Jon Marcus

Though the inclination of many Allied officials after the war was to execute all the prominent Nazis, the decision to hold a fair trial posed the risk that some of the defendants might be found not guilty. Of the twenty-two defendants, an even dozen were convicted on all charges and sentenced to death. Of those, two escaped the penalty: Hermann Goring committed suicide and Martin Bormann was never caught. The method chosen for those to be executed was hanging, which meant there had to be a hangman. No one was forced to carry out the sentences; instead, a call went out for volunteers. Joseph Malta stepped forward. Associated Press writer Jon Marcus interviewed Malta fifty years afterward and found he had no regrets.

One at a time, they dropped through the trap door of the hangman's scaffold and fell...