On October 16, 1946, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop was sentenced to death by hanging at the Nuremberg Trials for his role in preparing a war of aggression and was executed. To this day, his role in the Third Reich is generally viewed negatively; as ambassador in London, he allegedly advised Hitler that England would not fight in the event of a conflict. The author, the eldest son of Joachim von Ribbentrop and himself an officer deployed on all fronts during World War II, depicts his father from personal experience in this historical work, particularly based on family conversations during the 1930s. Why did this quite successful businessman first make himself available to Adolf Hitler as a special envoy for foreign policy, then as ambassador, and finally as minister? Rudolf vo.