Johann Reichhart
Encyclopedia
Johann Reichhart was a German
executioner
. He kept detailed records of his work which amounted to 3,165 executions.
Johann Reichhart was born in Wichenbach near Wörth an der Donau
into a family of executioners going back eight generations to the mid-eighteenth century which included his uncle Franz Xaver and his brother Michael. His career began in 1924 and spanned the time of the Weimar Republic
and the Third Reich
. Reichhart executed over 3,000 people, most of them during the period 1939 – 1945 when, according to his own records, 2,876 were put to death. In the latter years the executions were largely from heavy sentences handed down by the Volksgerichtshof
(the People's Court) for political crimes such as treason
, including Sophie
and Hans Scholl
of the German resistance movement White Rose
. Most of these sentences were carried out by Fallbeil (meaning "drop hatchet", also known as the Fallschwert meaning "drop sword"), a shorter, largely metal re-designed German version of the French guillotine
.
Despite the enormous workload he was asked to complete, Reichhart was very strict in his execution protocol, wearing the traditional German executioners' attire of black coat, white shirt and gloves, black bow-tie and top-hat (or zylinder). His work took him to many parts of occupied Europe
including Poland
and Austria
. His request to the German government for permission to exceed the national speed limit
while on his way to executions was denied.
He claimed during questioning that, toward the end of the war, as the allied armies closed in, he disposed of his mobile Fallbeil in a river.
Following VE Day, Reichhart, who was a member of the Nazi Party, was arrested and imprisoned in Landsberg for the purposes of de-nazification but not tried for carrying out his duty of judicial executioner. He was subsequently employed by the Occupation Authorities until the end of May 1946, to help execute 156 Nazi war criminals at Landsberg am Lech
by hanging. He cooperated with Allied
chief-executioner Master Sergeant John C. Woods
in the preparations for further executions of those found guilty and sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Trials
.
Reichhart is generally considered to have carried out more executions than any other practitioner; however, this is not the case. The most prolific executioner in all of recorded history was Vasili Blokhin
, a Soviet Major General, who executed 7,000 prisoners in twenty-eight days, more than doubling Reichhart's lifetime total.
Reichhart sought to reduce the time taken during an execution and to make the suffering of the condemned as short as possible. In view of this aim, he was instrumental in removing the tilting body board of the Fallbeil and relying on a fixed bench to which the condemned were physically restrained by two or three assistant executioners, thus removing the time-consuming act of buckling straps around the condemned's body. This shortened the elapsed time of the decapitation
to only three or four seconds.
Reichhart's office made him a lonely and disliked person, even after abolition of the death penalty in West Germany
in 1949. His marriage failed, and one of his his sons, Hans, committed suicide in 1950 due to his association with his father's profession.
When, in 1963 there were public demands, during a series of taxi driver murders, for the re-introduction of the death penalty in West Germany, Reichhart was vocal in his support for this legislation. He also maintained that the preferred method should be the guillotine
as it was the fastest and cleanest method of execution.
Reichhart died in Dorfen
near Erding
in 1972.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
executioner
Executioner
A judicial executioner is a person who carries out a death sentence ordered by the state or other legal authority, which was known in feudal terminology as high justice.-Scope and job:...
. He kept detailed records of his work which amounted to 3,165 executions.
Johann Reichhart was born in Wichenbach near Wörth an der Donau
Wörth an der Donau
Wörth an der Donau is a town in the district of Regensburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Danube, 22 km east of Regensburg.- References :...
into a family of executioners going back eight generations to the mid-eighteenth century which included his uncle Franz Xaver and his brother Michael. His career began in 1924 and spanned the time of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
and the Third Reich
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. Reichhart executed over 3,000 people, most of them during the period 1939 – 1945 when, according to his own records, 2,876 were put to death. In the latter years the executions were largely from heavy sentences handed down by the Volksgerichtshof
People's Court (German)
The People's Court was a court established in 1934 by German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, who had been dissatisfied with the outcome of the Reichstag Fire Trial . The "People's Court" was set up outside the operations of the constitutional frame of law...
(the People's Court) for political crimes such as treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, including Sophie
Sophie Scholl
Sophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans...
and Hans Scholl
Hans Scholl
Hans Fritz Scholl was a founding member of the White Rose resistance movement in Nazi Germany.-Biography:...
of the German resistance movement White Rose
White Rose
The White Rose was a non-violent/intellectual resistance group in Nazi Germany, consisting of students from the University of Munich and their philosophy professor...
. Most of these sentences were carried out by Fallbeil (meaning "drop hatchet", also known as the Fallschwert meaning "drop sword"), a shorter, largely metal re-designed German version of the French guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
.
Despite the enormous workload he was asked to complete, Reichhart was very strict in his execution protocol, wearing the traditional German executioners' attire of black coat, white shirt and gloves, black bow-tie and top-hat (or zylinder). His work took him to many parts of occupied Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
including Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. His request to the German government for permission to exceed the national speed limit
Speed limit
Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...
while on his way to executions was denied.
He claimed during questioning that, toward the end of the war, as the allied armies closed in, he disposed of his mobile Fallbeil in a river.
Following VE Day, Reichhart, who was a member of the Nazi Party, was arrested and imprisoned in Landsberg for the purposes of de-nazification but not tried for carrying out his duty of judicial executioner. He was subsequently employed by the Occupation Authorities until the end of May 1946, to help execute 156 Nazi war criminals at Landsberg am Lech
Landsberg am Lech
Landsberg am Lech is a town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg am Lech....
by hanging. He cooperated with Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
chief-executioner Master Sergeant John C. Woods
John C. Woods
John Chris Woods was an American Master Sergeant and the hangman for the Third United States Army at the Nuremberg Trials.-The executions in Nuremberg Prison:...
in the preparations for further executions of those found guilty and sentenced to death at the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
.
Reichhart is generally considered to have carried out more executions than any other practitioner; however, this is not the case. The most prolific executioner in all of recorded history was Vasili Blokhin
Vasili Blokhin
Vasili Mikhailovich Blokhin was a Soviet Major-General who served as the chief executioner of the Stalinist NKVD under the administrations of Genrikh Yagoda, Nikolai Yezhov and Lavrenty Beria...
, a Soviet Major General, who executed 7,000 prisoners in twenty-eight days, more than doubling Reichhart's lifetime total.
Reichhart sought to reduce the time taken during an execution and to make the suffering of the condemned as short as possible. In view of this aim, he was instrumental in removing the tilting body board of the Fallbeil and relying on a fixed bench to which the condemned were physically restrained by two or three assistant executioners, thus removing the time-consuming act of buckling straps around the condemned's body. This shortened the elapsed time of the decapitation
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
to only three or four seconds.
Reichhart's office made him a lonely and disliked person, even after abolition of the death penalty in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
in 1949. His marriage failed, and one of his his sons, Hans, committed suicide in 1950 due to his association with his father's profession.
When, in 1963 there were public demands, during a series of taxi driver murders, for the re-introduction of the death penalty in West Germany, Reichhart was vocal in his support for this legislation. He also maintained that the preferred method should be the guillotine
Guillotine
The guillotine is a device used for carrying out :executions by decapitation. It consists of a tall upright frame from which an angled blade is suspended. This blade is raised with a rope and then allowed to drop, severing the head from the body...
as it was the fastest and cleanest method of execution.
Reichhart died in Dorfen
Dorfen
Dorfen is a town in the district of Erding, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 18 km east of Erding and 29 km south of Landshut....
near Erding
Erding (district)
Erding is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Landshut, Mühldorf, Ebersberg, Munich and Freising.-History:...
in 1972.