High Command Trial

The High Command Trial
Walter Warlimont in the defendants dock of the High Command Case at Nuernberg
Court	Nuremberg
Full case name	The United States of America vs. Wilhelm von Leeb, et al
Indictment	November 28, 1947
Decided	October 28, 1948, Nuremberg

The High Command Trial (officially, The United States of America vs. Wilhelm von Leeb, et al), also known initially as Case No. 12 (the 13 Generals' trial), and later as Case No. 72 (the German high command trial: Trial of Wilhelm von Leeb and thirteen others), was the last of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone of Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S. military courts, not before the International Military Tribunal, but took place in the same rooms at the Palace of Justice. The twelve U.S. trials are collectively known as the "Subsequent Nuremberg Trials" or, more formally, as the "Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals" (NMT).

The accused in this trial were high-ranking generals of the German Wehrmacht (including a field marshal and a former Admiral); some of them had been members of the High Command of Nazi Germany's military forces. They were charged with having participated in or planned or facilitated the execution of the numerous war crimes and atrocities committed in countries occupied by the German forces during the war.

The judges in this case, heard before Military Tribunal V-A, were the American John C. Young (presiding judge), Winfield B. Hale, and Justin W. Harding. The Chief of Counsel for the Prosecution was Telford Taylor. The indictment was filed on November 28, 1947; the trial lasted from December 30 that year until October 28, 1948. Of the 14 defendants indicted, two were acquitted on all counts. Johannes Blaskowitz committed suicide during the trial. The remaining defendants received prison sentences ranging from three years including time served to lifetime imprisonment.