Diary of a Hangman

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Others were more interesting, going into great depth about the criminals, their nicknames, the crimes they committed, and how they went to their deaths. An unusual and fascinating classic of crime and punishment, A Hangman’s Diary is more than a history lesson; it shows the true anarchy that inhabited our world only a few hundred years ago.

That being said though it was still fascinating to see what mattered to them and how they viewed execution, exile, and punishment. Eight years later, in September 1932, after another bout of heavy drinking, Ellis died by suicide, cutting his throat with a razor.

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Some of the offences are horrific and the offenders must have known the consequences of they were caught. Margaret Dörfflerin (50 years old) from Ebermannsstatt, Elizabeth Ernstin (22 years old) from Anspach, Agnes Lengin (22 years old) of Amberg, three child murderesses. An intresting read, John Ellis tells of his encounters with the people he has hanged, there fears and courage they show on the scaffold.Ulrich Gerstenacker, of Class-berg, who drove out with his brother to the wood and slew and murdered him with premeditation, giving out afterwards that the sledge with the wood had fallen on him and killed him—brought in here from Betzenstein and beheaded with the sword, then exposed upon the wheel. Starting the profession at age eighteen (under the supervision of his father), he performed more than 350 executions during his forty-five years of service. Some include extra remarks from Schmidt some personal like "This was my first execution with the sword" (110) while others of a more generic nature like "No one had been executed in the town for 106 years" (186). Item despatched quickly and as described, but damaged in transit due to plastic wrap packaging being inadequate protection.