The Nuremberg Trials marked a historic reckoning in the aftermath of World War II. From November 1945 to October 1946, leading figures of Nazi Germany were tried by an international tribunal for crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crimes against peace. Of the 22 major defendants, 12 were sentenced to death—including top officials like Hermann Göring, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Wilhelm Keitel.
While much is known about the trials and their verdicts, fewer people know what happened to the bodies of those who were executed. The Allies took extreme measures to ensure the deaths were not turned into shrines for neo-Nazis or sympathizers. Their post-execution decisions were deliberate, secretive, and symbolic.
The Executions: October 16, 1946
On the night of October 16, 1946, 10 of the condemned Nazi leaders were hanged at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. Göring, Hitler’s second-in-command, cheated the hangman by swallowing a hidden cyanide capsule in his cell just hours before he was to be executed.
The executions were carried out under the supervision of the U.S. Army, and the entire process was documented in official reports but not filmed, as the Allies sought to avoid turning the event into a spectacle.
Each body was then photographed for identification and proof, and their names were labeled on their chests. These images were part of the official record but not publicly released at the time.
Disposal of the Bodies
After the executions, the bodies were placed in plain wooden coffins and loaded onto military trucks under heavy guard. The Allies were determined to avoid creating any physical location that could serve as a memorial or pilgrimage site for Nazi sympathizers.
The coffins were secretly transported to Munich, to the Ostfriedhof (Eastern Cemetery). There, in the early hours of the morning, the bodies were cremated in the same crematorium where Nazi victims had once been incinerated. This symbolic act was not lost on those involved.
Even in death, the Allies wanted to erase any opportunity for glorification.
Scattering the Ashes
The final step was equally calculated. After cremation, the ashes of the executed Nazis were placed into containers and scattered in a tributary of the Isar River, near Munich. The precise location was kept secret to prevent any future neo-Nazi gatherings or "martyr" memorials.
This method of disposal mirrored the treatment of Adolf Hitler's remains, which were similarly destroyed and scattered by the Soviets. The goal was the same: to deny the defeated ideology any physical legacy.
Legacy and Lessons
The careful handling of the bodies after the Nuremberg executions reflects the moral seriousness and symbolic weight the Allies placed on these proceedings. The executions weren’t just about punishing individuals—they were about closing a chapter of history and sending a message to future generations: that crimes of such scale would never be glorified, nor forgotten.
By scattering their ashes, the victors ensured that the legacy of Nazism would have no resting place—only judgment in the annals of history.