⚠️ SENSITIVE HISTORICAL CONTENT WARNING ⚠️ This post discusses the executions following the Nuremberg Trials and the U.S. Army executioner who carried them out. This post is shared solely for historical education and to document the legal consequences of the Nuremberg Trials. It is not intended to glorify violence, promote hatred, or offend any individual or group. We remember these events to honour the victims of Nazi crimes and to reinforce the importance of justice, human rights, and “Never Again.”
John C. Woods – The Nuremberg Hangman (1946)
John Clarence Woods (1911–1950) was the U.S. Army master sergeant who personally carried out the hanging of ten senior Nazi war criminals sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Trials.
Brief Background
Born in Wichita, Kansas, into poverty. Dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Navy in 1929 with a diagnosis of “psychopathic personality.” In 1944 volunteered as an executioner for the U.S. Army, despite having no prior experience.
The Nuremberg Executions – 16 October 1946
Inside the prison gymnasium in Nuremberg, Woods hanged the following ten convicted war criminals: Joachim von Ribbentrop · Wilhelm Keitel · Ernst Kaltenbrunner · Alfred Rosenberg · Hans Frank · Wilhelm Frick · Julius Streicher · Fritz Sauckel · Alfred Jodl · Arthur Seyss-Inquart
Eyewitness accounts (from journalists and Allied military personnel) noted:
Ropes were too short and knots were incorrectly tied.Most condemned men died by slow strangulation (10–25 minutes) rather than the intended instantaneous neck break.
Some historians believe Woods deliberately botched the hangings out of hatred for the Nazis; others argue it was simply lack of skill.
After Nuremberg
Woods openly boasted: “I hanged those ten Nazis… and I am proud of it. ”He continued as an executioner for the U.S. military in Europe and the Pacific. On 21 July 1950, Woods died from electrocution while repairing a light fixture on Eniwetok Atoll (Marshall Islands). The Army ruled it accidental, though rumours of revenge have persisted.
Whether seen as a symbol of rough justice or a reminder of the imperfections in post-war retribution, John C. Woods remains one of the most controversial figures connected to the Nuremberg executions.
Reliable sources:
Kingsbury Smith (International News Service reporter – direct eyewitness)
U.S. National Archives – Nuremberg execution records
Joseph Persico, “Nuremberg: Infamy on Trial” (1994)
Richard Overy, “Interrogations: The Nazi Elite in Allied Hands” (2001)