Ernst von Weizsäcker

Ernst Heinrich Freiherr von Weizsäcker (25 May 1882 – 4 August 1951) was a German naval officer, diplomat, politician and convicted war criminal. He served as State Secretary at the Foreign Office of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1943, and as its ambassador to the Holy See from 1943 to 1945. He was a member of the prominent Weizsäcker family, and the father of German President Richard von Weizsäcker and physicist and philosopher Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker.

In 1949, as part of the Ministries Trial, Weizsäcker was found guilty of crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, and sentenced to 7 years in prison, although the same year, the sentence was reduced to 5 years after his conviction for crimes against peace was overturned.