The International War Crimes Tribunal at Nuremberg begins its proceedings, bringing 24 high-ranking Nazis to account for atrocities committed during World War II. The trial, conducted by British, Soviet, American, and French judges, was unprecedented in history. On October 1, 1946, twelve architects of Nazi policy were sentenced to death. Seven others were given various prison sentences, and three were acquitted. Among those sentenced to death were Hermann Goering, head of the Gestapo and the Luftwaffe, and Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi Foreign Minister. On October 16, the condemned were hanged, with the exception of Goering, who committed suicide on the eve of his execution, and Martin Bormann, a Nazi leader who was tried in absentia (he is now believed to have died in May 1945). Trials of minor Nazi criminals continued in Germany until the 1950s.
