On May 14, 1946, in Brussels, Belgium, the Allied Forces carried out the execution by hanging of war criminals from World War II. These war criminals had been collaborators with Nazi Germany. As the war criminals were hanged, witnessed by observers, the trapdoor opened and the condemned prisoners fell. The bodies of the hanged prisoners were placed in coffins and removed from the execution site.
The war criminals kissed the cross offered by the priest as a final blessing. They were carried up 13 steps by American military police holding their arms. At the top, the executioner made final checks on the hanging rope. The US military hanging specifications called for a height of 8 feet (2.4m) and a platform measuring 8 feet (2.4m) square. Nuremberg and Sugamo used identical specifications.
The condemned war criminal was fitted with a black hood, a noose around his neck, and leather straps on his hands and feet. The condemned war criminal stood on the drop board. As witnesses looked on, the drop board opened, and the condemned war criminal fell. Drop-style hanging is said to cause instant death through cervical spine fracture rather than suffocation, resulting in less suffering. In addition to those executed after trial, many others were killed by lynching.
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