On Wednesday the 29th of May 1946, a further 14 hangings were carried out.

On Wednesday the 29th of May 1946, a further 14 hangings were carried out. 

They were:

Fritz M. K. Becher (41), a kapo, was the first to die, at 1026 hrs.  He had been convicted of the murder of a Polish priest.

Arno Lippmann (55), an SS-Obersturmführer, followed him at 1031 hrs.

Wilhelm Tempel (37), an SS-Scharführer, died at 1052 hrs. He had worked at Kaufering IV sub-camp and admitted to beating prisoners.

Dr. Wilhelm Welter (33), an SS-Hauptscharführer, followed at 1106 hrs.  Welter (also given as Wettler) and was convicted of making leather goods out of human skin.

Michael Redwitz (45), also an SS-Hauptsturmführer, was dead at 1116 hrs.

Wilhelm Wagner (41), an SS-Hauptscharführer, died at 1135 hrs.

Martin Gottfried Weiß (Weiss) (40), an SS-Obersturmbannführer, was dead at 1146 hrs.  As the Camp Commandant he was held responsible for the abuse of prisoners and for permitting medical experiments on them.

Johann Kick (44), an SS-Obersturmführer, followed at 1319 hrs.

Alfred Kramer (47), an SS-Oberscharführer, was dead at 1327 hrs.  He was convicted of beating prisoners.

Dr. Fritz Hintermayer (34), an SS-Obersturmbannführer and chief physician at the camp was pronounced dead at 1348 hrs.  

Christof Ludwig Knoll (51), a kapo, was dead at 1401 hrs.  Knoll was a habitual criminal who had been incarcerated in Dachau before the war.  He was recruited by the S.S. and beat prisoners to death.

Johann Baptist Eichelsdörfer (56), was certified dead at 1414 hrs. He was the last camp commandant of Kaufering IV sub-camp.

Franz Böttger (57), an SS-Oberscharführer, was dead at 14.25 hrs.  One of his duties at the camp was escorting condemned inmates to the crematorium where they were shot or hanged.  He was convicted of personally hanging one Russian and shooting another.  He had left the camp on the 27th of April 1945 with a forced evacuation march which resulted in some 1,200 deaths.

The final execution of this series was that of 31 year old Leonhard Anselm Eichberger, an SS-Hauptscharführer, who died at 1436 hrs.  Eichberger only had one leg and walked with a crutch.  He was allowed to take this to the gallows with him, but stood on one leg while the preparations were completed.

Unfortunately we only have the time of death, as recorded by the US Medical Officers in attendance and not the time the trap was sprung.

Master Sergeant John C. Woods, a Texan of Irish descent was quite a diminutive man at 5’ 4 1/2”.  (See photo) He had previously hanged around 30 US soldiers.  On the 16th of October 1946 he would hang the first ten men convicted at the Nuremberg trials. 

It is thought that 258 men were hanged by the U.S. Army at Landsberg between November 1945 and June 1951 and a further 29 executed by firing squad.  

Traugott and I have recently published an e-book entitled “Hangmen at War” which is free to view on my main website.