CBS

Georg Neithardt was born in Nuremberg in 1871, the son of a wholesale merchant. He became a judge in Munich in 1919. In 1924, Hitler was brought before him for an attempted "putsch" or coup d'etat against the Bavarian government. Though Hitler was accused of high treason against the state, Hitler was tried in the local people's court, over which Neithardt presided. The Bavarian judge's laissez-faire style provided Hitler with a forum for his political views, which allowed the accused to control much of the proceedings. By the end of the trial, Hitler had gone from a man condemned to a man celebrated, having convinced the court that he had acted with only altruistic intentions for the good of Germany. Neithardt sentenced Hitler to the mildest punishment possible under the law: five years in Landsberg prison. Furthermore, the court recognized the time Hitler had already served and proclaimed the defendant eligible for parole in nine months.