In a sham trial, guilt is a foregone conclusion. In addition to Hans Fritzsche, Franz von Papen, and Hjalmar Schacht in Nuremberg, over 1,000 Japanese defendan

In a sham trial, guilt is a foregone conclusion. In addition to Hans Fritzsche, Franz von Papen, and Hjalmar Schacht in Nuremberg, over 1,000 Japanese defendants were acquitted of war crimes in postwar trials. Sure, Göring was sentenced to death by hanging, but he conspired to steal Jewish property after Kristallnacht and there was clear evidence he was complicit in the attempted extermination of the Hungarian Jews. So, yeah, didn't go well for him. Contrast that though with the higher ranking Dönitz, effectively head of state. His defense actually worked fairly well, and he received a lighter sentence. On charges that he sunk neutral vessels, his defense countered that the US had done the same, so he received no additional jail time. On charges that he waged unrestricted warfare against British merchants, he received a "not guilty" as his defense argued that the merchants had all supported the war effort. He claimed that he didn't know anything about the policy in the camps, since he was only involved with naval matters. He was the final head of a genocidal state, and received just a 10 year sentence, lighter than some murderers get. EDIT: I think you're right that there are mitigating factors when people are acting under orders (especially given the behavior in question falls well short of genocide), but I don't think the Nuremberg trials were a sham trial.