The Nuremberg executions took place on October 16th, 1946, shortly after the conclusion of the Nuremberg trials.

10 prominent members of the political and military leadership of Nazi Germany were executed by hanging.

The sentences were carried out in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg prison by the United States Army using the standard drop method instead of the long drop.

The executioners were Sergeant John C.

Woods and his assistant, military police officer Joseph Malta.

Woods miscalculated the lengths of the ropes used for the executions.

Some alleging it was done intentionally, so that some of the men did not die quickly from a neck fracture, but were slowly strangled to death.

Some reports indicated that some executions took between 14 to 28 minutes.

The army denied claims that the drop length was too short or that the condemned died from strangulation instead of a neck fracture.

In addition, the trap door was too small, such that several of the condemned sustained bloody head injuries when they struck the sides of the trapoor while falling through it.

There are rumors that the bodies were taken to the Dow concentration camp for cremation, but they were actually incinerated at a crerematorium in Munich and the ashes scattered over the Esar River.

Today, we’re going to look at the main executions of Nuremberg.

Stay until the end because we’ll be going into very specific details.

Let’s start with Herman Guring.

Even though he was not actually executed, he was the second highest ranking officer to be tried at Nuremberg immediately after the president of the Reich, Carl Dunits, who had previously served as an admiral.

He faced four fundamental charges during the trial.

The charges against him included conspiracy, aggressive war, war crimes encompassing looting and theft of artwork and other property, as well as crimes against humanity, which included the disappearance of politicians and opponents, torture and neglect in the treatment of prisoners of war, murder and enslavement of civilians, including the estimated extermination of 5,700,000 Jews.

When confronted with these charges, Guring, not permitted to make a speech, declared himself not guilty of the charges presented.

Guring’s trial was a lengthy process, lasting a total of 218 days.

The prosecution presented its case between November and March, while Goring’s defense was the first to be presented, occurring between March 8th and 22nd.

The final verdicts were read on September 30th, 1946.

During the trial, Guring was forced to remain silent, but managed to communicate his opinions through gestures, nods, and laughter.

He also constantly took notes, whispered with other defendants, and tried to control the unstable behavior of Rudolph Hess, who sat beside him.

However, when he attempted to influence the testimony of other defendants, he ended up being isolated from them.

Guring also granted interviews in prison to figures such as psychiatrist Leon Golden during which he reflected on the rise of Nazism, reiterated the thesis of the inferiority of other peoples such as the Russians, and claimed to be the greatest opponent of communism in Germany.

Additionally, Captain Gustav Gilbert, an American intelligence officer and psychologist who spoke German, interviewed Goring and other prisoners during the trial.

Gilbert kept a diary later published under the title Nuremberg diary in which he described Goring on a night in April 1946 when the trial was paused for 3 days during Easter.

Goring was sweating in his cell, defensive and displeased with the direction of the trial.

He claimed he had no control over the actions or defense of the other defendants and that he was not anti-Semitic, denying the atrocities committed.

He also alleged that several Jews volunteered to testify in his favor.

During the trial, the prosecution displayed films of Nazi concentration camps and other atrocities.

These images shocked everyone, including Goring, who even claimed the films must be fake, although no one believed him.

Some witnesses, such as Paul Kerner and Hehard Milch, attempted to portray Guring’s personality as peaceful and moderate.

Milch argued that it was impossible to challenge Hitler or disobey his orders as this would result in execution or even punishment of family members.

When testifying in his own defense, Guring expressed loyalty to Hitler and claimed he had no knowledge of events in the concentration camps which were under the supervision of Hinrich Himmler.

His responses were complex and evasive with plausible excuses for all his actions during the war.

He used the witness stand to detail his own role in the Reich in an attempt to portray himself as a peacemaker and diplomat before the war began.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Robert H.

Jackson read aloud the report of a meeting that occurred shortly before the night of broken glass, a major pgram in November 1938.

In that meeting, Goring proposed the confiscation of Jewish property at the beginning of the pgram.

At the end of the trial, Goring was found guilty on all four charges and sentenced to death by hanging.

The sentence highlighted the severity of his crimes and his central leadership in many of them.

He was seen as the driving force, second only to Hitler, being the principal aggressor both politically and militarily.

The sentence stated that Guring was also responsible for the slave labor program and the oppression of Jews and other races inside and outside Germany.

Guring had admitted to most of these crimes and although there were some contradictions in his testimony, his involvement was undeniable.

The verdict concluded that there was no excuse for his actions.

However, Guring requested to be executed as a soldier rather than being hanged like a common criminal, but the court denied this request.

Defying the sentence, he committed suicide with a potassium cyanide capsule the night before his execution.

How Guring obtained the poison is shrouded in mystery with some theories suggesting he received the capsule from a US Army officer or that he obtained it through a fountain pen delivered by a woman.

After his death, his body was displayed at the execution site so that witnesses could confirm his death.

His remains were cremated and his ashes scattered in an unknown river in Germany.

Yookim von Ribbentrop, one of the defendants at the Neuremberg trials, was convicted on all four charges brought by the Allied International Military Tribunal.

His convictions included crimes against peace due to his involvement in the deliberate planning of an aggressive war as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to the trial, Ribbentrop played an active role in planning the invasion of Poland as well as in the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia.

The court also accused him of being closely involved in the implementation of the final solution and as early as 1942 of having ordered German diplomats in Axis countries to expedite the deportation of Jews to extermination camps in the east.

Additionally, the court alleged that Ribbentrop supported the lynching of Allied airmen shot down while flying over Germany and helped cover up the murder of a French general held as a prisoner of war in 1944.

Ribentrop was also held responsible for atrocities committed in Denmark and Vichi, France, as senior officials in those occupied countries reported to him.

Ribbentrop attempted to defend himself by claiming that Adolf Hitler made all the important decisions and that he himself had been deceived by Hitler’s repeated statements that he sought only peace.

However, the court rejected this claim, arguing that given Ribentrop’s deep involvement in the conduct of the war, he could not plead ignorance of the aggressive nature of Hitler’s actions.

The death sentences in Nuremberg were carried out on October 16th, 1946.

Ribbentrop was the first to be executed since Guring had committed suicide before his execution.

His last words were, “God protect Germany.

God have mercy on my soul.

My last wish is that Germany regains its unity and that there be understanding between East and West in the name of peace.

I wish peace for the world.

Ribbentrop’s remains were cremated by members of the US Army and his ashes were scattered at an unspecified location.

According to reports by historian Giles Mcdana, the execution was not efficiently carried out and the rope strangled Ribbentrop for about 20 minutes before his death.

The US Army denied allegations that the drop was too short, causing a slow death by strangulation instead of a swift death by neck fracture, which would have resulted in immediate paralysis and unconsciousness.

On May 8th, 1945, Field Marshal Wilhelm Kitle, a prominent figure in the German military command, signed Germany’s unconditional surrender to the Soviet Red Army and the Allies.

However, this historic event was followed by his arrest just 4 days later.

In the subsequent months, Kitle was brought before the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg, where he faced charges of war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against humanity.

The trial culminated in his sentencing to death on October 1st, 1946.

Alongside this sentence, Kitle together with Yodel made a unique appeal.

He requested that his execution be carried out by firing squad, arguing that this form of death was guaranteed to all soldiers in all armies of the world.

However, both requests were rejected by the authorities.

On October 16th, 1946, Wilhelm Kitle faced his sentence and was hanged.

This military leader had lost his two sons during the war and his last words spoken moments before the trap door opened were a plea to the Almighty for mercy upon the German people.

He reiterated the nationalist motto Germany above all and expressed his devotion to the homeland.

Although officially the executions in Nuremberg were described as clean, reports from the time suggest they were not always free from suffering.

In some cases, the condemned agonized for more than 15 minutes before death.

American journalists who witnessed the executions stated that they seemed deliberately slow.

As reported in an article later published in the December 1946 issue of the American Military Magazine, Stag volume 3 number one, the executioner responsible, Sergeant John C.

Woods of the United States Army, allegedly used a rope that was excessively short.

As a result, the drop through the trap door was also insufficient in length.

Instead of resulting in an instant death due to a broken neck, the condemned experienced a slower death by asphyxiation.

The photograph of Wilhelm Kitle’s corpse, for instance, reveals the presence of blood on his face, a phenomenon also observed in the case of Vilhelmfrick.

This may be attributed to the inadequately sized trap door opening, which being too narrow likely caused injuries to the head and face of the condemned during the fall.

As a result of a poorly planned execution, Kitle ultimately died only 24 minutes after the beginning of his hanging.

Ernst Cultton Bruner was an officer belonging to the high command of Nazi Germany and the highest ranking surviving SS officer tried in Nuremberg.

Colton Bruner was one of the Nazi leaders tried by the Nuremberg tribunal for war crimes, genocide, conspiracy to commit crimes against peace and crimes against humanity.

As head of the RSHA, he was directly charged with the following crimes.

Mass murders of civilians committed by the insat group in occupied countries.

Creation of concentration camps and confinement of political and racial undesirabs in these camps and extermination camps.

Deportation of civilians from occupied nations for use in slave labor in Germany.

Execution of captured enemy paratroopers and commandos.

And protection of German civilians who lynched captured pilots.

Kidnapping and plundering of private properties and assets, murder of prisoners in SS, Gestapo and SD prisons, persecution of Jews, persecution of churches, torture and murder of Roma people.

He was found guilty of crimes against humanity and war crimes, sentenced to death, and hanged around 1:40 a.

m.

on October 16th, 1946.

His last words were, “I loved my German people and my homeland with a warm heart.

I fulfilled my duty according to the laws of my people and regret that my people were this time led by men who were not soldiers and who committed crimes of which I had no knowledge.

” Hans Michael Frank who became known as the butcher of Poland was a German lawyer and politician affiliated with the Nazi party who served directly under dictator Adolf Hitler.

He fled in 1945 shortly before the arrival of the Red Army and was captured by the Americans in the interior of Germany.

He unsuccessfully attempted suicide twice in succession.

He attempted to lessen his responsibility by submitting 14 resignation petitions which were not accepted by Hitler along with 40 volumes of his personal diaries.

Tried by the Nuremberg tribunal after the war, he was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity and hanged on October 16th, 1946.

His final moments on the gallows were described by an eyewitness, CBS journalist Howard K.

Smith.

Hansf Frank was next in the death parade.

He was the only one of the condemned to enter the chamber with a smile on his face.

Although nervous and repeatedly swallowing hard, this man who had converted to the Roman Catholic faith after his imprisonment, seemed relieved at the prospect of atoning for his guilt for his demonic acts.

He calmly answered the call of his name and when asked if he had any final statement to make said in a voice that was almost a whisper, “I thank you for the treatment I have received during captivity and ask God to receive me in his mercy.

” In summary, the Nuremberg trials represented a series of military tribunals held by the Allies after World War II.

They were focused on prosecuting 24 prominent figures of the political, military and economic leadership of Nazi Germany.

These trials conducted under the jurisdiction of an international military tribunal IMT took place in the city of Nuremberg, Germany between November 20th, 1945 and October 1, 1946.

It is worth noting that this tribunal served as an important precursor to the establishment of the International Criminal Court located in the Hague Netherlands.

Additionally, between 1946 and 1949, there were also the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, which involved 12 other military tribunals.

These proceedings dealt with a total of 117 charges related to war crimes committed by other prominent members of the Nazi leadership.