How many nazis were convicted of war crimes in europe from 1945-1949?

The number of Nazis convicted for war crimes in Europe from 1945 to 1949 varies depending on the scope of the legal actions considered. The most well-known trials are those that took place at Nuremberg, presided over by the International Military Tribunal (IMT). The IMT indicted 24 major political and military leaders of the Third Reich, and of these, 12 were sentenced to death, 3 were acquitted, 4 received prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life, and 3 were not tried (one of whom, Robert Ley, committed suicide before the trial began, and another, Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, was deemed unfit for trial).

Apart from the main Nuremberg Trials, there were also 12 subsequent Nuremberg Trials held by the United States authorities to bring additional Nazi war criminals to justice. These included doctors who conducted medical experiments, judges and lawyers who were involved in atrocities, and industrialists who used slave labor. Hundreds of people were tried in these subsequent trials, with varied sentences handed down.

Additionally, other countries in Europe conducted their own trials for war crimes, and the number of convictions in these trials also adds up to the total. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact number of Nazis convicted across all of Europe, as the trials took place in many different countries and jurisdictions, but estimates suggest several thousand individuals were tried and convicted by Allied military courts and postwar national courts in this period.

The trials for Nazi war criminals and the penalties they faced were designed to achieve a measure of justice for the immense atrocities and crimes committed during World War II, particularly the Holocaust. The "Nuremberg Principles," which emerged from the IMT's work, laid the foundation for international law regarding war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The Nuremberg Trials were significant in that they established the precedent that individuals and government officials could be held legally accountable for actions considered crimes against international law, regardless of whether such acts were legal under the perpetrator's domestic law at the time. This was a unique and significant moment in legal history as, prior to this, individuals often escaped liability by claiming to be following their government's orders. The trials also paved the way for the establishment of future international courts, such as the International Criminal Court (ICC).