Mission at Nuremberg (45 page)

261  
“This is what Jesus said . . .”:
Gerecke, Toastmasters.

261  
“ . . . When one is dead,
. . .”:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

261  
“Pastor, I believe in God . . .”:
Stokes, “St. Louis Chaplain Tells of Rushing.”

261  
Gerecke was astonished:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

263  
“when a priest consecrates . . .”:
David C. Steinmetz quoted in Lindberg,
European Reformations
, p. 186.

263  
“It is one thing . . .”:
Martin Luther in Placher,
Readings in the History of Christian Theology,
p. 25.

263  
here's what Christ said:
Travis Scholl interview.

264  
“the Holy Supper the two essences . . .”:
Book of Concord, VII.37.

264  
“Herr Reichsmarshal . . .”:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows,” and Gerecke, “Toastmasters.”

265  
Gerecke knew Goering was:
Stokes, “St. Louis Chaplain Tells of Rushing.”

265  
wanted to go through the motions:
The conversation between Gerecke and Goering is drawn from Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows,” Gerecke, “My Assignment,” and Gerecke, “Toastmasters.”

265  
Goering read in bed:
Unless otherwise noted, the narrative of Goering's suicide is drawn from the
Report of the Board Proceedings in Case of Hermann Goering (Suicide), Nuremberg, Germany,
October 1946.

266  
and felt for a pulse:
Stokes, “St. Louis Chaplain Tells of Rushing.”

266  
“The blood of Jesus Christ . . .”
:
Gerecke, Toastmasters, and Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

267  
“He's dead . . .”:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 483.

267  
Within an hour:
Swearingen,
Mystery of Hermann Goering's Suicide,
p. 92.

267  
“denied every fundamental doctrine . . .”:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” October 1946.

267  
pastors later criticized Gerecke:
Hank Gerecke interview, 2 February 2008 and 30 June 2011.

268  
“If I blundered . . .”
:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

268  
“Would that I be shot!”:
Goering, “To The Allied Control Council,” 11 October 1946.

268  
“I have always kept the poison capsule . . .”:
Ibid., “To the Commandant,” 11 October 1946.

268  
“My heart's only love”:
Ibid., “My heart's only love,” 11 October 1946.

269  
“ . . . I had to do it this way . . .”:
Ibid., “Dear Pastor Gerecke,” 11 October 1946.

269  
The Russians were especially suspicious:
Hank Gerecke interview, 4 January 2008.

269  
Goering's suicide was a “craven” act:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

269  
briefly considered carrying Goering's body:
Swearingen,
Mystery of Hermann Goering's Suicide,
p. 79.

269  
At 11:30
P.M.:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 129.

269  
If they wanted to witness:
“Army Takes Bodies.”

270  
Guards had been given orders:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 482.

270  
Andrus ordered a guard:
Andrus and Zwar,
I Was the Nuremberg Jailer,
p. 156.

270  
It was a cold night:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 482.

270  
checked each person's pass:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
pp. 130–131.

270  
without handcuffs:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 485.

270  
would hold the prisoner:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 131.

271  
Death by the rope:
Conot,
Justice at Nuremberg,
p. 505.

271  
“Ribbentrop!”:
Speer,
Spandau,
p. 10.

271  
Gerecke entered the cell:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

271  
“Follow me . . .”:
Andrus and Zwar,
I Was the Nuremberg Jailer,
p. 158.

271  
reverberating in the corridor:
Speer,
Spandau,
pp. 10–11.

271  
Andrus led Ribbentrop out:
Persico,
Nuremberg,
p. 425, and Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

271  
“It was a long walk . . .”
:
Andrus and Zwar,
I Was the Nuremberg Jailer,
p. 158.

271  
Ribbentrop returned the gesture:
Persico,
Nuremberg,
p. 425.

271  
dusty, grimy room:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 132, and Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 482.

271  
He had overseen these prisoners:
Persico,
Nuremberg,
p. 425.

272  
sitting at the eight folding tables:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 132.

272  
“I'll see you again”:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

272  
Woods pulled the hangman's lever:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 133.

272  
Gerecke and O'Connor walked out:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

272  
“Keitel!”:
Speer,
Spandau,
p. 11.

272  
“my friend”:
Gerecke, Toastmasters.

272  
“ . . . drenched with his tears . . .”:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

272  
hummed the melody:
Gerecke, Toastmasters.

273  
Keitel dropped . . . Keitel was pronounced dead:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
pp. 133–134.

273  
“ . . . Good luck, Germany”:
Taylor,
Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials,
p. 610.

273  
complexion pasty:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 134.

273  
“No, thank you”:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

274  
a cloud of smoke:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 135.

274  
from the service of Christ:
O'Connor, Letter to Norman Frank, 21 October 1946.

274  
nearly fainted from the stress:
Hank Gerecke interview, 21 October 2009.

274  
“for the kindness . . .”:
Taylor,
Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials,
p. 610.

274  
“May Jesus have mercy . . .”:
O'Connor, Letter to Norman Frank.

274  
“Heil Hitler . . .”
:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 135.

275  
“For God's sake, Julius . . .”:
Hank Gerecke interview, 21 October 2009.

275  
Streicher screamed instead:
Taylor,
Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials,
p. 610.

275  
Woods had adjusted Streicher's noose:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 136.

275  
“I felt I could not go on”:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

275  
Sauckel fell through the trapdoor:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 137.

275  
as if addressing his troops:
Harris,
Tyranny on Trial,
p. 487.

275  
the final man, Seyss-Inquart:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 137.

275  
guards brought Goering's body:
Ibid., p. 138.

276  
“committal prayers”:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

276  
photographing the bodies:
Conot,
Justice at Nuremberg,
p. 507.

276  
No photographs of anyone:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 138.

276  
astonished them:
Gerecke, Toastmasters.

276  
breaking their noses:
Taylor,
Anatomy of the Nuremberg Trials,
p. 611.

276  
a final blessing:
Gerecke, Toastmasters.

276  
a special Mass for mourning:
O'Connor, Letter to Norman Frank.

276  
the favor Keitel asked of him:
“Chaplain Gerecke Urges Aid to Europe.”

276  
and at 4:00
A.M.:
“Army Takes Bodies.”

276  
army six-by-six trucks:
Persico,
Nuremberg,
p. 429.

276  
The trucks left Nuremberg:
“Army Takes Bodies.”

277  
breaking down the gallows:
Tilles,
By the Neck Until Dead,
p. 139.

277  
instructed them to clean:
Speer,
Spandau,
p. 11.

277  
“the gross hates and cruelties . . .”:
Gerecke, “My Assignment.”

277  
“a blessing to the world . . .”:
Gerecke and Sinclair, “I Walked the Gallows.”

277  
“died as penitent sinners . . .”:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” October 1946.

277  
Gerecke thought about:
Gerecke, Toastmasters.

277  
“something marvelous happened”:
Goering,
My Life with Goering,
p. 159.

278  
O'Connor wrote back:
O'Connor, Letter to Norman Frank.

278  
“Father, forgive them
. . .”:
Luke 23:34, NRSV.

278  
the core theological and ethical concept:
Williams,
Forgiveness,
p. 31.

278  
“And forgive us our sins . . .”:
Luke 11:4, NRSV.

278  
eleven million noncombatants:
Snyder, “Hitler vs. Stalin.”

279  
forgiveness requires that:
Dorff, “Religious Perspectives,” p. 20.

279  
They must take an active role:
Rosen, “The Concept of Forgiveness in Judaism.”

279  
“Then I acknowledged my sin . . .”:
Psalm 32:5, Tanakh.

279  
“Because that people
. . .”:
Isaiah 29:13–14, Tanakh.

280  
that the wrongdoer earn:
Dorff, “Religious Perspectives,” p. 32.

280  
“ . . . proclaimed as a general truth . . .”:
Bonhoeffer,
Cost of Discipleship,
p. 43.

280  
the tables are turned:
Dorff, “Religious Perspectives,” p. 23.

280  
relationship between Jews and Germans:
Ibid., p. 36.

281  
“Are you a Jew?” she asked:
Wiesenthal's account is taken from his book,
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limits of Forgiveness
.

287  
children of light:
Volf interview, 26 August 2010.

288  
relatives had a right:
Tusa and Tusa,
Nuremberg Trial,
p. 486.

288  
“dispersed secretly”:
Schmidt, “11 Nazis Cremated.”

288  
“to destroy absolutely . . .”:
Ibid.

288  
“the crematorium was fired up . . .”:
Conot,
Justice at Nuremberg,
p. 507.

288  
Ostfriedhof Cemetery:
Swearingen,
Mystery of Hermann Goering's Suicide,
p. 81.

288  
Goering's was marked:
Persico,
Nuremberg,
p. 429.

288  
eleven aluminum cylinders:
Swearingen,
Mystery of Hermann Goering's Suicide,
p. 81.

289  
home of a wealthy merchant:
Persico,
Nuremberg,
p. 429.

289  
they smashed the aluminum cylinders:
Ibid.

 

CHAPTER 11

290  
“Christ died for . . .”:
NRSV.

290  
Gerecke received orders:
Suchara, Orders, Chaplain (Captain) Henry F. Gerecke.

290  
“sincere devotion to his faith . . .”:
“List No. 86, Control Approval Symbol SPXOM–6-PO.”

290  
“to continue his ministrations
. . .”:
Andrus, Letter to Chaplain Miller.

291  
Hank had been severely injured:
Hank Gerecke interview, 13 July 2011.

291  
“I won't need them again”:
“Nuernberg Nazi Leaders Urged St. Louis Chaplain.”

291  
to debrief the Office of the Chief of Chaplains:
Gerecke, “Monthly Report of Chaplains,” December 1946.

292  
before a crowd of six hundred:
Ibid., January 1947.

292  
held in Gerecke's honor:
“Reception. Chaplain ‘Major' Henry F. Gerecke.” Program.