Me too. My guess is that he came across as a semi-literate tough guy. Perhaps you know that when asked by the press how he would like to execute Göring, Woods said "I will drop him like a polled ox!" His hanging technique was harshly criticized by the British press who of course wanted their master hangman, Pierrepont, to hang the Nazi hierarchy.Jacqui wrote:Somehow, I have a hard time imagining Woods being proficient in German.
I don't think the British Army ever filmed or photographed executions in Germany (or for that matter anywhere else). The British traditionally preferred to conduct executions in secret, with as little documentary records as possible.fredric wrote:Woods was not from Texas. He was born on June 5, 1911 in Wichita, Kansas. Prior to his induction into the Army he spent the last ten years of his adult life in Greenwood County, Kansas working in construction. He did not learn how to hang people in Texas. Texas stopped hanging people in 1923, when Woods was only twelve (and living in Wichita with his mother). Thus far, I have seen no evidence to suggest that Woods was a hangman in civilian life (he lived in a state that did not have the death penalty until after he left it). What little Woods knew about hanging was apparently learned on the job. He may have witnessed a hanging by Thomas Pierrepoint in Normandy, and possibly several at Shepton Mallet but there is not much reason to believe he actually participated in any of them.Jacqui wrote:
Great information Jacqui. I will study the exchange you say took place between JR and Woods. I did not think they worked on the same gallows at the same time. Woods would have had the prescribed knot tied well in advance of the execution however but it might not have been working properly (as in smoothly sliding). Woods, from my research, was a rough Texas type, hard drinking hard living guy who had assisted in a few hangings in Texas using the traditional "cowboy" hangman's knot, something Reichhart probably would not want to use.
Have you ever seen or found and reference to films of executions conducted after the War by Hehr?
Reichhart's wife did leave him (see Dachs' book, others) reportedly over the stigma of his profession. His son Hans did commit suicide in 1950 (see Dachs, others as well).vinnievega wrote:RE: Johann Reichhart
ALbert Pierrepoint
I remember reading somewhere that Reichhart's wife left him and one his sons committed suicide in 1950 because of the stigma attached to his profession of executioner. May have been on Wikipedia so perhaps it should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm sure that somebody on this forum has accurate info on this.
Also there is an excellent British movie about Albert Pierrepoint titled "Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman." It delves into the psychological effects of working as an executioner. According to the film, the job began to take a toll on Pireerpoint after the wholesale executions of Nazi war criminals and after he hanged an actual acquaintance who had previously been a customer at his bar.
What documentation/proof that the Mannhardt-style fallbeil now exhibited at the Brandenburg Memorial originally came from Dresden and later Leipzig? Source? Thanks.Der Vollstrecker wrote:Yes, that's true, but this Fallbeil is not currently exhibited at the German Historical Museum in Berlin (when I was there 2011 to visit, the museum staff had no idea and no information in this regard). I know now, that the guillotine (Tegel production in about 1933, to the penitentiary in Brandenburg-Goerden) is a property of the museum and since September 1989 as a loan to the museum in Ludwigsburg to see. Before 1989, the device was stored in a disassembled state in the basement of the prison of Moabit. Now in the current Memorial Brandenburg-Goerden another guillotine (production Mannhardt) is installed. This one was used until 1968 in East Germany, first in Dresden, then in Leipzig for capital punishment.
Thanks. You have provided some interesting information. But please give me some help because my German is not good. Does this article say the Mannhardt fallbeil exhibited at the Brandenburg Memorial was made for Dresden and give a date when it arrived? Or does it say it was in other locations prior to being sent to Dresden? When it was in Dresden, was it being used by the Nazis or the East German authorities? thanks.Der Vollstrecker wrote:Here is a one source: http://www.stg-brandenburg.de/museen_ku ... telle.html
Under: "Nationale Mahn- und Gedenkstätte".
The year 1964 I think not entirely accurate, since the beheadings took place in East Germany until the 1968th. From then on, the Fallbeil was taken out of service because it no longer functioned properly. And that this is a one modified guillotine made by Mannhardt's manufacture, can not be overlooked. A move of the execution station - Hinrichtungsstätte from Dresden to Leipzig at 1960 (together with the one previously operated guillotine) is a known cause.
