This Date in History: June 23

Werner Best, SS-Obergruppenführer, born July 10, 1903 in Darmstadt, National Socialist legal expert, Reich Commissioner for Denmark, sentenced to death in Denmark in 1946, sentence commuted, released from prison in 1951, died on June 23, 1989 in Mülheim/Ruhr, made the following comment on the on the legality of the Gestapo: “As long as the police carries out the will of the leadership, it is acting legally.”  (2,000 Quotes From Hitler’s 1,000-Year Reich)

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John C. Woods, who had told Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) authorities that he was experienced in mechanical work and whose previous trade had included a mechanic and bridge builder, was assigned as a cook at the CCC camp at Fort Leavenworth (the Headquarters Company for the Missouri District.)  He served in that capacity of through June 23, 1933, and performed in a satisfactory manner.  (American Hangman: MSgt. John C. Woods: The United States Army’s Notorious Executioner in World War II and Nürnberg)