English source-aligned edition
Ernst von Weizsäcker
Ernst von Weizsäcker served as State Secretary in the Foreign Office involved in administrative approval of Jewish deportations. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in Berlin · occupied Europe through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.
Confirmed findings
- Ernst von Weizsäcker was born in Stuttgart on 25 May 1882 and served as State Secretary in the Foreign Office from April 1938 to spring 1943, second only to the minister. (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
- The judgment records that he initialled the notice of no objection to deporting 6,000 Jews from France and added that selection was to be made by the police; the tribunal found him guilty in this respect. (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
- The Ministries Case tribunal sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment, later reduced to five; he was released in 1950. (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
Place in the chain of responsibility
The profile grounds responsibility in a specific deportation approval and his position as State Secretary; it does not automatically attribute every Foreign Office action to him. (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
Key events and mechanisms
- April 1938 – became State Secretary in the Foreign Office (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
- 20 March 1942 – approved no objection to deporting 6,000 Jews from France (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
- 1949 – judgment in the Ministries Case (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
- 1950 – released after sentence reduction (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
The circle records authority, function and agency. Several profiles may describe different parts of the same persecution chain, so profile-level totals must not be added together.
Postwar accountability
The US tribunal in the Ministries Case sentenced Weizsäcker to seven years in prison. The sentence was reduced to five years, and he was released in 1950. (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
Limits of the evidence
The tribunal acquitted him of several other allegations, including parts of the aggression case and church persecution. The profile does not extend the judgment beyond the deportation act and the sustained Count Five findings. (Source: Harvard Law School Library — Nuremberg Trials Project, HLSL seq. 28473–28476; judgment concerning the deportation of 6000 Jews from France; Source: Harvard Law School Library – Nuremberg Trials Project, Ministries Case introduction, defendants, verdicts and sentences; Source: Deutsche Biographie, biographical profile and authority data for Ernst von Weizsäcker)
Sources
The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.