Which Nazi leader had the most horrifying execution at the Nuremberg Trials, and why?

 

The most terrible executions of high-ranking Nazi leaders were following the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. The horror was not a specific punishment, but a grotesque failure of the execution method that was intended to provide a fairly quick death.

The ten convicted major Nazi leaders were to be killed instantly by having their neck broken. However, the American soldier who did the hangings used a rope whose length was considered too short for many of the men's weight.

Because of this fatal mistake, a number of leaders did not die readily. They were left hanging there, slowly and painfully strangled to death.

The enormous pain is documented by eyewitnesses. Hitler's top general, Wilhelm Keitel, reportedly squirmed for nearly 30 minutes on the gallows. The infamous Fritz Sauckel, head of the Slave Labor Program who is responsible for the deportation and brutal enslavement of more than five million people, enjoyed 14 minutes of life before he was declared dead.

Because they were suffocated at the gallows, having to endure physical pain for a longer time than their predecessors, the executions of Sauckel and Keitel are regarded as the most brutal deaths for the top ranking Nazi elite.

Related

How did Germans feel right after World War 2?

They were, quite frankly, done. In fact, there was a game that children in Berlin would “play” right after the war, called “Raip.” If they happened to see a soldier… (Read Full)