John C. Woods
John Clarence Woods (born June 5, 1911 in Wichita , Kansas , † July 21, 1950 in Eniwetok , Marshall Islands ) was an American master sergeant and executioner of the 3rd US Army ( United States Army ).
Life
Woods joined the US Navy in 1929 , but was released after a few months. Before the USA entered World War II , he worked as a construction worker and warehouse clerk before he was drafted into the Army. In the fall of 1944 he was of his previous unit, a pioneer battalion , the military prison Paris added (Paris Disciplinary Training Center) and transported from simple soldiers to the Master Sergeant to serve in the future as a military opponent. He had indicated, presumably untrue, that he had assisted two executions in Texas and two in Oklahoma , and the army was looking for an executioner for two upcoming executions.
Woods took following the Nuremberg Trial of the Major War Criminals on 16 October 1946 together with Joseph Malta the executions of ten convicted German war criminals in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg prison . Either Woods or his colleague calculated the lengths of the ropes used for hanging apparently incorrectly, so that several delinquents did not suffer the intended quick death by breaking their necks, but instead slowly and painfully suffocated . The trapdoor was also too small, so that some of those executed suffered bloody head injuries when they fell on the trapdoor. At that time, Woods was already considered a heavy drinker .
According to his own statements, Woods carried out a total of 347 executions in 15 years of service, including following the Dachau trials . According to recent research, it was more like 60 to 70.
Woods was electrocuted while repairing lighting on the Pacific island of Eniwetok, which was part of what was then the US American sanctuary of the Marshall Islands , in 1950 .
supporting documents
- ^ MacLean, French, The Fifth Field, Atglen 2013, p. 79
- ^ MacLean, French, The Fifth Field, Atglen 2013, p. 77
- ^ Joseph Kingsbury-Smith: The Execution of Nazi War Criminals . Detailed journalistic eyewitness report. (English)
- ^ A b TIME Magazine, October 28, 1946, p. 34 (English)
- ^ Spiegel Online, Nuremberg Trials: Death by the Rope lasted 15 minutes , January 16, 2007
- ^ MacLean, French, The Fifth Field, Atglen 2013, p. 286
- ^ MacLean, French, The Fifth Field, Atglen 2013, p. 286
- ^ TIME Magazine, Aug. 7, 1950, p. 34 (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Woods, John C. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Woods, John Clarence (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American Master Sergeant and Executioner of the 3rd United States Army |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 5, 1911 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wichita , Kansas |
| DATE OF DEATH | July 21, 1950 |
| Place of death | on Eniwetok , Marshall Islands |