The Hangman, John C. Woods who carried out the Nuremberg Executions died
on this date, July 21, 1950. In memory of him carrying out his duty as an
executioner, we, the comrades of Unit 1012, will post information about him
from Wikipedia and his Pro-Death Penalty Quote.
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John Clarence Woods (June 5,
1911 – July 21, 1950) was a United States Army Master Sergeant who, with Joseph
Malta, carried out the Nuremberg executions of ten former top leaders of the
Third Reich on October 16, 1946 after they were sentenced to death at the
Nuremberg Trials.
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Master-Sergeant Woods readies the Gallows at
Nuremberg in 1946.
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The Nuremberg executions took place on
October 16, 1946, shortly after the conclusion of the Nuremberg Trials. Ten
prominent members of the political and military leadership of Nazi Germany were
executed by hanging: Hans Frank, Wilhelm Frick, Alfred Jodl, Ernst
Kaltenbrunner, Wilhelm Keitel, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Alfred Rosenberg, Fritz
Sauckel, Arthur Seyss-Inquart, and Julius Streicher.
The sentences were carried out in the gymnasium of
Nuremberg Prison by the United States Army using the standard drop method
instead of long drop. The executioners were Master Sergeant John C. Woods and
his assistant, military policeman Joseph Malta. Woods may have miscalculated
the lengths for the ropes used for the executions, such that some of the men
did not die quickly of an intended broken neck but instead strangled to death
slowly. Some reports indicated some executions took between 14 minutes to 28
minutes. The Army denied claims that the drop length was too short or that the
condemned died from strangulation instead of a broken neck. Additionally, the
trapdoor was too small, such that several of the condemned suffered bleeding
head injuries when they hit the sides of the trapdoor while dropping
through.
The bodies were rumored to have been taken to
Dachau for cremation, but were instead incinerated in a crematorium in Munich
and the ashes scattered over the river Isar. Kingsbury Smith of the
International News Service wrote an eyewitness account of a reporter watching
the hangings. His historical press account of it appeared with photos in
newspapers.
He executed a total of 347 people during his 15-year career. After the
Nuremberg executions, Woods stated:
"I hanged those ten Nazis... and I am proud of it... I wasn't nervous.... A fellow can't afford to have nerves in this business.... I want to put in a good word for those G.I.s who helped me... they all did swell.... I am trying to get [them] a promotion.... The way I look at this hanging job, somebody has to do it. I got into it kind of by accident, years ago in the States...."
Woods kept small pieces of the rope used for each convict as his
souvenir, considered to be against the policy adopted at Nuremberg Trials by
the Colonel in charge of executions. He was born in Wichita, Kansas. Woods accidentally
electrocuted himself in Eniwetok, Marshall Islands on July 21, 1950. He is
buried in Toronto Township Cemetery, Toronto, Kansas.
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| Public Domain, U.S. Army hangman John C. Woods (at left with rope) hangs Nazi war criminal Justus Gerstenberg on September 12, 1946. Gerstenberg was a former Wehrmacht soldier who had been convicted of murdering allied airmen shot down over Germany. |
QUOTE: "I hanged those
ten Nazis... and I am proud of it... I wasn't nervous.... A fellow can't afford
to have nerves in this business.... I want to put in a good word for those
G.I.s who helped me... they all did swell.... I am trying to get [them] a
promotion.... The way I look at this hanging job, somebody has to do it. I got
into it kind of by accident, years ago in the States...."
And:
"Ten men in 103 minutes. That's fast
work."
AUTHOR: John Clarence Woods (June 5, 1911, Wichita,
Kansas – July 21, 1950 at Eniwetok, Marshall Islands) was an American Master
Sergeant and the hangman for the Third United States Army at the Nuremberg
Trials.
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