The Nazi Regime’s Executioner: Johann Reichhart
Recently Added
•
12m
This episode uncovers the chilling life of Johann Reichhart, one of the most prolific executioners of the 20th century—a man who served both the Weimar Republic, the Nazi regime, and later even the U.S. military authorities in post-war Germany. From his beginnings in a family of executioners to his rise under Nazi rule, Reichhart personally carried out more than 3,000 executions, including those of Hans and Sophie Scholl of the White Rose resistance. Yet behind his precision and loyalty to the regime lies a story of moral collapse, personal tragedy, and the devastating consequences of blind obedience. Was he a willing servant of tyranny—or a man trapped by fate and history? This is the unsettling story of Johann Reichhart.
Up Next in Recently Added
-
The Hangman of Nuremberg: John C. Woods
He lied his way into the hangman’s job. He botched executions. He smiled as men struggled for life at the end of a rope. At Nuremberg, John C. Woods became infamous for delivering slow and agonizing deaths to Nazi war criminals. But who was he—and why did he take pleasure in killing?
-
Operation Barbarossa and the Khatyn M...
On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany launches Operation Barbarossa, invading the Soviet Union and unleashing a war of extermination. In occupied Belarus, entire villages are wiped out in brutal reprisals. One of the most horrifying atrocities occurs in Khatyn, where 149 civilians – including 75 children...
-
The SS’s Bloody Reprisal: Massacre at...
June 1944. As Allied forces storm the beaches of Normandy, the German 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich begins a campaign of terror across occupied France. In the town of Tulle, 99 men are hanged in public as a warning to others. The next day, the same SS unit destroys the nearby village of Oradou...