Von Ribbentrop: Escape and arrest - a dark chapter in history

Von Ribbentrop: Escape and arrest - a dark chapter in history

June 14, 2025 marks the anniversary of a significant turning point in world history. Exactly 80 years ago, on June 14, 1945, Joachim von Ribbentrop, the then Reich Foreign Minister, was arrested. Born on April 30, 1893 in Wesel, Ribbentrop left an indelible mark as a Nazi politician that is still being discussed today. After his successful involvement in the First World War, he opened a wine trading company in 1919 before joining the NSDAP and quickly gaining favor with Adolf Hitler. This connection ensured that Ribbentrop was subsequently appointed to many influential positions and ultimately served as Reich Foreign Minister in 1938, which gave him a central role in National Socialist foreign policy. NDR reports that historian Lu Seegers classified him as ideologically close to Hitler and as being partly responsible for the policy of aggression and extermination.

But how did his arrest come about? At the end of the war in 1945, Ribbentrop planned his escape from Berlin. He was in the situation when he had considerable assets transported to Schleswig-Holstein in the form of gold bars, which were later valued at five million Reichsmarks. He also had two wagons with valuable cognac sent to Hamburg. Ribbentrop wanted to use these goods to finance his escape to South America by escaping to Flensburg via the so-called “Rat Line North”. However, he was betrayed on June 14, 1945 by the son of an acquaintance who contacted the British military police.

Ribbentrop: The path to arrest

On the day in question, Ribbentrop was finally arrested in Hamburg by the British military police and the British secret service. Interestingly, he had a poison capsule with him when he was arrested, but he refrained from taking it. To confirm his identity, a fake meeting with his sister Ingeborg was arranged, giving officers additional security. On October 1, 1946, he was found guilty in the Nuremberg trial of the main war criminals. His punishment: death by hanging, which was carried out on October 16, 1946. After the execution, Ribbentrop's body was cremated and the ashes scattered in the Wenzbach, ominously linking his end to a symbol of decay. Wikipedia explains that Ribbentrop not only appeared as one of the 24 defendants before the Nuremberg tribunal, but also as one of the few who showed no remorse during the proceedings.

A life between ups and downs

Looking back, Ribbentrop was more than a minister. Already in his youth, he was influenced by numerous countries and cultures: his family lived in Kassel and Metz, and he learned the French language. The family later moved to Switzerland, where Josef received private lessons and even studied in England. After moving to Canada, he was active in sports and was even a member of the Canadian national ice hockey team before becoming a war volunteer in 1914. These varied experiences contributed to his complex personality, which eventually revealed itself in a rejection of moral values ​​and an unimpressed, power-hungry behavior.

So what remains of Joachim von Ribbentrop is not only the memory of his role in the NSDAP and the regime's atrocities, but also the constant confrontation with the consequences of his actions. Including the great responsibility he bore and the way in which, until the end of his days, he didn't seem to recognize the harm he caused. Wikipedia emphasizes that the underlings of the Reich Foreign Minister were partly responsible for many terrible political decisions, and his story remains a cautionary tale about the abuse of power and the fall of man from his self-created height.