The Shocking Death Of The Nuremberg Executioner John C Woods
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- Опубликовано: 12 июн 2024
- John C Woods is remembered infamously for being the botching executioner of the Nuremberg Trials. He executed some of the most high profile Nazis of Hitler's government and these did not go well at all. But John C Woods had a rather strange death in 1950, and he died changing a lightbulb rather innocuously. But some suggested that this was more sinister than just a simple mistake. It was a strange demise for a man who made his name executing some of the Second World War's most terrible war criminals.
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Dude couldn't even change a light bulb? Well, he did work for the Government!
Good government is the reason the allies worked in coordination to defeat fascists
@@ATXviIIIe there is no such thing as a "good" government.
True
Makes me think that “Are we the baddies” skit was more of a documentary than a satirical comedy.
@@dumpedclutch8429 Guess you haven't seen a bad one.
How ironic that these Nazis get handed over to an incompetent executioner only to result in extreme agony that normally cannot be legally inflicted.
Diabolical in a way.
@@nicolettebrown2680 Well, think about the ppl they imprisoned, starved and beat. to die slowly over months than a few extra minutes.
He looks like the kind of kid nobody would ever sit next to in the school lunchroom
Wtf is a lunchroom only a lonely nerd calls a cafeteria a lunchroom lol
@@LemonHead-sq5wsyou do know that lunchroom is another word for cafeteria, and that not all people use the same descriptive words?😂
Cafeteria was school, lunch rooms were at work. (Bring your own food, or buy at the cafeteria/smoko truck, for the lunchroom, in my experience).. not seen the Indian movie "the luncbox"?, (a vast delivery system , of home cooked meals, delivered to the workplace, and eaten in a lunchroom).. Cultural thing, I guess..
So the army just took the first person who applied for the job? Sheesh.
Apparently, there were other candidates, but Woods boastfully claimed himself to be an expert.
Then again, what kind of person would want this job?
@@nicolettebrown2680a heap of dudes!! Imagine getting revenge for your dead mates plus being a figure in history
@@henrypollock7987 No doubt
nazis. who cares.
I also believe he was promoted from Private to Master Sergeant when he accepted the Executioner position. Hence, he saw the money and rank, as well.
He also avoided the fate of thousands of other soldiers who were killed, maimed spent time in POW camps or at best, lived uncomfortably on the front for months.
@@DanW-nk7sn Certainly.
Getting ordered about, by paperclip scientists, must have been a treat for him?..
if you read Pierrepoint's story it was written that if you have done it right the body falls straight and thier is no swinging on the rope
There
He was a professional.
This guy wasn't.
@@neilpk70 I heard that Montgomery brought Pierrepoint over to do Britain's executions specifically because of Wood's spectacular incompetence.
As I said earlier, Pierrepoint, was a professional, who had probably forgotten more about hanging than WOODS would ever know. Unless of course as he himself said, "I strangled the bastards" !
@@EndingSimple Churchill wrote to him and asked him to do the job because he would do it humanely. Pierrepoint was opposed to the death penalty and did not want anybody else to have to do it. It was said he could carry out an execution in 13 seconds and the victim barely knew what was happening.
So, the psychopath hanged the psychopaths.
In fact!!!
Psychopath. Is. Correct
Said he had. Hanged. Men and
Women. In the death. Chamber. Texas. U S. Government. Failed to. Take a
Closed. Look at woods. Idea
Of being an executioner. It was nill. All. Woods seen was instant. Promotion plus. A bigger. Wage. One those. He hanged took. 40. Minutes to
Die
The. Way. Woods. Did. Execute. Nazis. A Pierrepoint
Looked upon woods as. Inexperienced. And had a proper idea the man definitely
Had never. Hanged. Any one
He seen. Promotion. And more
Cash😊
What confuses me... this guy went into the army in 1943, and in 1946 he held the rank of master sergeant, 2nd highest enlisted rank...which is an astonishing achievement. And being given poor fitness reports as well.
That's how military works, in reality. Forget what you saw in Hollywood movies.
There are reports that he was elevated to the rank (and pay) of Master Sergeant when he became an executioner.
@@angelzipp It doesn't work that way in today's US military, at least not at that speed it doesn't. You ain't gonna make E-8 no way now how in 3 yrs. I've seen shitbird E-7s pass over a good E-7 within the same promotion zone, but they ain't ever gonna promote someone to E-8 from lower than E-7.
He failed upward, you can be a fuck up but if you last long enough your the only guy available for promotion. Also remember it’s during a war, the guy above may have been moved or killed allowing space for upward mobility
A lot of guys were promoted quickly during the war.
How many incompetent executioners does it take to change a lightbulb?
one?
😂😂😂
Hang on, I’ll get back to you on that one.
What's a lightbulb?.
about 2
Kangaroo court with confessions made under torture.
People who believe those trials were fair and just, could also be convinced that the moon is made of cheese.🙄
☢️
So you want everyone to get all Boo Hooey over fuuking Nazis?
The Germans kept detailed documentation of their plans and these guys were high profile. You are drinking the Koolaid, sad for you.
Most people can stomach cruelty to an evil person, while failing to see that they show the same evil capacity in doing so. What does it cost to show mercy, to an enemy who is going to die(rightfully so)?
Why take satisfaction from the destruction of another? Did they not take the same satisfaction in destroying others, for which they were condemned?
You judge and condemn yourselves as well.
If they wanted an unqualified soldier to do this, they could have promoted one of many thousands who risked their lives in the war rather than reward a psycho who got fat and stayed warm and dry in the rear
It’s says he landed on Omaha, is that not true?
During the landing his unit had 24 casualties so it does sound like he landed on the 6th at Omaha, that wasn't a cake walk for anyone involved. SO yeah, nothing you said is accurate, he was also in Normandy until Sep of 44. Before taking the executioner job. If he was a combat engineer through all of that, he likely saw quite a bit of combat during those months as well, that was a tough advance through rough terrain, engineers had some of the toughest jobs during that. They had to clear the hedges which were inundated with German machine guns and ambushers.
On the other hand, do you really want this dude with you when you re getting shot at?
Better keep him somewhere in a closet
He landed on d-day, lol. That alone was more combat than most saw during ww2.
Either his supiriors knew he would make nazis suffer and used woods for being able to deny being responsible or it was simple karma applied by the universe for these nazis.
Or just plain karma. Karma can be a bitch…
Yeah, you don’t want karma’s after you!! Karma is pretty bad, karma’s even worse type of karma…
this is a supirior comment
Is that how karma works?
What if what you have said is both correct?
Most US troops were executed at Shepton Mallet by Albert Pierrpoint
Pretty sure MOST US troops returned home after the war.
@@chuckschillingvideos sorry I meant the Us criminals not normal GI s
In WW1 they used firing squads. I don't know why they switched to the gallows when men qualified to shoot were abundant.
Could he change a lightbulb?
I go out of my way to like every one of your videos, even when the subject isn't as interesting to me (like 90% of them are) I can just tell how much hard work you put into your content, it shows. Keep on making videos my friend, I'll keep on smashing the thumbs up button
He made a hopeless botch of the executions. Compare his idiocy with the professionalism of Albert Pierrepont. He wasn't fit to be a member of the military in any capacity, much less as a senior NCO. I don't understand how he got away with his lies and incompetence, especially seeing as he got thrown out of the navy. Makes you think about recruiting procedures at the time.
At that time in history they needed masses of men to join the ranks under the high brass
probably it was a job nobody wanted. It takes a psycho to do this work.
@@walterkreuzman3802Believe me Albert Pierrepoint was no psycho. He was, and his father before him a Professional. Albert was a Publican in Swindon in the UK. Apparently he had a sign behind the Bar that said “No Hanging around the Bar”
Albert was the foremost Executioner at the Nuremberg Trials. He always Judged the weight of the people he Hanged. And he always inspected the rope. His aim was to cause them the least amount of distress possible. His estimate is if I remember correctly two minutes between him seeing the person and pulling the trap door. His ropes were always stretched and tested before the Hanging by bags of sand. He was a professional. The British Government would have had no other.
Maybe they were desperate
Why the mystery, look at our CEO's and politicians!😂
Changing a light bulb? I was an electrician, and even if the switch was on, you shouldn't get a shock from a light bulb change, unless the hot wire was wired to the outer threaded part of the bulb socket, rather than the center conductor in the socket... IE the socket had to be wired backwards...
it wasn't a light bulb. There are too many stories going around to know for sure, but the plausible story is that he was trying to repair a damaged power cord. The light bulb thing is just to make him seem more stupid. I think he was obviously stupid, but the people who hired him, promoted him, and kept him in that position were far more stupid than he was. The only possibility that they were not stupid, is if they chose an incompetent fool because they knew he would "botch" the hangings. I just assume the "mistakes" were 100% intentional, either by him or his superiors, knowing his capabilities (or lack thereof).
I can imagine a fictitious movie about his exploits starring Slim Pickens as Woods.
I really like your work. The college professor in me has one constructive criticism: In your scripts, notice the frequency with which you use "and" to connect phrases. The flow of your script will in most cases benefit from separating each point/phrase into its own sentence, dispensing with the "and" connector. Consider that the "connector" leads the listener to think the next phrase is directly related to what was just said, when often that's not the case as your story goes along. Instead, it's kind of like a verbal tick, if you apply the analogy to writing! 🙃 Just a minor thought that crossed my mind - you have solid scripts, good work, and good production.
Poetic that his incompetence also brought about his own premature end.
All that expense for fancy chairs when a tin tub & a light bulb would do ?
20 minutes to die? The Russians made sure Amon Goth took longer than that. But then he was a uniquely evil man.
Yeah, but with the Russians it was a deliberate decision from the state, for woods it was his own choice/ incompetence against the official punishment of torture.
@@zeedustrakok imagine feeling for nazis
Literally shocking.
Was this the xecutioner a JEW? I THINK SO
I was gonna say breath taking
In 1968, I lived for a time in Saint Louis in a rooming house on West Pine. An Army 😮veteran of the European Front of World War II also rented a room there, and he told me stories about serving with Woods. In particular the man told of marching condemned American soldiers to the gallows and being under orders to shoot to kill if the prisoner broke away and tried to run. Maybe it was considered a humanitarian thing to do rather than to catch the man and force him to continue the walk to his hanging. It seems to me that the man who talked about this must have been an M.P., a Military Policeman. Once the prisoner was on the gallows platform, with the noose around his neck, Woods would say to him, “You are sentenced to be hanged by the neck until you are dead, dead, dead”. Then he would open the trap doors to drop the man to his death. The story teller told me that he heard from other veterans that Woods was transferred to the Pacific Theater and there began work on an electric chair to perform executions. The story was that Woods had prisoners helping with the work, and was deliberately killed by electrocution while in contact with wiring that was switched to “hot” by a prisoner.
A comment on one of the comments: in England and Ireland , the word “electrocution” does not necessarily mean getting a fatal shock, as it does in the U.S., but simply getting an electric shock.
Oh well
Did he “miscalculate” or did he do it on purpose?
I doubt that he was capable of any calculation, but yes, botched on purpose.
Secret genius?
The allies were efficient at doing horrible stuff and portraying themselves as the good guys
Yes, SGT Woods botched the executions, but these guys are a hard bunch to feel sorry for.
Impossible to feel sorry for
Unless you're a Nazi sympathizer
One comment removed 🤫
100%. I mean, I just kinda shrugged while hearing this.
Does that also go for the us soldiers who's hanging he botched?
What comes around goes around, shocking 😮
No, what goes around, comes around.
It's not a tumor
-Adolf Schwarzenegger
The UK Government would not permit the US military to carry out executions by hanging on British soil, as their methods were considered inefficient and unnecessarily cruel. Most were carried out on their behalf on proper British gallows by proper British hangman, usually Albert Pierrepoint. There is an official US Army film of the executions at Landsberg Prison, where John C. Woods can be seen alternating with a dapper looking man dressed in grey pinstripe trousers and a black jacket, typical of a middle-level British civil servant. I have assumed that this was Mr Pierrepoint. It was interesting, in a morbid way to watch the differences in technique. Woods used a very heavy canvas hood and placed the slipnot at the back of the condemned's neck, whereas Pierrepoint used a light hood and placed the knot below the condemned's jaw so as to guarantee a broken neck and a swift death. Both were psychopaths in my opinion, but only Woods was a sadist.
Literally shocking....
Really gonna call him out for making Nazis suffer during their execution? Really???
amazing story 👍
they got off lightly !!
No
"What do ya mean 'botched'? He's dead isn't he?" -John C. Woods.
Boo Hoo. Sgt Woods may, or may not, have botched these executions. Considering the millions who suffered worse fates by their hands, did anyone at the time lose any sleep over it?
Those who care about humanity should have and hopefully did. The Allies were supposed to be the Good Guys, it was people like Woods who let the side down. The irony of course is that he also executed American soldiers from 1944 onwards. Those American soldiers would have been mostly black and found guilty of rape and murder of British and French citizens (white American soldiers found guilty of said crimes, were generally given a slap on the wrist and told not to do it again!). Britain and France were, after all, American Allies. So we have an incompetent executioner, incompetently executing his own countrymen for the sexual abuse and homicide of his country's allies. And to cap it all, when called on, after Nuremberg, to execute men guilty of the most heinous crimes ever, instead of doing it in a civilised and humane method (as much as that can be done) chose to lower himself to the standards of the enemy! Which raises the question, with friends like the Yanks, who really needs enemies?
So his work being comparable to our enemy’s actions is of little consequence?
@@oldcremona Not even close.
@@oldcremona who cares what anyone thinks. It sickening how soft men have become. Save your sympathy for victims. These was some of the most evil that has ever lived.
They were sentenced to death. They died. They weren't worked and starved to death.
He botched his own Death 🪱
So he caused Nazis to suffer their executions,So what ?
Regardless of who's being executed, you don't lower yourself to their level.
@@leeweesquee You don’t speak for me.”An Eye for an Eye”,
@@philheath9854What did these men do to deserve suffering death? Can you tell me?
There's justice and there's revenge. Some people think the two are one in the same. Others don't. That's the main line separating the people in the comments, here. "Cruel and unusual" is a thing we try to avoid in America, but some people think there are villains in this world who deserve the worst. It's just a different belief, and that's okay.
@@Dasistrite So you didn’t watch the video and you have never heard about Nazis.
He probably didn’t want to say, that he had participated in lynchings.
I remember when I was in the Army, sitting in a room full of other soldiers. A sergeant can in the room and announced that the Army was looking for volunteers to process large amounts of corpses. There was a warning about the likely long term psychological effects the job would cause to anyone who accepted a position. I'm so glad I knew better than to volunteer. But somewhere, someone must have volunteered - and now they're either probably completely insane or dead. Because if the Army is warning you about the psychological toll a job is going to have on you - you know it's going to be bad. I imagine this hangman job was filled in a similar way. Some Army brass needed a "special" volunteer and they found this psychopath, who was willing to say whatever the Army needed him to say in order to absolve themselves of guilt.
Although Woods screwed up the executions, the sufferings of those men were nothing like the sufferings they did upon others. Karma is a beach
Okay drop a few names and the things they did.. Bet you cant without google. Im tired of people wishing death for people they dont know or havent even heard of.
Ding ding, I think we found the Nazi.
Woods's bio came out about five years ago. An excellent read.
Karma is Real.
A light bulb?
He stepped on a high voltage generator cable.
This story has apparently changed over the years.
Whether Woods intentionally or unintentionally “botched” the executions doesn’t matter. He did his job and I don’t feel remorse for anyone who suffered during their hanging. It sickens me that the possible suffering of a condemned person by a trial is considered more important than the victims suffering. I have German heritage on both sides of my family and understand the position a lot of German’s were faced with concerning the Nazi’s. That being said,I still do not agree with the extermination they inflicted upon many. Just my opinion…
I heard a lecture taped at the International Spy Museum from a psychoanalysist named Joel Dimsdale who had done a study of the Nuremberg defendants based Rorschach test results performed while the men had been in captivity.
Dimsdale, who I believe was at Harvard, said that a number of years before he his study, had been visited in his office by a man who dumped off a stack of paperwork ( that I believe regarded himself ) and said something to the effect that he was the killer and that he had not regretted a thing. I Don't recall if Dimsdale's lecture made anymore mention of this man or this episode for certain but I am leaning against but Dimsdale would be easy enough to track down if it was an area of sufficient interest to you. By the way I like your videos and I believe that I am a subscriber if not I will be in a matter of seconds!
He was probably the inspiration for the hangman, Sgt Carl Morgan in the novel, The Dirty Dozen.
Consequences of lying on your resume? It is getting awarded the position.
Working for the government is the only place this guy could thrive. Incompetence is award and promoted in the government. If you hang around long enough you may even become president.
He favors Robin Williams 😂
Love the video title⚡️
A Nazi was made to suffer? That's terrible!
oh the humanity
How did he make it to Master Sergeant?
By understanding what a wink and a nod meant, when he was told, don't mess up the calculations.
I read about the American Hero John C Woods in a book called "Good enough for Government work", it said in a little add on at the end of his story that "John Woods could have only been better if he had just leaned on a shovel and let the Nazis choke to death on the rope while telling sports stories to them, that would have been more like a modern Federal worker."
I bet you're a big fan of Ted bundy as well
No mention of the coerced false confessions .
winners write the histbooks
but we all know how full of shit the US of A actually are...rewrite your books all you want...
There were no tears, shed for John C. Woods LOL !
Yes the Nazis suffered too much! I feel so bad for the ones who started the holocaust, and started world war II. Obvious sarcasm,
@@r39erzz6 He also executed American soldiers, condemned to die. I would guess, they also died a low and agonizing death.
So easy to check with OK and TX.
OK, I got one.. stop me if you heard this...
How many Executioners does it take to change a lightbulb?
Apparently, more than one.
Shocking.
To be fair, those nazis had karma come calling, except in this case, it had a name and face.
US soldiers were executed at Shepton Mallett prison in England by Pierrepoint. An interesting story for you in the future.
Oh he botched the executions....... what a shame....
Oh dang.. they suffered
Not much of an electrician either.
“…..You're everything we've come to expect from years of government training.”
_"he was just following orders"_
Literally. USGI Trooper does not follow orders and he might get shot by own troopers. Same for German soldiers.
Woods learned his lesson of what goes around comes around and every dog has his day.
9:20 "Electrocuted AND killed" - good heavens.....😂😂😂
According to most definitions someone can be electrocuted and injured
I've been electrocuted and I am still alive - there seems to be a different understanding of the word by Americans.
@@geoffboxell9301 "Electrocuted" means "killed by means of electricity". You've had an "electric shock" (like most people have had in their lives) which is totally different. However, my remark was meant as a joke - which obviously you did not get.
@@Gennettor-nc8kx Only in America! Cultural differences. "We are one people separated by a common language".
@@geoffboxell9301 And by a sense of humor.
Oddball
What a beast!
Woods couldn't even make a proper hanging knot!!! Look at the disaster of nooses he's pictured with.
The British had stopped using the hangman's knot for executions in the 19th C. The noose used by the British consisted of a metal eye spliced into one end of the rope, the noose being formed by passing the other end through it. The metal eye was placed under the left side of the jaw and at the end of the measured drop, broke the neck at C2 vertebrae.
Wood conducts electricity.?
Yes if it isn't totally dry.
🤣
Going to be honest: I'd have a hard time properly calculating the drop distance, too, considering who I was hanging...
Looking at the thumbnails you can tell he really found his calling being a hangman
Pot calling the kettle Beige 😅😅😅
Proof that the Armys old slogan Be All You Can Be was inspired by Woods
How many executioners does it take to change a light bulb?
one?
Wow! Our dumb bureaucracy was alive and well back then. Feel sorry for the condemned U.S. servicemen but was divine intervention for the Nazis
A bit oldie testament…nah , no devil in devine.
How is being electrocuted , "Innocuous"?
Woods was either incompetent, a sadist or both.
There were probably few tears shed for John C. wood as he was such a dunce!
Dumb like a fox.
That's horrible
This guy is like a dark, yet real life version of Forest Gump
So… why was an E-8 changing a light bulb?…
??????????????????
Woods was an E-8 in the Army. They are high level mangers. Not light bulb changers.
@@forwhatitsworth9958I’d never call an NCO high level manager. Either mid level or the assistant of a high level manager.
@@zeedustrakokE-8 is a SNCO.
The saying "Pulling my leg". Comes from the hanging of people.
Can you imagine being executed because you were the editor of a newspaper? Lol
He was executed for being the editor of a newspaper that incited the holocaust. There are limits to freedom of speech. And, don't you forget.
@@johnkelly3886 no, there are limits to your actions there are no limits to freedom of speech. And don't you forget.
@@marks6663 There are even limits on the right to life, more so the freedom of speech. The speech of the Nazi propagandists were materially causative of WWII and the holocaust. The Weimar Republic failed in its duty to suppress such incitement. It is time to throw off the primitive jurisprudence of the eighteenth century.
If the US maintains a doctrine of absolute rights, it will go the same way as the Weimar Republic. Scots and Roman Dutch law have progressed to a view of rights, as being a dependency network of mutually supporting and constraining rights.
@@johnkelly3886 he wrote a newspaper for the people, supposedly only the military knew anything about the h caust, how would he be inciting it
@@thug588 The propaganda encouraged ordinary people to blamed, fear, hate, de-humanized, monster, socially isolate, ghettoized, assaulted, brutalized and murder the Jews and others. When they were publicly brutalized and coerced, when they disappeared from society, from the ghettos, few objections were heard, few questions were asked. All this should be familiar: this is what the thinly disguised neo-fascists are doing to gay and trans people to day.
Yeah, he was no better than the ones he was hanging.
"miscalculated"...."botched"..😂😂😂
"miscalculated" air quotes
He did swell.
Yes he did
Bad actually
👍👍👍
Oh, he may have had hangin' experience b4 the war
They made this man a master sergeant?!
Not enough amperage in at 110 volt light circuit to kill. 110 will give me a little jolt, whereas 220 has knocked me off my feet.
A typical 120 VAC circuit has a 15 A fuse (or circuit breaker these days).
The current that might be fatal is 30 mA, or 0.030 A.
The actual current where it flows is as much a matter of luck as anything.
P.S. The 240 VAC circuits in an North American house is just two 120 VAC "split phase", and both wires are "just" 120 VAC from ground.
@@JxH- The 220 shock that knocked me down was in a factory.
Amperes kill, Volts hurt.
Can confirm 220V isn´t very nice...in fact, I almost "John C. Wood"-ed myself...not changing a bulb but fiddling with the cables and not having flipped the breaker...fortunately I was standing on a bed so I fell soft and the short I had created auto-dissolved (pheeew)...my arm hurt for 4 days straight...
Thank you John C Woods
He was killed by electrocution. A method we later used for executions. Is that irony?
nah, just a tragedy viewed via a mirror... "bbbzzzzzzzTT!"
It’s a condition to be defiant to “ authority” ? I’ve only heard that from “authority”.
John C. Woods is in Hell.
This is just about the perfect A24 psychological horror movie
I knew a WWII vet who knew him personally. The story I got was that he got orders from high up to make their deaths painful. Fake credentials? Maybe so. But I trust my old friend's story.
This is shocking.
😆😆