Editing Nacht und Nebel (section)

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[[File:Dead wilhelmkeitel.jpg|thumb|The body of Wilhelm Keitel after his execution, 1946]]
Early in the war, the program caused the mass execution of political prisoners, especially Soviet POWs, who in early 1942, outnumbered the Jews in number of deaths even at [[Auschwitz concentration camp|Auschwitz]].<ref>Matthäus (2004), "Operation Barbarossa and the Onset of the Holocaust, June – December 1941," in Browning & Matthäus (2004). ''The Origins of the Final Solution: The Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939– March 1942'', pp. 259–264.</ref> As the transports grew and Hitler's troops moved across Europe, that ratio changed dramatically. The ''Nacht und Nebel'' decree was carried out surreptitiously, but it set the background for orders that would follow and established a "new dimension of fear".<ref>Taylor & Shaw (2002). "Nacht und Nebel," in ''Dictionary of the Third Reich'', p. 192.</ref> As the war continued, so did the openness of such decrees and orders.

Despite the best attempts of [[Joseph Goebbels]] and the [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|Propaganda Ministry]] (with its formidable domestic information control) to hide the program, people's diaries and periodicals of the time show that it became progressively known to the German public.<ref>Gellately (2001). ''Backing Hitler: Consent and Coercion in Nazi Germany'', pp. 51–69.</ref> Soldiers brought back information, families on rare occasion heard from or about loved ones and Allied news sources and the [[BBC]] were able to get past censorship sporadically.<ref>Johnson (2006). ''What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder, and Everyday Life in Nazi Germany'', pp. 185–225.</ref> Although captured archives from the [[Sicherheitsdienst|SD]] contain numerous orders stamped with "NN" (''Nacht und Nebel''), it has never been determined exactly how many people disappeared as a result of the decree.

Doubts among the Allies about the atrocities being committed by the Nazis were pushed aside when the French entered the [[Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp|Natzweiler-Struthof]] camp (one of the ''Nacht und Nebel'' facilities) on 23 November 1944, and discovered a chamber where victims were hung by their wrists from hooks to accommodate the process of pumping poisonous [[Zyklon B|Zyklon-B]] gas into the room.<ref>Lowe (2012). ''Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II'', p. 81.</ref> Keitel later testified at the Nuremberg Trials that of all the illegal orders he had carried out, the ''Nacht und Nebel'' decree was "the worst of all".<ref>Shirer (1990). ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich'', p. 957.</ref>

Former [[United States Supreme Court]] Justice and chief prosecutor at the international Nuremberg trial, [[Robert H. Jackson]] listed the "terrifying" ''Nacht und Nebel'' decree with the other crimes committed by the Nazis in his closing address.<ref>Marrus (1997). ''The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial, 1945–46: A Documentary History'', p. 151.</ref> In part because of his role in carrying out this decree, Keitel was sentenced to death by [[hanging]], despite his insistence on being shot instead due to his military service and rank.<ref>Conot (2000). ''Justice at Nuremberg'', p. 501.</ref> At 1:20&nbsp;a.m. on 16 October 1946 Keitel defiantly shouted out, "''Alles für Deutschland! Deutschland über alles!''" just before the [[trapdoor]] opened beneath his feet.<ref>Conot (2000). ''Justice at Nuremberg'', p. 506.</ref>