Human Memes: John C Woods 

"He ended up claiming he hung about twice as many as he actually did" He's probably just counting all the times he had to hang someone twice.

In all fairness its not as if his former clients could complain about poor service.

German propaganda: we have good transmissions Soviet propaganda: we are going to replace fascism with Democracy American propaganda: our hang man knows what he is doing

ah yes, I love talking about the N U R E M B E R G T R A I L S with my significant other :)

Compare him with Albert Pierrpont, the British hangmen who also executed condemned servicemen and Nazi war criminals: -trained under his father and uncle who were also hangmen -took his job very seriously, described the execution as "sacred". -definitely hanged hundreds of condemned civilian criminals in England before the war. -had experience hanging German spies during the war. -once botched the hanging of a spy who was putting up an intense struggle. The noose ended up catching on the prisoner's nose, which though unusual, ended up producing a perfect hangman's fracture and instant death. -shunned press coverage and publicity, believed a proper hangmen kept a low or anonymous profile. -was an expert in hanging. Trained Austrian executioners in the long drop method. -this whole time he had other jobs; this was supplemental income. -retired in the 50s due to a payment dispute, spent the rest of his time running a pub -later said that he didn't regret his work, but thought the death penalty didn't deter crime. Pierrpont was strongly considered for hangings at the Nuremberg trials but Woods was selected instead.

Solid Mad Lads reference, 10/10

-Sir, we need a hangman for all the war criminals -Bring me the biggest idiot you can find wearing a green uniform

Video: "He electrocuded himself to death..." Me: "Oh so he probably used an electric chair and then his luck ran ou..." Video: "On an engineers lighting kit" Me: "This also kinda checks out"

This is easy to explain... No one else wanted that job. So, when Orders come down the line for a shit tasker... NCO's go around and ask people... if someone says yes... then... mission accomplished! No further requests made to find someone and command is happy and they like you because you found a person to fill the tasker. NO ONE will EVER check the QUALIFICATIONS of the VOLUNTEER..... because if you discover they aren't qualified... you have to go back to asking people.... then you run the risk of not finding someone in time and having to voluntold someone.... then everyone hates you. Besides, how many G.I.'s wanted to come back from WW2 and their big story is, the executed other G.I.'s?

"let me get this straight, you think a Nazi war criminal dying a slow, painful death from a botched execution is funny?" "I do, and I'm tired of pretending it's not"

''The only action he saw was the d-day landing'' Well then send me to stalingrad

"Hey lets surrender to the Americans, they're bound to treat us better than the Russians"

Couple of things: First, standard drop is actually less precise than long drop; it uses the same drop distance for everybody, which means that unusually light people will fail to break their necks (usually just breaking their tracheas and suffocating slowly) and unusually heavy people will be decapitated. The British used long drop (aka measured drop) with the falling distance based on weight and height; their executioner (Pierrepont) was also a sober and seasoned veteran. Woods, being a charlatan, had no idea how to do a measured drop hanging and apparently didn't bother to ask the British for help. Standard drop was much faster and didn't require him to do math. Also worth mentioning that 100% of the people the US judicially hanged in WW2 were convicted of murder, rape or both. The military court-martialed and shot multiple soldiers for various military offenses (including one deserter), but they only brought out the rope for rape or murder. Likewise, the only people hanged by the US after Nuremberg were convicted of murder, mass murder or conspiracy to commit the same. Considering how easy it was to shoot a man (and how many were being shot in combat every day), hanging a soldier was a special mark of dishonor. You hang dogs and pirates by the neck, you shoot soldiers in the heart.

9:15 "people in the comments are like this isnt funny" me: *Hysterically Laughing all video*

He died as he lived, with great ineptitude

this guy really blueballed the Nazi's deaths so hard, masochists will instantly break

For anybody wondering what the flash paragraph at 1:04 is, here it is: “Sorry Lemming and that dude on Twitter, I may have accidentally lied about the timeline for part two’s release. I expect to see a much deserved reddit post for my insolence. This story is just funny and caught my attention. In short, I’m sorry Dad. Please don’t hit me again, I know you’ve been sad since mom left but you don’t have to do this, you said you loved me but this isn’t love. Please stop drinking so we can be a happy family again.” Quite the emotional rollercoaster

Insert bob semple tank meme here regardless of topic*

You have a girlfriend who wants to walk about the Nuremburg trials from a semi-academic perspective? ......Has she got a sister?

For anyone who wants to know how it's done, read into Albert Pierrepoint, the UK's executioner. Against the idea of executions himself, he thought of it as keeping suffering down to a minimum. A real hero is someone who does good whilst knowing they will be vilified.

In a morbid way, this is actually funny. I was laughing at the ironic way he died. Ironic in the way that the two executions he supervised prior to service were by electric chairs, and he died by electrocution.

It's like if Ralph from Simpsons grew up in WW2 and said "I'm hangding!"

“The only action he saw was the D-Day landings.” That’s more than enough action lol.

How one man tripped his way into a high executing position

Navy: This man is unfit for service. Army: Crazy rope boi 4 u now its ww2

I suppose it’s nice to know there are always people who are worse at doing their jobs than I am

I always wondered why they never used Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's hangman. I mean he was in Germany hanging Nazis at the time and that guy had it down to a art.

Johnny: I’m not saying it’s a good thing all these war criminals died in such a lengthy horrible way. Me: “Raises hand” I am.

“All I’m saying is; this guys wiki is really funny to read-“ *ad break immediately* Perfect.

"You're laughing. Those Nazi war criminals' executions were botched and you're laughing"

I can't imagine the mess that would have happened if this guy tried to hang Goering.

"Never saw a hanging go any better" probably true actually...

Nobody: Potential history at 1:18 AM:

"They cant complains, if they hangs!" - John C. Woods

Your man botched the execution! Americans: No he didn’t! Germans: Yes.

its actually pretty funny that he died like a looney toon

Last time I was this early, the Tiger still had a working transmission

John Woods: When putting psychopaths in the army isn’t such a bad thing.

Everyone: Nazi war criminals died a horrible death by a looney hangman Me: ok

i got an idea for you next Human Meme: Mad Jack Churchill the Scottish Chuck Norris of WW2

Nobody: Potential History comments at 2 am: BOB SEMPLE TANK

Awesome... I'd like to see "Why Japan couldn't won WW2"

"You tell me this doesn't sound like Elmer Fudd" "I hanged those ten nazis" *Wheeze*

*JESUS CHRIST POTENTIAL HISTORY IT'S 2:00 AM!!!*

Ever seen the movie Nuremberg John c woods is the guy who goes “state your name” with a southern accent Kinda cute though😳

Beyond the ones in this video, there are several other facts that might interest you and others watching. First, there were major differences between the British and American methods of hanging in the early 20th century. The drop length utilized by the British in their "Official Table of Drops" was adopted in 1913, and used until the British suspended capital punishment in 1965. British executions were efficient and not prone to failure. I believe American drop lengths were shorter (also known as short-drop hanging, versus the long-drop hanging employed by the British), and thus, were prone to a greater rate of failure, or they prolonged the time it took to die. The American drop lengths were revised in 1947 by the Army (it ended up more closely matching the British Table of Drops). Furthermore, the stereotypical hangman's noose that we are so familiar with was actually no longer used in Britain, while it was still used in America. Instead, the British used a kind of eye that formed the noose and kept the size of the noose stable. Picture a metal ring at one end of the rope, and the rest of the rope going through the ring- the noose is formed by the resulting loop. I'm not sure of the reason behind this, but if I had a guess, it would be that the eye method allowed a tighter and more controlled placement of the "knot" to allow a proper neck-snap; this placement was just behind the left ear. Considering that the British success rate at quick executions was far higher compared to the American success rate, I have a hunch I'm right. Your assumption that "10 men in 103 minutes" was far too slow is spot on. Britain's last executioner, Albert Pierrepoint, was renowned for being able to lead a condemned person from their cell and have them hanging dead in roughly 12 seconds. With this in mind, consider how quickly the executions could have gone had Pierrepoint been used instead of Woods. Pierrepoint was actually involved in some of the executions of Nazi war criminals, just not the ones at the Nuremberg trials. He executed 11 Bergen-Belsen officials (plus two others), hanging two men at a time (women were hanged individually). He took his role as an executioner very seriously. Typically, he would come to the prison the night before to set up the correct drop length and then conduct a "dry-run" with a sack the same weight of the person awaiting execution. He viewed his role as a solemn duty and believed that a criminal deserved respect and dignity in their final moments, for they were paying their price to society. For him, it was the utmost importance to conduct the execution with as much dignity and efficiency as possible. Compare that to Woods' comments. If you're going to expand your reading on Woods, I think you should also look into the autobiography by Albert Pierrepoint, titled "Executioner: Pierrepoint." It would make a very nice contrast between the clumsiness and callous attitude of Woods, and the dignified efficiency of Pierrepoint. Great video on a very interesting topic!

No need to lie: It's always hilarious when Nazis die horribly.

World of Warships mixed with transformer sounds like cancer to me

Love the count dankula reference

I'ma be real here, this story is hillarious. Everyone in this whole ordeal got what they deserved ('spect for maybe some of the GIs and Germans Woods hung but... eh). This is now one of my favorite anecdotes from WWII. Thanks Potential!

Bruh, he hanged nazis. Who the hell would complain about how slow and painful their deaths were? I'd expect more complaints about how they weren't slow and painful _enough_

"Everyone you're talking about died!" Man, what a weird coincidence on a HISTORY CHANNEL.

So did you get to watch the Video early? Me: Yes What did it cost? Me: My sleeping schedule

Nuremberg Trial members: If we are to die then we will die seriously, so that history forever knows us. Fate: Yes, but no; I’m going to have you hanged by a guy, in a way that makes a mockery of your death.

Did you consider that he was promoted to head executioner becase he was so bad at it. Maybe some1 higer up wanted them to suffer

Honestly, I can't blame you for laughing. I laughed throughout this video. I think it's more from the perspective of laughing at the sheer lunacy of the story and how it's so bizarre. Somebody couldn't make this up if they tried, and yet here we are. It sounds too good to be true, yet it is true.

Guess he didn't figure out a better title... Still good tho!

1:12 Nice reference on the board behind you. Man of culture

And then one of the greatest and most efficient hangmen of all time, Albert Pierrepoint, was brought in by the British and did an extremely good job at performing the short drop and sudden stop. I still don’t understand how a person can bungle that when there’s literally step by step manuals on how to hang a person.

Right as you said this guy electrocuted himself to death, an ad for an electric powered barbecue grill, cutting in in the most perfect of timing, I sware at this point, RU-vid is sentient.

elmer fudd was a fucking executioner oh my god thats fucking genius

Real hangmen in the day were true professionals. The job was often a family affair, with several family members involved or the job passed from father to son. They knew exactly what they were doing, precisely how far the drop was to be based on the weight and other physical characteristics of the condemned. They took a great deal of pride in making sure the neck snapped as advertised. The guys who were hanging Americans in England were these types of characters. The Army should have known this Wood bozo was not such a hangman. They likely didn't care either.

Finally, The Human meme series is back.

HOW COULD YOU LAUGH... lol I cant even. If there's one group of people you can laugh at with impunity, its war criminals.

Dad! You came back!

Roses are red, violets are blue, please talk about the USS Pueblo

This was funny as hell. And thanks for introducing me to Normundy. I listen to them all the time now!

There is a really good phrase I use when people tell me "don't laugh at Death" "If I don't laugh, I'd cry."

Been waiting a long time for continuation of this series

Now this is a certified allies classic

I find it even more ironic that instead of someone deliberately making these war criminals suffer, it was Fate itself that put an idiot as an executioner! Talk about karma.

You gotta wonder, was this the basis of Elmer Fudd

you should make a video about the true human meme Aimo "Speed" Koivunen, there is only few crappy ones with mistakes and cartoon background. (with some map/video background, thanks pretty)

01:51 ABSOLUTE MAD LAD

i love the reference to mad lads at the start 10/10

Great video. By far my favorite youtuber. This is no mystery, the army has been “fuck up, move up” for years.

You’re laughing at the absurdity of the situation, and that’s okay.

Yes, who else doesnt love talking about the nuremberg hangings with their SO?

I'm liking the new format. Keep it up man!

Navy: I wouldn't even trust this man to kill someone correctly. Army: WRITE THAT DOWN WRITE THAT DOWN!

I think this guys story is the story of persistence and overcoming the odds to make it into the history books.

I felt really bad about laughing at this but it’s just that the army was like “ yep 👍🏻 he’s qualified” and it completely makes sense

No wonder the executions were botched, you can see he can't even tie a proper hangmans noose. Its only distrubing that nobody noticed.

1:51 Count Dankula reference. Love your videos man

_0100 CDT:_ _"HEEEEEEEEEERE'S JOHNNY!"_

I'm not gonna lie, I was laughing a lot at certain points

Lol thanks Johnny glad to have you back

"landed at Normandy on June 6th" could mean a lot of things from first wave to lugging equipment ashore later on in the day. Either way I like to believe he stormed the beaches armed only with a noose.

9:10 I was belly laughing the whole episode

2am upload time, let's gooooooo.

Nice Mad Lads reference there at the beginning. I'm glad you're a man of culture

My High School biology teacher fought in the Philippine, witnessed the Japanese surrender (from a few hundred feet away) and was part of the occupation force. While there, he was part of the troops who were responsible for photographing Japanese war criminals (he made and kept a set for himself) and transporting them whenever they had to be moved, including their last ride.

HE RETURNS!

It also is really funny that a bunch of Nazi war criminals died horribly tho

Now this is a channel that I want whenever I'm depressed.

Army officer: You done this Work before, right? Him: *Yes*

To your end statement: Your video is titled "Human Memes" and John C Wood and his superiors did everything they could to make him a meme. So why not laugh.

9:13 tragedy+time=comedy

Contrast to the British Albert Pierrepoint, who had hanging people down to a fine art. The amateur Woods vs the master Pierrepoint.

The mad lads intro!!! Good onya mate.