Defendants
| Name | Sentence |
|---|---|
| Josef Altstötter | 5 years, incl. time already served; released 1950; died 1979 in Nuremberg |
| Wilhelm von Ammon | 10 years, incl. time already served; released January 31 1951 by John J. McCloy; died 1992 |
| Paul Barnickel | acquitted; died 1966 in München |
| Hermann Cuhorst | acquitted; died 1991 in Kressbronn am Bodensee |
| Karl Engert | mistrial declared due to illness; died 8 September 1951 |
| Günther Joel | 10 years, incl. time already served, released January 31, 1951; time of death unknown |
| Herbert Klemm | lifetime imprisonment; commuted to 20 years released 1956. time of death unknown |
| Ernst Lautz | 10 years, incl. time already served-released January 1951; died 1979 in Lübeck |
| Wolfgang Mettgenberg | 10 years, incl. time already served; died 1950 in Landsberg Prison |
| Günther Nebelung | acquitted; died 1970 in Seesen |
| de:Rudolf Oeschey | lifetime imprisonment; commuted to 20 years released 1956; died September 12, 1980 in Neuss |
| Hans Petersen | acquitted; died in 1963 |
| Oswald Rothaug | lifetime imprisonment; commuted to 20 years and released 22 December 1956; died 1967 in Köln |
| Curt Rothenberger | 7 years, incl. time already served; released 1950. died 1959 in Hamburg |
| Franz Schlegelberger | lifetime imprisonment; released 1950 for "Health reasons"; died 1970 in Flensburg |
| Carl Westphal | committed suicide 1946 after the indictment, but before the beginning of the trial. |
The highest-ranking officials of the Nazi judicial system could not be tried: Franz Gürtner Minister of Justice died in 1941; Otto Georg Thierack, Minister of Justice since 1942, had committed suicide in 1946, and Roland Freisler, the President of the People's Court since 1942, was killed in a 1945 bombing raid on Berlin. Another who was alive but not tried was Hans Globke (died 1973).
All convicts were found guilty on all charges brought before them, except Rothaug, who was found guilty only on count 3 of the indictment, while he was found not guilty on counts 2 and 4. However, the court commented in its judgment that:
"By his manner and methods he made his court an instrumentality of terror and won the fear and hatred of the population. From the evidence of his closest associates as well as his victims, we find that Oswald Rothaug represented in Germany the personification of the secret Nazi intrigue and cruelty. He was and is a sadistic and evil man. Under any civilized judicial system he could have been impeached and removed from office or convicted of malfeasance in office on account of the scheming malevolence with which he administered injustice."
The public considered the sentences generally too low. Most of the convicts were released already in the early 1950s; some (Lautz, Rothenberger, Schlegelberger) even received retirement pensions in West Germany. The guide to German law entitled Das Recht der Gegenwart is still being published under the name Franz Schlegelberger (ISBN 3-8006-2260-2).
The Judges' Trial was the inspiration for the 1961 movie Judgment at Nuremberg, starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift, Werner Klemperer and William Shatner.
Read more about this topic: Judges' Trial