Talk:Johann Reichhart

John C. Woods
I'm not entirely clear whether Reichhart supervised Woods or if he worked for him, since I've read contradictory explanations regarding this (albeit largely hearsay since "it was on the Internet somewhere"). Unfortunately the Gerould book doesn't really clarify their working relationship. Chris 10:05, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Middle name Baptist
I have not yet found a source for his second christian name being "Baptist" and therefore added the relevant warning. --Kauko56 07:03, 10 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure I understand: I've already provided the citation (Gerould, p.242). I've therefore removed the warning again. &mdash; Chris  (blather • contribs •  e ) [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-5).svg|20px]] 09:36, 10 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Now that I think about it, I had a look at the French page which also listed his middle name at some point and I see it's been removed; my understanding of French is so poor I had to use Google translate to get the gist of the reasoning, but it's led me to wonder if Gerould's sources have incorrectly translated his name via the French. If so, I guess the point is whether we want to question one of our sources or not!  But it is worth mentioning that Gerould only mentions Reichhart in passing, so it's likely that he hasn't done extensive research into his background.  With that in mind, if you haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere, perhaps it should be removed... &mdash; Chris  (blather • contribs •  e ) [[Image:Flag of the United Kingdom (3-5).svg|20px]] 14:12, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Comments moved from article
I've moved the following comments here, as they belong on the talk page: The above information on J Reichhart differs from information from my uncle, Joseph H Williams, who wrote a book, Captor Captive, based on his assignment as assistant commandant at Landsberg from fall 16 until November 48.

He is very much alive in September 2006 and said today that Woods was there when he arrived and that John Woods and Joseph Malta participated in the Nuremberg hangings. Woods was fired for talking to the press about classified matters. Joseph Malta, aka Boston Blackie" took over from him and was fired by my uncle for demanding a heated sedan be sent for him. It was AFTER Malta was fired that he says a German with a long history of being an executioner was brought in and with his two sons as apprectices. He said he only participated in about 3 executions and was paid 10.00 each. The German then trained the next executioner, a volunteer named Norville)(SP?) I can send a text of his book to anyone interested. tomjax at yahoo.com I would appreciate any clarification or correction on these matters. My uncle said Reichhart may have been ther before he arrived in Fall 46, but does not think so. My uncle prepared the condemned for execution and knew them very well. If you could obtain more information about Reichhart including citations it would be great if you could add them to the article. You also seem to know quite a bit about John Woods, so I think it'd be good if you could put something together for an article about him, too (doesn't have to be much, anything is good). Remember to include references where possible, and bear in mind the guidelines on original research. — Chris (blather • contribs •  e )  21:33, 17 September 2006 (UTC)

Reichhart stopped working as an executioner at Landsberg end of May, 1946. Source: Dachs, Tod durch das Fallbeil, p.120 - see my translation of the relevant passage below. Since Lt. Joseph H. Williams, as said above, did not arrive at Landsberg before "Fall 46", he may have seen him in action only at those three quoted executions. His testimony is nevertheless valuable since I do not know of another source attributing any hanging to Reichhart after May 46.

Quotation from Dachs, p. 120, translation mine:

"On 1 April 1946, Reichhart hanged two SS members in Landsberg, and during the night of 28th to 29th May, 14 more. Then he declined to execute more death sentences. He had heard through the grapevine that two of the executed persons had been innocent, victims of a mixing up of names, because American investigators had done sloppy work. After that, Reichhart had to fear to be imprisoned again. „Better into the slammer than murder an innocent once more”, he said to a warden in Landsberg prison.

But Reichhart was so good with the rope that, within a little, it came NS executioner Reichhart’s way to execute the death sentences of the NS dignitaries sentenced in the Nuremberg War Criminals Trial. But the Military Government thought twice. Reichhart had to instruct Master Sergeant Hazel Woods in the „art of killing quickly on the gallows”. The gallows, too, on which the nazi celebrities sentenced in the Nuremberg Trial were hanged, were erected under Reichhart’s direction." --Kauko56 12:42, 24 June 2007 (UTC)

"the most prolific executioner of modern times"
I'm against the word 'prolific' in this context. Etymologically, it means 'creation', 'birth', etc. What the heck it has to do with a man professionally dedicated to destruction, murder and assassination??? Thanks. 201.19.179.107 16:32, 14 February 2007 (UTC)

"the most prolific executioner of modern times" - where does it say that?
Maybe I missed it but I can't find the word "prolific" anywhere in the article or discussion.

However, if the word is present, the Encarta definition of the word "prolific" is as follows:

pro·lif·ic

adjective Definition: 1. highly productive: producing ideas or works frequently and in large quantities

2. fruitful: producing a lot of fruit or many offspring

3. abundant or abounding: present in large numbers, or containing large numbers of quantities of something, especially animal life a period prolific of creative achievement

Therefore, the word "prolific", if it does appear, applied with the first Encarta definition would be dispassionately justifiable to describe Reichhart's career.

Whistlekiller 17:36, 3 March 2007 (UTC)