MEET THE HANGMAN FOR THE THIRD UNITED STATES ARMY AT THE NUREMBERG EXECUTIONS [PRO DEATH PENALTY QUOTE OF THE WEEK ~ SUNDAY 21 JULY 2013 TO SATURDAY 27 JULY 2013]

The Hangman, John C. Woods who carried out the Nuremberg Executions died on this date, 21 July 1950. In memory of him carrying out his duty as an executioner, I will post information about him from Wikipedia and his Pro-Death Penalty Quote. 

Master Sergeant John C. Woods

INTERNET SOURCES: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_C._Woods &  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_executions

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. 

Master-Sergeant Woods readies the Gallows at Nuremberg in 1946.

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.

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.

(SOURCE: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=73369257)