Blackguards 2 hang prisoners or not12/3/2023 ![]() ![]() Perhaps by revealing the depths of their suffering, and demonstrating that law would not condone such atrocities, the cry “Never Again” might become a reality. We owed it to the millions of victims to try to give their deaths some greater significance. I felt that it might trivialize the magnitude of the crimes by suggesting that it could be settled, and perhaps then forgotten, by executing a handful of genocidal killers. I had never asked for the death penalty, although such a recommendation from the Prosecutor was widely expected and it was surely deserved by these unrepentant mass murderers. When any of the Nuremberg trials was brought to a close, it was customary for the Chief Prosecutor to invite his staff to his home to celebrate the event. Each time he said “Death by hanging” it was like a hammer blow that shocked my brain. Musmanno was much more severe than what I had expected. As the Judge read each sentence I checked off the name on a list I had before me in which I had noted what I thought might be the penalty. It is not an easy thing to condemn another human being to be hanged. The levity he had displayed during the trial, much to my annoyance, had completely disappeared as the Judgment and Sentences were read slowly and somberly. For about a week before the sentencing he had retreated to a monastery to consult with his priest and with his conscience. I knew that Michael Musmanno was a devout Catholic. Strange as it may seem, listening to the sentences was a grueling experience, not merely for the defendants but also for the Presiding Judge and the Chief Prosecutor. The time had come to answer for their crimes. Another thing they had in common was that despite their denials, there was no doubt that each one was responsible for Crimes Against Humanity, War Crimes, and Membership in Criminal Organizations-as charged in the indictment. ![]() One thing they all had in common was a fervent desire to serve their Fuehrer, even if that meant killing enormous numbers of innocent men, women, and children. One of the defendants had been an opera singer, and another a Lutheran clergyman. In civilian life, several had earned degrees in law or economics before joining the Nazi Party and taking positions as Gestapo leaders. Some were sentenced to life imprisonment or long prison terms. Almost all the rest were high-ranking commanders. Several of the defendants had been Generals in the SS. All fourteen were sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead. Defendants Paul Blobel, Walter Blume, Martin Sandberger, Willy Seibert, Eugen Steimle, Ernst Biberstein, Werner Braune, Walter Haensch, Adolf Ott, Waldemar Klingelhofer, Heinz Schubert, and Eduard Strauch were all convicted of being mass killers. “Defendant Erich Naumann, on the counts of the indictment on which you have been convicted, the Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging.” Other prisoners followed, one at a time. ![]() Judge Musmanno spoke, “Defendant Otto Ohlendorf, on the counts of the indictment on which you have been convicted, the Tribunal sentences you to death by hanging.” The condemned man stood erect, took off his earphones, and without any expression, nodded and stepped back into the small lift that then slowly descended, as if into Hell. ![]() Ohlendorf glanced at the guards and the judges and slowly put on the earphones that were handed to him. Their white batons were gripped in both hands on the ready in front of them. He was flanked by two very tall black guards in crisp U.S. Soon, the dark paneled door, leading into the center of the dock from the prison below, slid open. The assemblage was called to order as the Judges filed in wearing their black robes over their civilian clothes. Slowly, the room filled with German defense counsel, members of the prosecution staff, translators, clerks, and a smattering of visitors in the gallery. I knew it would be a grim day-especially for those accused of the cold-blooded murder of more than a million innocent men, women, and children. It was April 10, 1948, and the past two days had been spent listening to the three Judges read their massive judgment that rejected all arguments put forth for the defendants. When I entered and took my seat at the Prosecutor’s table on the day of sentencing, the courtroom was empty. ![]()
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