The Waterbury Democrat., 1946-10-15

All of the condemned Nazis save one-A1fred Rosenberg, the cn1e1 Na1 ideologiSt - were reported reading the Bible and seeking spir- itual solace as their last hours ticked away.
 The twilight of the self-aggran- dized NaI gods" found them oo- scured by curtain of military secrecy comparable to that flung over the greatest events of the war.
 May Last Three Hours
 Glimmers of information through the official fog indicated that the execution of Adolf Hitler's Il henchmen would begin at midnight and last three hours, and that the bodies would be buried secretly or perhaps cremated-how, when or where no one would say.
 Officials said that the Nazis did not know officially that this was their last day before they were to pay on the scaffold for the millions of deaths they were convicted of causing in their ruthless quest for world domination.
 But they must have known that the time was near when the 1udg- ment of the four-power tribunal was to be executed.
 A prison spokesman said Goer- ing, Alfred Jodl, Hans Frank and Arthur Seyss-Inqnart all spoke of religion when the German prison doctor saw them this morning. Seek Religious Solace
 To a man they were reading the Bible, the doctor said, except for Rosenberg.
 Ernst Kaltenbrunner, hatchet man in the Gestapo for Heinrich Himm- Ter, had communion in his cell. Frank told the doctor how he re- membered the beauty of St. Peters Cathedral in Rome, and how he once tried without success to get Hitler and Rudolph Hess to visit it with him.
 Goering had his own thoughts on his mind, and said he was trying to keep what he called his dignity un- til the end. He didn't sleep well last night.
 Jodl remarked that basically re- 1 ligion must be love. Prick said T hope we won't have to wait long. SeySs- -InQuart's thoughts were or deep, complicated theological mat ters.
 Keitel Firm To End Wilhelm Keitel. the military mar to the last, said the execution wal harder on his family than himself
 Fritz Sauckel, boss of the Nag slave labor, was reported reading fairy tales along with his biblical re. search. Frank was engrossed in { long poem called Holy Night" bJ Ludwig Thoma.
 Rosenberg, scorning the Bible ane reiterating his convictions of athe. ism, was reading German nove called "The Violin"
 Both Rosenberg and Prick, irrit. able and pettish, complained about prison regulations requiring them tx keep their hands outside the blank cts when they slept. It is colder herr this week.
 Silent On Gall0ws Report
 For the last week spokesman a the prison has been telling cores pondents that there was no gallow erected in the jail. Today he refuset to answer whether there was or wa not. The report that the execution would be completed in about thre hours gave rise to speculation tha | two separate gallowS might be used That would give about IS minutes t. each hanging.
 According to this unconfirmet speculation, one of the gallows woult be made ready while the other wa in use, thus speeding up the over all process.
 Reports persisted, although off cials would not confirm them, tha Master Sgt. John c. Woods of Sal Antonio, Tex, hangman with wid experience in and out of the Army was here to do the job to which h once was reported to have said h looked forward as the crowning even of long career.
 Used Mobile Gall0ws
 Woods was in Landsberg, nea Munich, Monday morning. But . | (o,,finuod Dooo e -fQTTr ERSCN