Joseph Malta

Joseph Malta (born November 27, 1918 in Revere , Massachusetts , † January 6, 1999 ibid) was a member of the US military police and executioner of the United States Army .

Life

Malta was born the son of Italian immigrants and worked as a floor grinder before joining the army. After being called up, he was transferred to Germany in 1945 and served as a simple patrolman before he volunteered to work as an executioner.

He performed as an assistant with the chief executioner of the 3rd US Army John C. Woods following the Nuremberg Trial of the Major War Criminals on 16 October 1946, the executions of 10 convicted German war criminals in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg prison and then was also " Hangman Ten "called. Malta and his colleague carried out the execution by hanging in such a way that several delinquents did not suffer the quick death associated with this type of execution by breaking their necks, but instead slowly and painfully suffocated them . The trapdoor was also too small, so that some of those executed suffered bloody head injuries when they fell on the trapdoor. After Woods was transferred back to the USA, he took over the position of chief executioner for a short time around November / December 1946. According to his own statements, he carried out a total of 60 executions.

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b ^c Joshua A. Resnek: The executioner of Nuremberg. , In: Die Zeit - Modernes Leben, No. 43, 1996
↑ Jose Malta in the database of the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) on footnote.com, request on ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com, viewed June 15, 2010 (English)
^ ^A ^b Howard Kingsbury Smith: The Execution of Nazi War Criminals ( Memento July 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Detailed journalistic eyewitness report.
^ Spiegel Online: Nuremberg Trials: Death by a Rope lasted 15 minutes , January 16, 2007
↑ Jens Becker and Gunnar Dedio: The executioner of Nuremberg. , In: Tagesspiegel, April 20, 2002
↑ Nuremberg Hangman: No Regrets ( Memento of July 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), by Jon Marcus, Associated Press , October 15, 1996, on law.umkc.edu, viewed June 15, 2010 (English)

personal data
SURNAME	Malta, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Malta, Jose
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American military policeman and executioner
DATE OF BIRTH	November 27, 1918
PLACE OF BIRTH	Revere , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH	January 6, 1999
Place of death	Revere , Massachusetts

[zeit-1] Joshua A. Resnek: The executioner of Nuremberg. , In: Die Zeit - Modernes Leben, No. 43, 1996

[2] Jose Malta in the database of the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) on footnote.com, request on ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com, viewed June 15, 2010 (English)

[kingsbury-3] A ^b Howard Kingsbury Smith: The Execution of Nazi War Criminals ( Memento July 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). Detailed journalistic eyewitness report.

[4] Spiegel Online: Nuremberg Trials: Death by a Rope lasted 15 minutes , January 16, 2007

[5] Jens Becker and Gunnar Dedio: The executioner of Nuremberg. , In: Tagesspiegel, April 20, 2002

[6] Nuremberg Hangman: No Regrets ( Memento of July 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), by Jon Marcus, Associated Press , October 15, 1996, on law.umkc.edu, viewed June 15, 2010 (English)