This Date in History: July 25

 

Heinrich Hierthes, SS-Standartenführer, was born in Neuberg on July 25, 1897.  He served as the commander of the 3rd SS Totenkopfstandarte “Thüringen” (the guard troops) at the Buchenwald concentration camp from 1937 to 1940.  He later served in the Waffen-SS Cavalry Brigade (under Hermann Fegelein) on the Eastern Front, winning the Iron Cross First Class.  Hierthes died in a Soviet prisoner of war camp in 1951-1953.  (The Camp Men: The SS Officers Who Ran the Nazi Concentration Camp System)

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The military flew the remains of Master Sergeant Woods from Eniwetok Atoll to Hawaii for an autopsy, which was performed at 4:00 p.m. on July 25, 1950 – almost four days after the incident – by Captain John K. Frost at Tripler Army Hospital.  His summary was approved by Major Gilbert B. Stansell, Chief of Laboratory Service at Tripler.  (American Hangman: MSgt. John C. Woods: The United States Army’s Notorious Executioner in World War II and Nürnberg)