Joachim von Ribbentrop's execution

Joachim von Ribbentrop's execution marked the first hanging of a condemned Nazi at Nuremberg. His place in the postwar reckoning followed a career at the center of Adolf Hitler’s foreign policy, including the 1939 pact that helped open the way for World War Two.

Background and Role

Ribbentrop served as Adolf Hitler’s chief foreign-policy adviser in 1933 and as minister for foreign affairs from 1938 to 1945. In 1939, he and the Soviet foreign minister signed a non-aggression pact that included a secret agreement to partition Poland. The pact opened the way for World War Two, linking Ribbentrop’s diplomatic role to the conflict for which he was later tried.

Trial and Execution

At Nuremberg, Ribbentrop was found guilty of war crimes. On October 16, 1946, he was hanged, becoming the first of the condemned Nazis to be executed. The recorded date and sequence place his death at the beginning of the executions of the Nuremberg defendants.

Significance

The execution connected Ribbentrop’s wartime office to the postwar judgment of Nazi leaders: the foreign minister whose diplomacy had helped clear the path to war was convicted of war crimes and put to death. His precedence among the condemned made his hanging a distinct opening event in the executions that followed the Nuremberg trials.