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Nuremberg trials anniversary marked

NUREMBERG, Germany, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- An observance was held in Nuremberg, Germany, Sunday to mark the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the war crimes trial of top Nazis.

Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop and 18 other high-ranking Nazis pleaded not guilty in 1945 to the new offenses of crimes against peace, waging a war of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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After 218 days, 12 were sentenced to death by judges from the United States, Soviet Union, Britain and France.

The proceedings broke new ground in holding government leaders individually responsible for their wartime actions, The Scotsman said.

On Oct. 16, the condemned men were hanged in the courthouse's adjacent prison, although Goering committed suicide by swallowing a poison pill in his cell the night before.

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