"A just and deserved sentence": how the main Nazi criminals of Hitlerite Germany were executed

Nuremberg trials

During World War II, humanity was confronted with war crimes and crimes against humanity on an unprecedented scale.

The Nazis set themselves the goal of destroying or turning entire nations into slaves.

Therefore, after the end of the war, it became necessary to conduct a special international trial, which would assess these crimes and punish those responsible.

“Stalin constantly insisted that this was an open trial with all the formalities, so that it did not look like a trial of victors over the defeated, so that no one could accuse the victorious powers of partiality,” the GAUGN associate professor, candidate of historical Sciences Dmitry Surzhik.

The trial of a group of major war criminals who held leadership positions in the Third Reich took place at the specially created International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg from November 20, 1945 to October 1, 1946.

"In the course of the proceedings, persons who, from 1933 to 1945, held various command posts in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the Third Reich, as well as leading posts in the German army, were in the dock," said Alexander Mikhailov, an employee of the Victory Museum, in a commentary on RT.

According to him, in the course of the proceedings, numerous witnesses were questioned, over 300 thousand written testimonies and more than 3 thousand documents were considered.

As Mikhail Myagkov, scientific director of the Russian Military Historical Society, noted in a conversation with RT, the defendants tried with all their might to evade responsibility, convincing the court of their innocence and that they knew nothing about the crimes.

However, their arguments were refuted by a powerful evidence base, including the testimony of the former commander of the 6th Army of the Wehrmacht, Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, who confirmed that Nazi Germany's attack on the USSR was well-prepared and not of a "preventive" nature, Myagkov noted.

• Nazi criminals in the dock

• © mil.ru

Three defendants were acquitted, seven were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.

Hermann Goering, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Alfred Rosenberg, Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Julius Streicher, Fritz Sauckel, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Martin Bormann his death was not confirmed) and Alfred Jodl was sentenced by the tribunal to death by hanging.

• The defendant's cell in the prison of the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg

• globallookpress.com

• © Yevgeny Khaldei Photographer / Agentur Voller Ernst

As historians note, the tribunal recognized the SS, SD, SA, Gestapo and the leadership of the Nazi party as criminal, but, contrary to the position of the Soviet side, refused to condemn the Wehrmacht and the government of Nazi Germany.

“Those who were convicted received a just and deserved sentence from the tribunal,” stressed Alexander Mikhailov.

Execution of the main Nazis

Most of the high-ranking Nazis sentenced to death applied for clemency to the Allied Control Commission for Germany, and three expressed their desire to replace the hanging with firing squad if the pardon request was not granted.

However, none of these applications were granted.

Hermann Goering decided not to wait for the hanging and committed suicide in prison.

The death sentences were carried out on the night of October 16, 1946.

The execution was entrusted to an American soldier - professional executioner John Woods.

He was assisted by volunteer Joseph Malta.

In the sports hall of the Nuremberg prison, three black gallows were installed, of which two were used.

Nazi criminals were led into the hall one at a time.

However, in order to speed up the execution process, the new convict was brought into the hall while the body of the previous one was still in the noose.

The criminals climbed 13 wooden steps to the platform on which the execution was carried out.

According to eyewitnesses, Woods, despite his professional experience, did not have time to prepare the place well enough for the execution.

The length of the rope and the depth of the hatch were poorly calculated, and the hatches themselves were narrow.

The criminals, falling, hit the edges of the hatch, and Ribbentrop died of suffocation for about 15 minutes.

The body of Goering, who committed suicide, was also taken to the place of execution.

According to historians, this was done for symbolic reasons.

The bodies of the dead Nazis were photographed, after which they were placed in coffins, which were later sealed.

Early in the morning, the coffins with the executed criminals were placed in a car and taken under guard to Munich to the crematorium.

According to historians, in order to avoid the Nazis' attempts to recapture the bodies of the dead Hitlerite bosses, special conspiracy measures were taken.

The staff of the crematorium was informed that it is planned to burn the coffins with the bodies of American soldiers.

The ashes remaining after the executed Nazis were collected and two days later poured from the bridge into the Isar River in Munich.

• American soldier, professional executioner John Woods prepares a noose for criminals

• © mil.ru

Most of the Nazis sentenced to various terms of imprisonment were subsequently released.

The longest serving sentence was the former deputy Fuhrer for the party, Rudolf Hess, who was found hanged in 1987.

According to Alexander Mikhailov, some of the high-ranking Nazis were able to escape punishment by leaving Germany and hiding abroad.

At the same time, a number of Hitler's military and intelligence officers who found themselves in the zones of occupation of the Western powers even continued to serve in the security forces.

“These people were in demand in the conditions of the coming cold war,” Dmitry Surzhik emphasized.

Nevertheless, as experts note, the very fact of the Nuremberg trials and the harsh punishment of the main Nazi criminals played an important role in history.

“The results of the Nuremberg trials and the fair punishment of the main Nazi criminals played a huge role in preventing new global wars of aggression and acts of genocide.

Anyone who decides to proclaim Nazi slogans again should remember what his predecessors ended up with, ”summed up Mikhail Myagkov.