Would Field Marshal Richthofen have been tried by the Allies had he not died in captivity? Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, a senior German military officer during World War II, was not captured by the Allies, and he did not die in captivity. He survived the war and was taken into custody by British forces after Germany’s surrender in 1945. If he had not died in captivity, it is likely that he would have been subject to Allied investigations and potential war crimes trials.
The Allies established the International Military Tribunal (IMT) to prosecute major war criminals from the European Axis powers after World War II. The IMT conducted the famous Nuremberg Trials, where top Nazi officials were tried for crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Richthofen was a key figure in the German military, particularly as the commander of the Luftwaffe’s (German Air Force) air fleet in the later stages of the war. As such, he might have been a candidate for prosecution if he had survived the conflict. The charges against individuals in the Nuremberg Trials included crimes related to aggressive war, atrocities committed during the war, and involvement in the planning and execution of war crimes. Whether Richthofen would have been found guilty or not would have depended on the evidence presented during any potential trial.
