tätigkeit. ... Wir hatten den Eindruck, daß Hitler uns solch eine gesunde Entwicklung bescheren würde. Tatsächlich hat er das getan. ... Wir Kruppianer haben uns nie viel um Ideen gekümmert. Wir wollten nur ein System, das gut funktionierte und das uns eine Gelegenheit gab, ungestört zu arbeiten. Politik ist nicht unsere Sache." —Alfried Krupp, in Golo Mann
Golo Mann , born Angelus Gottfried Thomas Mann, was a popular German historian, essayist and writer. He was the third child of the novelist Thomas Mann and his wife Katia Mann.-Life:...
's manuscript first published in .
-
- "The economy needed a steady or growing development. Because of the rivalries between the many political parties in Germany and the general disorder there was no opportunity for prosperity. ... We thought that Hitler would give us such a healthy environment. Indeed he did do that. ... We Krupps never cared much about [political] ideas. We only wanted a system that worked well and allowed us to work unhindered. Politics is not our business."
Indeed the Krupp holding did flourish under the Nazi regime. According to conservative estimates, the Krupp enterprises used nearly 100,000 persons
in the forced labor programmeUse of forced labour in Nazi Germany during World War II occurred on a large scale. It was an important part of the German economic exploitation of conquered territories; it also contributed to the extermination of populations of German–occupied Europe...
, about 23,000 (23%) of these were prisoners of war.
Indictment
- Crimes against peace by participating in the planning and waging of wars of aggression and wars in violation of international treaties;
- Crimes against humanity by participating in the plundering, devastation, and exploitation of occupied countries;
- Crimes against humanity by participating in the murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, and use for slave labor of civilians who came under German control, German nationals, and prisoners of war;
- Participating in a common plan or conspiracy to commit crimes against peace.
All defendants were charged under counts 1, 3, and 4; count 2 excluded the defendants Lehmann and Kupke. Counts 1 and 4 were soon dropped due to lack of evidence.
Defendants
| Name |
Function |
Sentence |
| Alfried Krupp Alfried Felix Alwyn Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach , often referred to as Alfried Krupp, was a convicted war criminal, as well as one of the most preeminent industrialists of the 20th century, a member of the 400-year old Krupp dynasty of industrialists in Germany, and head of the Krupp company, once...
|
owner and CEO |
12 years plus forfeiture of property; released 1951; died 1967 |
| Ewald Oskar Ludwig Löser Ewald Oskar Ludwig Loeser was a German lawyer, a board member of Krupp AG and a member of the resistance to Nazism....
|
former CFO |
7 years; served sentence and released 1955; died 1970 |
| Eduard Houdremont |
director, head of steel works |
10 years; died 1958 |
| Erich Müller |
director, head of arms fabrication |
12 years; died 1963 |
| Friedrich Wilhelm Janssen |
CFO, successor to Löser |
10 years |
| Karl Heinrich Pfirsch |
former head of sales department |
found not guilty: acquitted and released |
| Max Otto Ihn |
Personnel and intelligence, deputy to Löser and Janssen |
9 years |
| Karl Adolf Ferdinand Eberhardt |
head of sales, successor of Pfirsch |
9 years |
| Heinrich Leo Korschan |
deputy head of steel plants |
6 years |
| Friedrich von Bülow |
counterintelligence, public relations, and head of the plant police (Werkschutz) |
12 years; died 1984 |
| Werner Wilhelm Heinrich Lehmann |
"labor procurement", deputy to Ihn |
6 years |
| Hans Albert Gustav Kupke |
head of workers' camps |
2 years and 10 months |
All eleven defendants found guilty were convicted on the forced labor charge (count 3), and of the ten charged on count 2 (economic spoliation), six were convicted. On January 31, 1951, two and a half years after the sentences, ten (all except Löser) were released from prison. Since no buyer for the Krupp Holding had been found, Alfried Krupp resumed control of the firm in 1953.