Nazi war criminals executed. Peter Back, German criminal convicted of the murder of an unidentified U.S.

Nazi war criminals executed. Peter Back, German criminal convicted of the murder of an unidentified U.S. airman, kisses the Cruxifix as he stands on the gallows of the military prison at Rheinbach, near Cologne, Germany, just before his execution by the 15th U S Army military policemen on June 29, 1945. Back, a crippled tailor and local Nazi Party leader, was one of the three German civilians put to death for the murder of the Amercan flier after their conviction by a 15th U.S. Army Military Government court. They were the first German ivilians to be tried in the Reich as war criminals. The Amercan airman, who had safely parachuted to earth near Priesat, Germany, was shot and beaten to death by the tree Nazis on August 15, 1944.