Beheadings in the Third Reich

[Paul53]

Worthful information, thanks.A lot of it I did not know about.Mortimer said that Woods died of the humidity on the island of Eniwetok, having deteriorated the insulation of the wires of the electric chair, causing his electrocution when testing.The irony of it. That is about all I know of the story of his fate. Again, interesting info.

[Pete26]

Here is some more info on the Nuremberg hangings:

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/capital-punishment

[David Thompson]

Let's get back to the topic -- Beheadings in the Third Reich. We have a number of threads on executions by hanging elsewhere in the forum, where these matters can be discussed.

[Paul53]

This is important info David,closely connected to our story of the nazi Scharfrichter.Historically vital.

[David Thompson]

Paul53 -- You wrote:

This is important info David,closely connected to our story of the nazi Scharfrichter.Historically vital.

It looks to me like a substantial broadening of a topic which is already over 160 pages long. We try to make information available to our readers and convenient to access -- by placing it in smaller, more narrowly-focused threads, so it's easy to read. A reader interested in the subject of guillotine use in Germany already has a formidable amount of reading ahead of him, and there's not much reason to make his task even more daunting.

We can post a link to any related thread discussions (hangmen and various sorts of executioners) here, to make them easier for readers to spot and cross-reference, and for posters to participate in the discussions. Discussing information about executioners generally is fine with me, but my concern with this thread is overbreadth sprawl.

If you have a counter-argument to this proposed approach, I'll be happy to consider it.

[Paul53]

You are right.But there is more to come I am afraid.

[David Thompson]

Paul53 -- You wrote:

You are right.But there is more to come I am afraid.

That's fine. Members can post information about non-German executioners and other forms of execution in other threads, and put links in this one to the other discussions. Information about beheadings in the 3d Reich can stay here.

[Paul53]

Right, anyway ,I will continue with Stuttgart
part 4.

The reply of the RJM´´The Area director had me informed about your letter concerning the Scharfrichter Reichart,as I am responsible for the matter.I received shortly before a letter by Reichart concerning this matter.About a high/ handed behaviour of Reichart,I did report before by other District attourneys,but as his activities as Scharfrichter did not cause any complaints,no further measures were taken.In the problem that is presented to you by the directory board of the Stuttgart prison, Reichart is formally right, as there is no clausule in the contract for Reichart to have the transport of the coffins to be ordered.But yet,I regard it as right, that a Scharfrichter would allow this procedure to be carried out, especially concerning the present situation.I have undertaken the task of informing Reichart,after discussion with mr Chrone and Mettgenberg.and to ask him not to perform any executions in StuttgartI Yet, I would ask you to refrain from a formally complaint in this matter,as I do not think it impossible,that the choleric and impulsive character of Chief Justice Official Gundel could be causing the harshness of this conflict.´´

[fredric]

Thanks for the additional info Frederic. Göring of course, had the last laugh, as he cheated the gallows by biting through a cyanide capsule smuggled to him in the prison.

I did not know that the gallows used to hang the Nuremberg trial Nazis did not have a spring loaded catch for the trap doors. I have seen this mechanism on some gallows drawing before. This explains how the condemned hit their heads against the trap doors swinging back on their hinges.

There's a lot of misinformation about the gallows including:
Who designed them... some claim Reichhart (to disparage him?) and others say Woods. The answer: Woods.
Who built them? Woods. He also delivered them to the site and erected/dismantled them.
Were there two gallows or one? Not sure but probably just one. Contradictory reports. Landsberg had two gallows for multiple hangings so this could be the source of the rumor. I think it was just one gallows for Nuremburg.
Did the doors hit the victims? Yes. Was this on purpose? Probably not.
Was a standard drop used or did Woods calculate a victim-specific drop like Pierrepont? Standard drop for all.

Woods also used the "cowboy" hangman's knot instead of the British eyebolt slip knot. Most interesting to me is the defense of Woods by Lt. Tillis who supervised the executions and Woods. Tillis is the source of the claim that Woods invented the spring catch to keep the door from rebounding. Tillis was issuing misinformation to blunt the British criticism of the executions in my opinion and might have be ordered to do so. As it was, Woods was terminated as the
Army's hangman and sent to the Pacific Theater where he was killed in an accident involving a short circuit of an electric chair he was installing in a Philippine prison. But I didn't think executions in the Phillipines were carried out by electrocution so why the chair? If you can find the Tillis book (hard to find) get it. Also, there is a second book by an officer in charge of executions at Landsberg who preceeded Tillis and I think you can find the whole thing on Wiki.

[andreobrecht]

Fredric, it appears that there were three gallows at Nuremberg, two used alternatively for the condemned and the third was a spare in case one of the others had a malfunction. See court report of executions on the following website.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/nurembergcont.htm

I have read the various posts about Reichhart on the forum in the past few weeks and I cannot agree with much of what is said about him... and especially this idea that he was a basically "good guy". While he probably acted professionally and executed people legally sentenced by the German courts, there is no doubt that he executed hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people, sentenced for things like being Jehovah's witnesses, socialists, homosexuals, conscience objectors or violating racial purity laws. And there is no question in my mind that he knew it just as well as the concentration camp guards that gassed, shot or hung Jews and other "undesirables". They had a better excuse than him since they might have been shot themselves for refusing to obey orders, while he did it for money and could have quit without paying for it with his life.

My view of him was that he was an individual without conscience and probably a much worse "person" than a coarse and unlikeable character like Sgt Wood (Who died on the Marshall Islands electrocuted by a power line, not an electric chair) He deserved worse than the slap on the wrist that he got in the de-nazification trials. Some German judges received harsh sentences for applying evil laws they didn't write to innocent people... he is really no different just a little further down the judicial process.

[fredric]

Fredric, it appears that there were three gallows at Nuremberg, two used alternatively for the condemned and the third was a spare in case one of the others had a malfunction. See court report of executions on the following website.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/nurembergcont.htm

I have read the various posts about Reichhart on the forum in the past few weeks and I cannot agree with much of what is said about him... and especially this idea that he was a basically "good guy". While he probably acted professionally and executed people legally sentenced by the German courts, there is no doubt that he executed hundreds, if not thousands, of innocent people, sentenced for things like being Jehovah's witnesses, socialists, homosexuals, conscience objectors or violating racial purity laws. And there is no question in my mind that he knew it just as well as the concentration camp guards that gassed, shot or hung Jews and other "undesirables". They had a better excuse than him since they might have been shot themselves for refusing to obey orders, while he did it for money and could have quit without paying for it with his life.


My view of him was that he was an individual without conscience and probably a much worse "person" than a coarse and unlikeable character like Sgt Wood (Who died on the Marshall Islands electrocuted by a power line, not an electric chair) He deserved worse than the slap on the wrist that he got in the de-nazification trials. Some German judges received harsh sentences for applying evil laws they didn't write to innocent people... he is really no different just a little further down the judicial process.

I didn't think I left the impression that Reichhart was a "good guy". He was not. He was the final link in a horrific justice system and of course shares some of the blame. As an instrument of RMJ, Reichhart was contractually obligated to execute persons found guilty under laws and by courts that in themselves were criminal. He was guilty because he chose to take on this role. As a professional executioner, he did not question the legality of the sentences and more than a Texas execution questions the guilt of the victim he is injecting. It is not part of the job. Reichhart's victims were not found guilty of being Jehova's Witnesses, Jews or homosexuals. They were found guilty of crimes such as treason, violating racial purity laws, looting, and a myriad of other unjust capital offenses as listening to the Allied radio programs. This did not bother Reichhart. I think his focus was on not so much on punishing enemies of the Reich as on amassing as much money as possible and being the best in his craft. He was driven by this goal from the time he first dropped the blade in 1926 through the Nazi era and as a hangman for the Allies. I have to wonder if it had something to do with his wife leaving him because he chose to be an executioner rather than running the little lunch counter, teaching ballroom dancing or selling religious books, all jobs at which he tried and failed.

As you probably know, after the war ended he was on the Allied "target" list of Nazis. He was arrested and imprisoned as a war criminal. Surrounded by imprisoned fellow Germans, he was nearly killed. He was then sent to a safer camp, Landsberg, but was released by the Allies so he could help hang Nazi war criminals. He thought he was a free man but in 1949 he was again prosecuted, this time by the Munich denazification tribunal. He lost virtually everything and lived out his remaining life as an impoverished pensioner, relying upon the charity of his family and reportedly shunned by the Germans.

[andreobrecht]

While, technically, Reichhart did not execute anybody for being a Jehovah's Witness he executed a large number of them for refusing to serve in the military, which their religion forbade them to do. He also executed people for "undermining the war effort" and this vague sentence covered people that were simply opposed to the Nazis on moral or ethical grounds without actually doing anything concrete against them. Nuns and priests of German and Austrian Nationality were executed under this verdict. He probably also executed innocent Jews & homosexuals sentenced for other "crimes".

Comparing him to a US executioner that executes legal death sentences in a democratic justice system, because they don't question whether their "clients" could be innocent is going a bit too far. He executed people he KNEW were innocent, and did it repeatedly, and did it for financial gain. In my view the man had no conscience, no morality... At least a man like Desfourneaux who did execute a dozen innocent people during the Vichy regime was wrecked by guilt, became an alcoholic and died miserable. Reichhart, on the other hand, seemed to have had no problem with what he did until others punished him for it and then he felt sorry for himself and not for what he had done to others. I see no redemptive traits in his character at all. If anything his "professionalism" at the service of an evil system
makes him less human than his drunken, sloppy colleagues.

Just my point of view...

[David Thompson]

I've started a new thread for discussion of the practice of executing war criminals by hanging. Please post discussions of that topic to:

War Criminals: Sentence of Death by Hanging
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=150838

[Piotr1]

http://resources.ushmm.org/itsinventory ... y__Id=4738

http://www.zeit.de/1953/21/Henker-zWv

[Paul53]

Fredric and Andre both have a point.