Iola Timofeevich (I.T.) Nikitchenko was a high-ranking judge in the Soviet Union who served on the International Military Tribunal (IMT) that presided over the trial of 24 Nazi leaders after World War II. Nikitchenko, who served on the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union before and after the Nuremberg trials, was praised for his conduct during the proceedings.

Nikitchenko, who earned the rank of general, first came to international attention in August 1936 when he served as a judge at the infamous Moscow trial of Soviet government officials Zinoviev and Kamenev. The trials of these and other officials was orchestrated by the leader of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin, who wished to eliminate any possible political rival. The trials, some of which were filmed, showed men like Zinoviev and Kamenev confessing to farfetched charges of treason and collaboration with the enemies of Communism and the Soviet Union. The alacrity...