AUDIO | EN PRIMERA CLASE | VERDUGOS: NO MATARÁS | SALVADOR GARCÍA, SALVADOR ORTEGA Y CARLOS FUERTES

In this episode of First Class, we analyze the figure of the executioner through testimonies, historical documents, and expert analysis. We are joined by Salvador García Jiménez, professor and author of the book "Thou Shalt Not Kill," who offers a historical perspective on the evolution of the death penalty in Spain. Alongside him, forensic experts Carlos Fuertes and Salvador Ortega Mallén contribute their technical knowledge on how executions were carried out and the lasting impact they had on both the condemned and those who performed them. Pay attention to the bonus features, as we delve into the global and historical context of this much-feared figure! In 19th and 20th century Spain, there was a profession that embodied the darkest and most contradictory aspects of society: that of the executioner. They were state officials responsible for carrying out death sentences, yet they lived apart from the society that employed them. Feared, ostracized, and frequently rejected by their neighbors, these men practiced a profession that combined the demand for absolute coldness with almost total social marginalization. -------------- THE EXECUTIONER IN THE HISTORICAL AND WORLD CONTEXT The figure of the executioner is not exclusive to Spain. Since antiquity, civilizations such as Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Rome had official executioners. However, it was from the Late Middle Ages onward that the profession of executioner began to professionalize and become more clearly stigmatized in Europe, becoming in many cases a hereditary position. It is important to distinguish between the executioner (the one who physically carries out the punishment) and the executioner (a recognized, regulated, and socially stigmatized profession). -------------- LACK OF SKILL AND FAMOUS CASES The technical ineptitude of some executioners has been recorded in history. One of the most well-known cases is the execution of Thomas More in 1535, in which the executioner needed several blows to separate his head from his body. Centuries later, during the Nuremberg Trials, the American executioner John C. Woods was harshly criticized for his lack of skill in executions by hanging. During the French Revolution, the introduction of the guillotine aimed to make executions faster and more “egalitarian.” However, its widespread use during the Reign of Terror transformed it into an instrument of mass death. Both Robespierre and Marie Antoinette were executed by this method, which symbolized both equality before death and revolutionary terror. --------------- THE PROFESSIONAL OF DEATH AND THE INCAPABLE EXECUTIONER One of the executioners with the highest number of attributed executions in history was Charles-Henri Sanson, executioner of Paris during the French Revolution. Along with his family, he is credited with thousands of executions, although the exact figures remain a subject of debate among historians. History also records instances of role reversal. There have been executioners who ended up being executed by their own colleagues. During the Nazi regime, cases were documented of military personnel like that of officer Albert Battel: a member of the Wehrmacht who in 1942 opposed the extermination of the Jewish population of Przemyśl, thereby saving the lives of some 240 Jews and being recognized in 1981 as "Righteous Among the Nations." In the case of Corporal Josef Schulz, after refusing to participate in the execution of a group of Yugoslav partisans, he was shot alongside them in July 1941. ---------------- GEORGE STINNEY: THE BOY IN THE ELECTRIC CHAIR One of the most controversial episodes of the 20th century is the execution of George Stinney, a 14-year-old boy executed in the electric chair in South Carolina (United States) in 1944. Due to his short stature, he had to sit on a Bible to reach the electrodes. His case, considered today a grave judicial injustice, has been remembered in works such as The Green Mile, which reflects the brutality of executing someone so young. ---------------- CULTURAL REFERENCES The world of executioners has been the subject of both literary and historical reflection. Works such as Honoré de Balzac's "The Executioner" and Victor Hugo's "The Last Day of a Condemned Man" have addressed the moral dimension of capital punishment. In the realm of essays, Salvador García Jiménez's book "Thou Shalt Not Kill" offers one of the most comprehensive approaches to the topic within the Spanish context. ----------------- If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to the channel, turn on notifications, like, comment, and share. And if you'd like, you can also buy me a digital coffee via Bizum. Anything you do is greatly appreciated! Vidal Somohano (historian, editorial graphic designer, radio expert, and social media content developer) - +34 660 850 431 | [email protected]