Joachim von Ribbentrop was born in the town of Wesel in the Rhineland in 1893 and was educated in France and the UK. He served in the German army during the First World War and later gained a considerable fortune in the role of wine merchant. In 1921 he joined the National Socialist movement of Adolf Hitler. He was ambassador to the United Kingdom (1936-1938) and was foreign minister (1938-1945). Ribbentrop negotiated the system of alliances between Germany, Italy and Japan have been known for Axis Rome-Berlin-Tokyo, as well as the non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union on August 24, 1939 (Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, with the which the two countries have shared among themselves the Polish territory). It also helped plan and execute the expansion program of Germany, related to the annexation of Austria, Czechoslovakia and the culmination of World War II.
In 1945, after the surrender of Nazi prison, started to write his memoirs, which reaffirmed the belief in the rights of territorial conquests of Germany. At the Nuremberg trial, Ribbentrop did not admit the war crimes committed by the Nazis. I assure you that we are all appalled by these persecutions and atrocities. This simply is not characteristic of Germans! Can you imagine that I could kill someone? Tell me honestly, some of us looks like a killer? Said. But his testimony did not convince the jury. Ribbentrop was sentenced to death and executed in 1946.
The english version of this article will be available soon. In the meanwhile, the text above was the result of a Google translation from portuguese version to english.
