This article examines the life and career of John C. Woods – the American hangman who executed ten senior Nazi war criminals at the Nuremberg Trials on October 16, 1946. The content is for educational and historical documentation only, based on trial records, contemporary eyewitness accounts, and historical sources. It does not aim to glorify violence or advocate for any political ideology.
John C. Woods: The American Hangman at the Nuremberg Trials
John Clarence Woods remains one of the most controversial figures of the post-war era – the American master sergeant who carried out the executions of the highest-ranking Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg. Born in 1911 in Wichita, Kansas, Woods grew up in poverty and instability, working various jobs before briefly joining the U.S. Navy but being dishonorably discharged with a diagnosis of “mental disability.” However, his troubled past did not prevent him from enlisting in the U.S. Army after America entered World War II.
In 1944, when the Army announced it needed an executioner, Woods volunteered – lying that he had experience. In reality, he had never executed anyone before. Woods supervised dozens of military hangings in France before being selected to carry out the sentences handed down by the Nuremberg Tribunal.
On October 16, 1946, in a gymnasium inside the prison, he executed ten senior Nazi officials – including Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and Julius Streicher. The procedures did not unfold as smoothly as intended. Witness accounts describe difficult final moments for several of the condemned. Some believe Woods’ technique was flawed, whether due to inexperience or intentional factors.
Despite international criticism, Woods expressed only pride in his work. He publicly stated: “I hanged those ten Nazis… and I am proud of it.” He claimed to have executed hundreds – though the actual figure was closer to ninety – and carried two pistols, fearing German retaliation.
After the war, Woods was reassigned to the Marshall Islands to assist with U.S. atomic and aerospace programs. On July 21, 1950, he died suddenly from electrocution while repairing a lighting fixture. Although the Army concluded it was an accident, rumors persisted that it was payback for Nuremberg.
1. Early Life: From Kansas to Military Service
John Clarence Woods was born in Wichita, Kansas, in 1911. His early life was marked by economic hardship and family instability. He left school at a young age and worked a series of odd jobs – from farm laborer to construction worker – struggling to find stable employment.
In the 1930s, he briefly joined the U.S. Navy, but his military career nearly ended before it began. He was dishonorably discharged with a diagnosis that contemporary records described as “mental deficiency” or “lack of mental capability.” The exact nature of his condition remains unclear, but the discharge was a deep humiliation.
After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Woods enlisted in the U.S. Army. Despite his troubled past, the Army accepted him, and he was assigned to the 37th Engineer Combat Battalion.
2. The Accidental Hangman: Volunteering for the Job
In 1944, as Allied forces advanced through Europe, the U.S. Army faced a growing need for executioners. Military courts were sentencing soldiers to death for crimes such as murder and rape, and someone had to carry out those sentences.
When the call went out for volunteers, Woods stepped forward. He claimed to have prior experience as an executioner – a claim that was entirely false. In reality, he had never hanged anyone in his life. But the Army was desperate, and Woods’s confidence was convincing.
He was sent to France, where he supervised the executions of dozens of U.S. soldiers convicted of capital crimes. By all accounts, these hangings were carried out competently. Woods learned on the job, developing a method that he believed was efficient and humane – though his technique would later be called into question.
3. The Nuremberg Trial: Sentencing the Nazi Elite
The Nuremberg Trials were the first international war crimes tribunals in history. From November 1945 to October 1946, the leading figures of the Nazi regime were tried before an international court composed of judges from the United States, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and France.
On October 1, 1946, the tribunal delivered its verdicts. Twelve defendants were sentenced to death by hanging. One (Hermann Göring) committed suicide the night before his scheduled execution. The remaining eleven were to be hanged on October 16, 1946.
The task of carrying out these executions fell to John C. Woods. He was assisted by another American executioner, Joseph Malta.
4. The Executions: A Controversial Procedure
The executions took place in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg Prison. The gallows had been constructed specifically for this purpose – a wooden scaffold with two trapdoors, designed to allow multiple hangings to proceed quickly.
Woods used the short-drop method, which relies on a calculated drop distance to achieve neck fracture. However, the outcomes were not as intended. Several of the condemned experienced prolonged final moments. Witnesses described difficult scenes that lasted much longer than expected.
Joachim von Ribbentrop, the former German foreign minister, was among those who suffered an extended death struggle. Julius Streicher, the virulently antisemitic publisher of Der Stürmer, also had a particularly difficult end. One journalist present noted that the procedures did not go as planned.
The causes of these difficulties remain disputed. Some observers attributed them to Woods’s inexperience or miscalculations. Others suggested that the equipment may have been improperly configured. A few believed that Woods deliberately prolonged the deaths out of contempt for the condemned.
5. Reactions: International Criticism
News of the problematic executions spread quickly. Allied officials were embarrassed. Human rights advocates were troubled. Many questioned why an inexperienced executioner had been entrusted with such a momentous task.
Some believed that Woods had deliberately mishandled the executions out of hatred for the Nazis. Given that he had publicly expressed pride in his work and contempt for his victims, this theory is plausible. Others argued that Woods was simply incompetent – that he had lied about his experience and was unqualified for the job.
The U.S. Army launched a formal investigation. Woods defended his actions, insisting that the hangings had been carried out correctly. He pointed out that all eleven condemned men were dead – and that was the only metric that mattered.
6. Woods’s Defense: Pride and Boasting
In interviews after the executions, Woods expressed no remorse. To the contrary, he boasted about his role in history.
“I hanged those ten Nazis,” he told reporters, “and I am proud of it. I wasn’t nervous. I was just doing my job. I slept like a baby that night.”
He claimed to have executed hundreds of people in his career – though the actual number was closer to ninety. He estimated that he had personally hanged 347 people in France before coming to Nuremberg, a figure that historians have been unable to verify.
He also carried two pistols with him at all times, fearing that German sympathizers might try to assassinate him in retaliation for the Nuremberg executions.
7. The Göring Suicide: A Last-Minute Escape
The most famous Nazi defendant, Hermann Göring, cheated the hangman. The night before his scheduled execution, he bit into a cyanide capsule hidden in his cell. He died within minutes.
Göring’s suicide deprived Woods of the opportunity to hang the Reichsmarschall – a fact that reportedly frustrated Woods. He had been looking forward to executing the highest-ranking Nazi of them all.
8. Woods’s Final Years and Mysterious Death
After Nuremberg, Woods remained in the U.S. Army. He was reassigned to the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, where he worked on support projects for America’s nascent atomic and aerospace programs.
On July 21, 1950, Woods was working on an electrical lighting fixture at Eniwetok Atoll. Somehow, he came into contact with a live wire and was electrocuted. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Army officially ruled his death an accident. But rumors immediately began to circulate. Some believed that Woods had been murdered – that someone had sabotaged the electrical system as revenge for the Nuremberg executions. Others speculated that he had committed suicide, haunted by guilt over his role in the executions.
No evidence has ever emerged to support these theories. But the timing – just four years after Nuremberg – and the strange circumstances of his death have fueled speculation for decades.
9. The Legacy of John C. Woods
John C. Woods remains a deeply controversial figure. To some, he was a patriot who did his duty – a man willing to perform a grim but necessary task. To others, he was incompetent, and his flawed technique caused unnecessary suffering. And to a few, he was a vengeful executioner who deliberately inflicted pain on the condemned.
What is certain is that the Nuremberg executions were far from the model of clean, dignified justice that the Allies had intended. The spectacle of powerful Nazi leaders dying in visible distress was not the image of justice the world had hoped to see.
But perhaps, some have argued, that was fitting. The Nazis had inflicted unimaginable suffering on millions. Perhaps it was appropriate that their own deaths were neither quick nor dignified.
10. A Flawed Executioner, An Imperfect Justice
John C. Woods was not the ideal choice to carry out history’s most famous executions. He was inexperienced, unqualified, and perhaps even cruel. The hangings he performed were problematic, and the suffering he inflicted was unnecessary.
But Woods did not act alone. The Allied leaders who chose him share responsibility. The Army that failed to verify his credentials shares responsibility. And the Nazi regime that created the need for these executions bears ultimate responsibility.
Woods died in 1950, electrocuted while fixing a light. Whether accident, suicide, or revenge, his death was as sudden and unexpected as the deaths he had inflicted on others.
He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery – a final resting place that seems almost ironic for a man who spent his final years feared and reviled.
But the controversy over his work at Nuremberg continues to this day. And the question – was John C. Woods a patriot, a bungler, or a vengeful executioner? – remains unanswered.
Primary Sources:
Nuremberg Trial transcripts (1945–1946)
U.S. Army execution records – John C. Woods personnel file
Contemporary newspaper reports – The New York Times, The Guardian (1946–1950)
Witness accounts of the Nuremberg executions
U.S. National Archives – Nuremberg execution photographs and records
Wikipedia – John C. Woods / Nuremberg executions