## Facts

- After World War II, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Soviet Union created the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at Nuremberg under the London Charter to prosecute major Nazi leaders.
- Hermann Wilhelm Goering (defendant) and other Nazi leaders conspired to take over Germany and to launch attacks on other countries.
- During Goering’s rise and the Nazi consolidation of power, many civilians were murdered or otherwise mistreated, including political opponents and others targeted by the regime.
- The Nazi leadership eliminated organized political opposition and resistance through repression and violence and used state power to reshape German society, including education.
- As part of consolidating Nazi control and preparing for expansion, the leadership attacked international limits on German rearmament and military action, including the Treaty of Versailles.
- The prosecution evidence described planning for military aggression and the use of falsehoods to justify territorial expansion and armed attacks.
- The record also described policies directed at the Jewish people, including plans and measures aimed at their destruction, along with related deprivation, dispossession, deportation, and killing.
- After the war, Goering was charged with crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity based on his leadership role and participation in these actions.

## Issues

1. Whether Goering could be held individually criminally responsible under international law for joining and furthering a conspiracy to seize power and wage aggressive war.
2. Whether Goering’s leadership role supported liability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in connection with Nazi military aggression and occupation policies.
3. Whether Goering’s official position, or claims of acting under orders or state authority, barred criminal responsibility.

## Decision

- The IMT convicted Goering on charges tied to a common plan (conspiracy) and the planning and waging of aggressive war, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- The Tribunal treated aggressive war as a punishable offense under international law and held that individuals who plan, initiate, or carry out such wars may be convicted.
- The Tribunal attributed responsibility to Goering based on his senior status and his active participation in building and directing the state and party machinery used for rearmament, aggression, and repression.
- The Tribunal found that the wartime atrocities described in the record, including persecution and mass violence against civilians, could support convictions for war crimes and crimes against humanity when connected to the armed conflicts and related occupation measures.
- The Tribunal rejected claims that rank or official position provided immunity and did not accept obedience to orders as a complete defense; at most, such considerations could affect punishment.
- Goering was sentenced to death.

## Legal Principles

- International law imposes criminal liability on individuals, not only on states, for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
- Participation in a common plan can support liability when a defendant knowingly joins and assists a program of aggressive war and related unlawful acts.
- Planning, preparing, initiating, or waging a war of aggression in violation of international obligations is punishable, and senior political or military leaders may be liable when they help direct that course of conduct.
- War crimes and crimes against humanity may be established by proof of widespread or serious mistreatment of civilians, including persecution, deportation, and killing, committed in connection with armed conflict and occupation.
- Official position does not immunize a defendant from prosecution for international crimes; superior orders do not automatically excuse unlawful conduct and may be considered, if at all, only in sentencing.

## Conclusion

United States v. Goering, 20 Temple L.Q. 168 (1946), reflects the IMT’s determination that Goering’s role in the Nazi conspiracy to seize and hold power, prepare Germany for war, and carry out aggression and associated atrocities supported convictions for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and that neither official rank nor asserted obedience to authority barred individual criminal responsibility.
