The Nuremberg chief prosecutor Robert H. Jackson considered Krupp to be a central case of crimes committed by industrialists in association with National Socialism:
“Four generations of the Krupp family have owned and operated the great armament and munitions plants which have been the chief source of Germany’s war supplies. For over 130 years this family has been the focus, the symbol, and the beneficiary of the most sinister forces engaged in menacing the peace of Europe.”