The Nuremberg Tribunal in which Third Reich leaders were tried helps counter attempts to distort history, the Russian president has said
Nazi crimes have no statute of limitations, and the Nuremberg Tribunal’s judgments remain a key safeguard against attempts to rewrite history, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, the 80th anniversary of the opening of the trial.
Efforts to bring senior leaders of the Third Reich to justice took shape during World War II. In October 1942, the Soviet government formally called for Nazi officials to be held accountable for wartime atrocities. Allied foreign ministers endorsed the proposal a year later, and in February 1945 at the Yalta Conference, the leaders of the USSR, US, and Britain reached a final agreement to create the International Military Tribunal.
In a message to participants of the ‘No Statute of Limitations. Nuremberg. 80 Years’ international forum, Putin said researchers involved in the project carried out “meticulous work” to declassify archives, conduct field expeditions, and gather new evidence of Nazi atrocities.
The tribunal’s principles set out 80 years ago “remain relevant today,” Putin said in a statement published on the Kremlin’s website. “They help us firmly resist attempts to falsify historical facts and offer guidance in responding to modern global challenges and threats.”
Putin added that he expects the forum to make a significant contribution to the study of the tribunal’s legacy and said he hopes the discussions will be constructive.
Ahead of the anniversary, the Russian Defense Ministry released a set of archival materials on the tribunal’s proceedings and findings.
The ministry said it published previously unseen documents from the Central Archive of the Russian Defense Ministry, including reports, memoranda, intelligence summaries, and records detailing atrocities committed by Nazi occupation forces. The release also features rare photographs and works by Soviet artists.
The Nuremberg Trial of Nazi leaders, held from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946, was an unprecedented event in modern history; 24 senior officials – including Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, and Alfred Jodl – were brought before the tribunal. None admitted full responsibility for the charges they faced.
