de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Reichhart
1 correction found
vollstreckte 156 Hinrichtungen verurteilter nationalsozialistischer Kriegsverbrecher.
The number 156 is not compatible with the documented execution timeline at Landsberg before Reichhart stopped working there in May 1946. A scholarly source explicitly says this figure is impossible.
Full reasoning
A scholarly source cited in the mirrored article itself states that the often-repeated number of 156 postwar hangings by Reichhart is impossible: Thomas Raithel's Die Strafanstalt Landsberg am Lech und der Spöttinger Friedhof says, in substance, that so many executions had not taken place in Landsberg by May 1946.
That matters because Reichhart is described there as having been employed by the U.S. military government only until the end of May 1946. An independent date-by-date list of executions at Landsberg shows only 36 hangings total up to 29 May 1946:
- 3 on 19 Nov 1945
- 1 on 10 Dec 1945
- 1 on 24 Jan 1946
- 2 on 1 Apr 1946
- 28 on 28–29 May 1946
Even if every one of those had been carried out by Reichhart, that still falls far short of 156. So the specific figure 156 is contradicted by the documented execution record and the May 1946 cutoff.
I am not asserting an exact alternative total here, because sources differ on the precise number Reichhart personally carried out after the war. But the article's figure of 156 is too high and is specifically identified as impossible by the historical source above.
2 sources
- DeWiki > Johann Reichhart
The page quotes a footnote from Thomas Raithel's book: 'Die gelegentlich zu lesende Zahl von 156 Gehängten ist unmöglich. So viele Hinrichtungen haben bis Mai 1946 in Landsberg nicht stattgefunden.' It also says Reichhart was employed by the U.S. military government 'bis Ende Mai 1946'.
- Persons Hanged After World War II Under US Jurisdiction - Capital Punishment UK
The Landsberg execution list shows 3 hangings on 19/11/1945, 1 on 10/12/1945, 1 on 24/1/1946, 2 on 1/4/1946, and 28 on 28-29/5/1946 before later executions in September 1946 and after. That is 36 hangings total through 29 May 1946, not 156.