Reasons Why Allies use hanging to kill the Nazis at the Nuremberg trials

Many of the Nazis executed at Nuremberg fell from the gallows with a drop insufficient to snap their necks, resulting in their death by strangulation that in some cases lasted several minutes…”

As far as military executions go, death by blade or bullet has been traditionally regarded as honorable execution methods. Whereas death by rope or other means has been reserved for common criminals.

A convicted high-ranking war criminal about to be hanged

Throughout history, those deemed to have acted in a dishonorable fashion were denied the “privilege” to die as a soldier; as a result, they were typically stripped of uniform and hanged.

The prisoners were blindfolded and a large white paper target was pinned over their hearts

For example, German soldiers were executed like common criminals for being caught wearing a GI uniform behind the lines.

After the Nuremberg war crimes trials, convicted Nazi war criminal Erich Wentzel stands on the gallows, about to be hanged

There has been a long-standing, universal tradition for military executions, so much so that honorable soldiers were given the choice to shoot themselves. In some cases, the condemned soldiers did refuse being blindfolded or wearing hoods.

A group of German soldiers prepared to be executed for military crimes

As far as military traditions are concerned, it would be considered a dishonor to have been executed in a seated position, or on knees, or being shot in the back of the head reminding mafia-style hit.

The prisoners who refused a U.S. chaplain kept their nerve by singing patriotic German songs

Although all executions are meant to end the life of the condemned, in the military tradition, there has always been etiquette for executions; so the way a soldier is executed carries a message and becomes the condemned soldier’s legacy for future generations.

If a soldier goes down in history with a stigma of dishonor - even if undeservedly, we know from many past examples that it is nearly impossible to erase it regardless of new facts and evidence that might clearly exonerate him.

The infiltrators being executed (American troops began asking other soldiers questions that they felt only Americans would know the answers to in order to flush out the German infiltrators, which included naming certain states’ capitals, sports, and trivia questions related to America, etc.)

Convicted Nazi officer about to be executed by hanging

So the Allies’ decision to execute the Nazis, as well as the Japanese war criminals like Tojo, by hanging following their trials was not arbitrary, but a deliberate act to dishonor them, their legacy in perpetuity and make an example out of them for the wannabe psychopathic butchers disguised as soldiers committing unspeakable atrocities especially on civilians.

John Clarence Woods was a United States Army master sergeant who, with Joseph Malta, carried out the Nuremberg executions of ten former top leaders of the Third Reich on October 16, 1946

An interesting note is that many of the Nazis executed at Nuremberg fell from the gallows with a drop insufficient (whether by design or not) to snap their necks, resulting in their death by strangulation that in some cases lasted several minutes.

The body of Fritz Sauckel, convicted Nazi war criminal immediately after his execution

The moral of the story is that even wars have rules; just because you are in uniform and given orders, you CANNOT carry out atrocities in cold blood. If you do, you pay the price with your life and legacy you leave behind!

A painful lesson that the top dogs of the Nazi Wehrmacht and the Japanese Imperial Army learned the hard way.