Evening star., 1946-10-16

Ribbentrop looked straight ahead,
his lips were tightly set.
The 10 once great men In Hitler's
Reich that was to have lasted for a
| thousand years walked UP Is wooden
steps to platform 8 feet high which
also was feet square. Ropes were
suspended from a crossbeam sup
ported on two posts.
Only one Of the condemned men
was brought In at time. The same
procedure was adopted in each case
and when the trap was sprung, the
prisoners dropped into the interior
OF the scaffolding, which was
boarded up with wood on three sides
and shielded by dark canvas cur
tain on the fourth.
knock Precedes Entry.
Won Ribbentrop, the always arro-
CANT diplomatic double-crosser of
Hitler's Germany, entered the ex-
ecution chamber at II minutes past
O'Clock this morning, Nuremberg
time t7:l1 pm. EST yesterday.
His trap was sprung at 1:14 am.
and he was pronounced dead at 1872
am.
Seyss- -Inquart, whose execution
ended the proceedings, stepped into
the gallows at the end Of the line
and was pronounced dead at 2:57
am.
| Streicher, whose Hell Hitler"
wrote chapter in history all its
own, appeared in the chamber at
l121a minutes after z am.
| As in the case Of all the con-
demned, q warning knock by guard
preceded Streicher's entry through
a door in the middle of the hall.
An American lieutenant colonel
was sent to fetch him from the
death row cell block in the nearby
prison wing. He returned first with
Streicher close behind him.
Streicher wore q threadbare suit,
a well-worn blush shirt and no tie
He was renowned for his flashy dress
in the old days of Nazi power.
Streicher was stopped Immediately
inside the door by two Army ser
geants who closed in on each side
of him and held his arms, while
another sergeant who had followed
him in from behind removed man
acles from his hands and replaced
them with q leather cord.
It was originally planned to per-
NIT the condemned men to walk
from their cells to the execution
chamber with their hands free but
| all were manacle in their cells i'm
mediately following discovery of
Goering's suicide.
Screams Hell Hitler"
Streicher's screams of Hell Hit
ler" sent q shiver down my back
AS its echo died away another
American colonel standing by the
steps Of the scaffold said sharply:
ASK the man his name"
In response to an interpreters
query, Streicher answered You
know my name well"
The interpreter repeated his re-
quest and the condemned man
shouted: Julius Streicher."
Guards then started moving
Streicher up the steps. AS he
mounted to the platform. the beady-
eyed Jew-baiter called out:
And now 60 to God"
| Streicher was swung around to
face the audience in front OF him.
He glared at Allied officers and the
eight Allied correspondents repre-
senting the worlds press who were
lined up against wall behind
small tables directly facing the
gallows.
| With burning hatred in his eyes
Streicher looked down at the wit
nesses and shouted:
l. tPurfm is Jewish springtime
festival to commemorate the de-
| liverance of the Jews from Haman,
l. who WAS hanged by order of King
+ Ahasuerus CXerxes) for his plan
to massacre the Jews of Assyria)
Calls for Wife.
An American ofIicer near the
scaffold then asked the man If he
had any last words and Streicher
'snarled: ..-.t
The Bolsheviks will hang you one
day"
Just as the black hood was about
to be placed upon his head,
Streicher said:
II am with God"
And as it was being adjusted,
Streicher's mufned voice could be
heard to say:
Adele, my dear wife
At that moment the trap was
sprung with loud bang. When the
rope snapped taut and the body
swung wildly a groan could be heard
distinctly from within the dark in
terror Of the scaffold.
In order to get the executions over
with quickly, security forces would
bring in one man while the prisoner
who preceded him still was dangling
at the end of the rope
The execution hall was a room
approximately 80 feet wide by 80
feet long, with q bare and we'll
trodden wooden floor and partially
cracked plaster walls beneath an
arched wooden ceiling.
Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel had
shown the same stoiclsm IN his ap-
proach to death that had marked his
demeanor in court and in prison
The Prussian field marshal entered
the execution chamber with his
head held high and looked around
while his hands. manacled behind
his back, were being tied with leath-
er cord.
He walked with military bearing
between two guards to the scaffold