What is known about SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, one of the lesser known Blood Purge victims?
According to Jean Philippon, he accompanied Heines from Breslau to Wiessee and was arrested during the raid at Pension Hanselbauer, being taken to Stadelheim. From there he was transferred to Dachau together with three others (Neumayer, Vogel, Schweighardt) on the evening of July 1st and shot in the cell block.
Could he have been the "mysterious", unidentified sleeping companion of Heines? Some sources call the man "Max" but I think this is a confusion with SA-Ostuf. Max Vogel, Röhm's driver (who, according to Kempka, was allowed to move the Stabschef's car before he was arrested).
SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
According to a study on the Schleicher-murder I read a few months back, one of the four SA-men shot in Dachau in the evening of July 1st, exclaimed the words "Hoch Heines" ("Long live Heines!") as they were executed. Since Schieweck was the only one of the four (the others being Vogel, Neumayr and Schweighardt) who was from Breslau the author reasons that it was most likely Schieweck who exclaimed those words as they were gunned down by the firing squad. He adds the assumption that Schieweck probably was the man in Heines' bedroom, who according to Rosenberg was about 18, because all the other men on the list of those executed were to old to be that person, so that Schieweck - whose age is not given in the list - would be the only remaining candidate.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
Thanks a lot for your reply! 
What is the study you are referring to? I always thought I have gone through every detailed description of executions but once and while something new comes up. That "Hoch Heines!" comment, if really shouted by Schieweck on the moment of his execution at least confirms that he aligned his allegiance especially to Heines and can be taken as circumstantial evidence that Schieweck indeed was his sleeping companion at Wiessee.
What was the source for that "incriminating" comment by Schieweck? It must have been someone who was present during executions, either someone later pardoned or a member of SS units involved in.
What is the study you are referring to? I always thought I have gone through every detailed description of executions but once and while something new comes up
. That "Hoch Heines!" comment, if really shouted by Schieweck on the moment of his execution at least confirms that he aligned his allegiance especially to Heines and can be taken as circumstantial evidence that Schieweck indeed was his sleeping companion at Wiessee.What was the source for that "incriminating" comment by Schieweck? It must have been someone who was present during executions, either someone later pardoned or a member of SS units involved in.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
The study was some kind of thesis (a master or magister paper, I presume) on the Schleicher murder, trying to verify/disprove the claim by a former Heydrich-collaborator named Orbs that Schleicher was shot by an SD-man named Johannes Schmidt as the attempt to arrest Schleicher on behalf of a certain Hermann Behrends went awry when Schmidt suffered a panick attack. I found it as I checked all the books on Schleicher in my University's Library while preparing a seminar paper on his Policy of the Traverse.
The author also examines some of the other killings taking place on that day in order to draw conclusions by analogy. In the section on the Dachau killings he quotes a witness-testimony by a man called Zerfrass who was prisoner in Dachau in 1934. According to Zerfrass' account he mangaed to see how Schieweck and his cronies died, because Theodor Eicke (who had taken those four along from the Munich prison to Dachau right after shooting Röhm) ordered his guards to have other prisoners watch the execution of the four SA-men in the evening of July 1st. As far as I recall the report the four man must have been pretty courageous in the face of death inviting the shooting squad to get their job done (saying something like "Na schießt doch!", I'm not sure about the perfectly nuanced translation, but it is something along the line of "Come on! Get down to it and shoot") and tearing open their shirts. Another detail about those four that astonished me is that Röhm's driver Max Vogel according to that essay was not Röhm's lover but a cousin of his and a non-homosexual backed up by the claim that he was arrested by Hitler's chauffeur Kempka while he was in bed with a woman and the reference to an extramarital child Vogel was having from an earlier affair.
By the was, does anyone know whether the driver in this picture could be Vogel? I have been trying to figure that out for months? During his death Vogel was an Obersturmführer, I'm not sure about the rank the collar-patch of the driver is indicating.
The author also examines some of the other killings taking place on that day in order to draw conclusions by analogy. In the section on the Dachau killings he quotes a witness-testimony by a man called Zerfrass who was prisoner in Dachau in 1934. According to Zerfrass' account he mangaed to see how Schieweck and his cronies died, because Theodor Eicke (who had taken those four along from the Munich prison to Dachau right after shooting Röhm) ordered his guards to have other prisoners watch the execution of the four SA-men in the evening of July 1st. As far as I recall the report the four man must have been pretty courageous in the face of death inviting the shooting squad to get their job done (saying something like "Na schießt doch!", I'm not sure about the perfectly nuanced translation, but it is something along the line of "Come on! Get down to it and shoot") and tearing open their shirts. Another detail about those four that astonished me is that Röhm's driver Max Vogel according to that essay was not Röhm's lover but a cousin of his and a non-homosexual backed up by the claim that he was arrested by Hitler's chauffeur Kempka while he was in bed with a woman and the reference to an extramarital child Vogel was having from an earlier affair.
By the was, does anyone know whether the driver in this picture could be Vogel? I have been trying to figure that out for months? During his death Vogel was an Obersturmführer, I'm not sure about the rank the collar-patch of the driver is indicating.
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Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
By far the most interesting account about the Babelsberg killings was one provided by H.S. Hegner in his "Reichskanzlei 1933-1934" book (my copy is a Finnish translation). Please see my earlier thread about that, in case you haven't seen it yet: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 8&t=138832
SS-DAL 1934 does not include anyone named Solm. I also tried some variations of the surname in case it was repeatedly misspelled but again without success. My conclusion is that either the account of this "Sturmführer Solm" was completely fictional or for some reason the real name of the person was not published.
Dr. Johannes Schmidt is not commonly* mentioned in connection with the Schleicher murder but I think it is entirely possible that either Heydrich or Behrends entrusted him with that task. I find it very interesting that Heinrich Orb was given as source for that information. According to Charles Browder, Orb was most probably a pen-name for the former chief of "Sonderbüro Stein". Browder also suggests that he (Orb) was also behind another well-known contemporary book dealing with Gestapo, this time using the pseudonym Hansjürgen Koehler.
More confusing is that I suddendly came across the name Heinrich Orb while browsing the list of known arrestees of Columbia-Haus:
Interestingly, Schmidt was not promoted in the aftermath of the Blood Purge (he received his Hstuf. promotion only in 1937!) nor was able to climb to the highest ladder of later RSHA organization, remaining somewhat of a shadowy figure. Perhaps he fell out of favor for some reason. Max Williams mentioned him as one of the earliest SD colleagues of Heydrich, already back in Munich.
* = usually the studies dealing with Blood Purge simply "credit" Heydrich and either a group of SS or Gestapo men (and either in plainclothes or in black uniforms) of arranging the killing of Schleicher and carrying it out.
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This account of a prisoner named Zerfrass is very interesting since it directly challenges the usual assumption that the purge operations, including killings, were kept strictly out of public eye whenever possible. I think it was J. Philippon in "Nuit des Longes Couteaux" who stated that all victims taken to Dachau were shot in the "Bunker" and not in the courtyard. Also the comments associated with these four SA men ("Na schießt doch!" etc) are very similar to those often repeated in connection with last words of those executed at Stadelheim.
My opinion is also that Max Vogel was not a homosexual associate of Röhm. Interestingly, Eleanor Hancock in his lately published detailed biography of Röhm does not mention if Vogel was his cousin or not. That was suggested at least by John Toland, quoting Kempka as his source if I remember correctly.
I think the driver in that often published photo is not Max Vogel but possibly a member of SA-Hilfspolizei Gruppe Berlin-Brandenburg, part of Staff of Karl Ernst (note the Prussian six-pointed police star in the kepi). Usually Hilfspolizei (forerunner of Feldjägerkorps) personnel wore Prussian Schupo greatcoats and not SA ones, also the position of the police star in the cap is very uncommon. His rank seems to be that of SA-Oberscharführer.
SS-DAL 1934 does not include anyone named Solm. I also tried some variations of the surname in case it was repeatedly misspelled but again without success. My conclusion is that either the account of this "Sturmführer Solm" was completely fictional or for some reason the real name of the person was not published.
Dr. Johannes Schmidt is not commonly* mentioned in connection with the Schleicher murder but I think it is entirely possible that either Heydrich or Behrends entrusted him with that task. I find it very interesting that Heinrich Orb was given as source for that information. According to Charles Browder, Orb was most probably a pen-name for the former chief of "Sonderbüro Stein". Browder also suggests that he (Orb) was also behind another well-known contemporary book dealing with Gestapo, this time using the pseudonym Hansjürgen Koehler.
More confusing is that I suddendly came across the name Heinrich Orb while browsing the list of known arrestees of Columbia-Haus:
It seems that Heinrich Pfeiffer was his real name. There is also an article in German edition of Wikipedia about Pfeiffer:http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_P ... dienst_SS)Orb, Heinrich (d.i. Heinrich Pfeiffer), late 1934-early 1935, ausführlicher Bericht, sehr unklare und oft falsche Angaben
Interestingly, Schmidt was not promoted in the aftermath of the Blood Purge (he received his Hstuf. promotion only in 1937!) nor was able to climb to the highest ladder of later RSHA organization, remaining somewhat of a shadowy figure. Perhaps he fell out of favor for some reason. Max Williams mentioned him as one of the earliest SD colleagues of Heydrich, already back in Munich.
* = usually the studies dealing with Blood Purge simply "credit" Heydrich and either a group of SS or Gestapo men (and either in plainclothes or in black uniforms) of arranging the killing of Schleicher and carrying it out.
--
This account of a prisoner named Zerfrass is very interesting since it directly challenges the usual assumption that the purge operations, including killings, were kept strictly out of public eye whenever possible. I think it was J. Philippon in "Nuit des Longes Couteaux" who stated that all victims taken to Dachau were shot in the "Bunker" and not in the courtyard. Also the comments associated with these four SA men ("Na schießt doch!" etc) are very similar to those often repeated in connection with last words of those executed at Stadelheim.
My opinion is also that Max Vogel was not a homosexual associate of Röhm. Interestingly, Eleanor Hancock in his lately published detailed biography of Röhm does not mention if Vogel was his cousin or not. That was suggested at least by John Toland, quoting Kempka as his source if I remember correctly.
I think the driver in that often published photo is not Max Vogel but possibly a member of SA-Hilfspolizei Gruppe Berlin-Brandenburg, part of Staff of Karl Ernst (note the Prussian six-pointed police star in the kepi). Usually Hilfspolizei (forerunner of Feldjägerkorps) personnel wore Prussian Schupo greatcoats and not SA ones, also the position of the police star in the cap is very uncommon. His rank seems to be that of SA-Oberscharführer.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
According to the study on Schmidt I read he left the Oberabschnitt Ost in September 1934 to complete his education at a Thuringian State Court in Gotha, later being transferred to Weimar where he became the right-hand man of Walter Ortlepp and Chief of the police-department in the Ministry for the Interior. After the war he was taken into an US-Internment Camp and released in 1949. He wriggled out of prosecution arguing that he did not actively enter the SS but instead was attached to it automatically, being an aspirant to the state service. However the study contains some documents proving that Schmidt was already involved in national-socialist news gathering activities in Thuringia in 1931, even though he was no yet member of the SS then. The study points also out that Pfeiffer was born in a city called Bad Orb and that may be the reason why he chose the nome de guerre of Orb.
Johann Heinrich König who was executed in Dachau on the 2nd of July as a member of Röhm's entourage was an SA-Oberscharführer. Some sources say he served as a chauffeur to Röhm, so he might be the man in the picture.
Apparently only Kahr was shot in the bunker in Dachau: Stempfle, Beck and a few others were shot outside the camp on meadows and forests. According to the Zerfrass report the other prisoners were at first ordered to clear the scene and get into their accomodations by the guards (so it may have been common practice to avoid witnessing executions) as the four SA-men were being prepared to be shot. However, Eicke himself intervened, telling his men that there was no need to chase the detainees away, cynically rationalising that it might have some paedagocial value to have the other prisoners look at the executions.
Johann Heinrich König who was executed in Dachau on the 2nd of July as a member of Röhm's entourage was an SA-Oberscharführer. Some sources say he served as a chauffeur to Röhm, so he might be the man in the picture.
Apparently only Kahr was shot in the bunker in Dachau: Stempfle, Beck and a few others were shot outside the camp on meadows and forests. According to the Zerfrass report the other prisoners were at first ordered to clear the scene and get into their accomodations by the guards (so it may have been common practice to avoid witnessing executions) as the four SA-men were being prepared to be shot. However, Eicke himself intervened, telling his men that there was no need to chase the detainees away, cynically rationalising that it might have some paedagocial value to have the other prisoners look at the executions.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
Very interesting information again. I think the excerpts you mentioned come from the book "Dachau. Eine Kronik" by Julius Zerfass (real name apparently Walter Hornung). It was published in Switzerland in 1936 and seems to be listed by various antiquarian bookshops online.
Regarding Röhm's entourage in Bad Wiessee, do you have any additions or corrections to the list I tried to compile cross-checking my sources (main source being the list of entries at Stadelheim prison on June 30th)? According to Hancock and Heinz Höhne, there were ca. 15 of them.
1. SA-Obergruppenführer Edmund Heines
2. SS-Brigadeführer Robert Bergmann, adjutant.
3. SA-Gruppenführer Dr. Emil Ketterer, personal physician (the only one of the group who was not arrested)
4. SA-Standartenführer Julius Uhl, commander of Stabswache Röhm and personal bodyguard
5. SA-Obersturmführer Max Vogel, driver(?)
6. SA-Oberscharführer Johann Heinrich König, driver.
7. [SA rank unknown] Leopold Hofmeister, vehicle mechanic
8. SA-Truppführer Josef Höfl or Hölfl
9. Johann "Hans" Holschrieder or Holtsch-Rieder, personal valet of Röhm (a civilian?)
10. SA-Obertruppführer Martin Schätzl, long-time friend of Röhm, brought his uniform from Munich on June 29th.
11. [SA rank unknown] Friedrich Vollmer
12. SA-Scharführer Karl Daller
13. SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck
If I have understood correctly the postwar accounts of certain witnesses (Kempka, Wilhelm Brückner), members of the Stabswache Röhm were not arrested at Wiessee but disarmed and possibly arrested later, apparently by mobilized squads of SS-Sturmbann Dachau and Austrian Legion/Pol.Bereitschaft München which had been dispatched to Wiessee but were not available during the initial round-up.
Regarding Röhm's entourage in Bad Wiessee, do you have any additions or corrections to the list I tried to compile cross-checking my sources (main source being the list of entries at Stadelheim prison on June 30th)? According to Hancock and Heinz Höhne, there were ca. 15 of them.
1. SA-Obergruppenführer Edmund Heines
2. SS-Brigadeführer Robert Bergmann, adjutant.
3. SA-Gruppenführer Dr. Emil Ketterer, personal physician (the only one of the group who was not arrested)
4. SA-Standartenführer Julius Uhl, commander of Stabswache Röhm and personal bodyguard
5. SA-Obersturmführer Max Vogel, driver(?)
6. SA-Oberscharführer Johann Heinrich König, driver.
7. [SA rank unknown] Leopold Hofmeister, vehicle mechanic
8. SA-Truppführer Josef Höfl or Hölfl
9. Johann "Hans" Holschrieder or Holtsch-Rieder, personal valet of Röhm (a civilian?)
10. SA-Obertruppführer Martin Schätzl, long-time friend of Röhm, brought his uniform from Munich on June 29th.
11. [SA rank unknown] Friedrich Vollmer
12. SA-Scharführer Karl Daller
13. SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck
If I have understood correctly the postwar accounts of certain witnesses (Kempka, Wilhelm Brückner), members of the Stabswache Röhm were not arrested at Wiessee but disarmed and possibly arrested later, apparently by mobilized squads of SS-Sturmbann Dachau and Austrian Legion/Pol.Bereitschaft München which had been dispatched to Wiessee but were not available during the initial round-up.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
I seem to recall that Vollmer was the chauffeur of Ritter von Krausser who was arrested at the Central Train Station in Munich - not in Wiessee - as he attempted to rescue his boss when the police/SS apprehended him.
Spreti-Weilbach was definetly present in Wiesee. Some reports claim that Hitler personally attacked him with some kind of dog- or hippo-whip, severely wounding him by thrashing him into the face.
The study also quotes some SD man named Göttsch who claimed that Alfred Naujocks and he were ordered to travel to Prague on the 1st of July to kill Otto Strasser, yet failed to do so because they could not get close enough to carry out their assignment. Göttsch also claimed that Naujocks boasted to have been involved in the killing of Erich Klausener - so he may have been the never identified accomplice of Kurt Gildisch during the Klausener murder.
By the way: In his memoirs Papen relates the story that during his second trial in Nuremberg (before a German court) he met a former Police official whom he calls Bruno G. (either a fellow defendant or a witness in that trial), who is supposed to have told him that he, Bruno G., in the evening of June 30th was ordered to pick up the dead body of Herbert von Bose in Papens Vice-Chancellery and take it to the morgue and who lated was also assigned to the task of searching the Papen Ministry for incriminating evidence, tying Papen and his aides to the Röhm-Group. I've been trying to identify Bruno G. but have not managed to do so. I've got a list of about 140 SS- and Police men who were promoted after the events of June 30th to July 2nd - however the only man named Bruno whose family name starts with the letter G. is one Bruno Gesche who was a bodyguard of Hitler and therefore highly unlikely to be sent to the Papen office to implement a task like searching for evidence, which takes some level of criminalist savvy that Gesche hardly possessed.
Spreti-Weilbach was definetly present in Wiesee. Some reports claim that Hitler personally attacked him with some kind of dog- or hippo-whip, severely wounding him by thrashing him into the face.
The study also quotes some SD man named Göttsch who claimed that Alfred Naujocks and he were ordered to travel to Prague on the 1st of July to kill Otto Strasser, yet failed to do so because they could not get close enough to carry out their assignment. Göttsch also claimed that Naujocks boasted to have been involved in the killing of Erich Klausener - so he may have been the never identified accomplice of Kurt Gildisch during the Klausener murder.
By the way: In his memoirs Papen relates the story that during his second trial in Nuremberg (before a German court) he met a former Police official whom he calls Bruno G. (either a fellow defendant or a witness in that trial), who is supposed to have told him that he, Bruno G., in the evening of June 30th was ordered to pick up the dead body of Herbert von Bose in Papens Vice-Chancellery and take it to the morgue and who lated was also assigned to the task of searching the Papen Ministry for incriminating evidence, tying Papen and his aides to the Röhm-Group. I've been trying to identify Bruno G. but have not managed to do so. I've got a list of about 140 SS- and Police men who were promoted after the events of June 30th to July 2nd - however the only man named Bruno whose family name starts with the letter G. is one Bruno Gesche who was a bodyguard of Hitler and therefore highly unlikely to be sent to the Papen office to implement a task like searching for evidence, which takes some level of criminalist savvy that Gesche hardly possessed.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
It appears that Friedrich Vollmer was actually an SA-Standartenführer (interestingly that is the only rank ever attributed to him, other sources simply mention him as "Vollmer" without specifying the rank). I am not sure if the name of the driver of von Krausser was mentioned in the original source for that story (which I think is the description by Bennecke) but indeed his driver was arrested and detained for a while. His identity still needs some additional research.
Yes, you are right with Spreti-Weilbach being there. I completely forgot him from the list. Regarding descriptions of events at Bad Wiessee, it seems that there are over dozen versions with more or less different details, probably originating from 3-5 actual witness statements (Schaub, Brückner, Kempka, Robert Bergmann - are there still others?).
It is all news to me that Naujocks was probably involved in the Blood Purge in such a notable role. Perhaps coincidence but the assignment to assassinate Otto Strasser sounds very similar to later, ascertained murder operation taking place in Prague - that of Rudolf Formis in 1935 (Naujocks was with Göttsch that time too).
Btw, have you managed to find out names of LAH men assigned to firing squads either at Stadelheim (commanded by Otto Reich) or Lichterfelde (commanded by Keilhaus)? I think Lehmann is the most detailed publicly available source on LAH activities and he does not mention them by name, only stating that at the outbreak of WWII, most of them had already left LAH. They were all NCOs and were subsequently promoted by one rank.
Yes, you are right with Spreti-Weilbach being there. I completely forgot him from the list
. Regarding descriptions of events at Bad Wiessee, it seems that there are over dozen versions with more or less different details, probably originating from 3-5 actual witness statements (Schaub, Brückner, Kempka, Robert Bergmann - are there still others?).It is all news to me that Naujocks was probably involved in the Blood Purge in such a notable role. Perhaps coincidence but the assignment to assassinate Otto Strasser sounds very similar to later, ascertained murder operation taking place in Prague - that of Rudolf Formis in 1935 (Naujocks was with Göttsch that time too).
Btw, have you managed to find out names of LAH men assigned to firing squads either at Stadelheim (commanded by Otto Reich) or Lichterfelde (commanded by Keilhaus)? I think Lehmann is the most detailed publicly available source on LAH activities and he does not mention them by name, only stating that at the outbreak of WWII, most of them had already left LAH. They were all NCOs and were subsequently promoted by one rank.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
Friedrich Vollmer held the rank of SA-Obertruppführer. He was transfered from the SA-Leibstandarte to the OSAF on 10.11.33.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
Thanks, laurens! . That clears things up a bit. What actually was that "SA-Leibstandarte"? I have always thought that it was simply a regular SA-Standarte which was given an honourary title but was it something similar to SA-Stabswache units - armed and members serving full-time?
. That clears things up a bit. What actually was that "SA-Leibstandarte"? I have always thought that it was simply a regular SA-Standarte which was given an honourary title but was it something similar to SA-Stabswache units - armed and members serving full-time?Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
The SA-Leibstandarte was called after the Kgl. Bayer. Infanterie-Leib- Regiments, and was the oldest SA-Regiment. Besides together with the Schutzenstandarte 1, and Jäger-Standarte 3 of Gruppe Hochland, the SA-Standarte formed the three elite Standarten of the SA.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
Hans Otto Meissner, the son of Otto Meissner, relates in his memoirs "Junge Jahre im Reichspräsidentenpalais" how he witnessed the execution of Karl Ernst and some others in Lichterfelde. Meissner had joined the SS-Motor-Brigade in 1933 in order to be accepted to the Foreign Office (membership in at least one organisation was mandatory). And on June 30th the members of the Berlin Motor-Brigade were summitted to the Kadettenanstalt Lichterfelde. Meissner identifies a former schoolmate of his as the man who commanded the firing squad that killed Ernst, but does not give a name.mty wrote:
Btw, have you managed to find out names of LAH men assigned to firing squads either at Stadelheim (commanded by Otto Reich) or Lichterfelde (commanded by Keilhaus)? I think Lehmann is the most detailed publicly available source on LAH activities and he does not mention them by name, only stating that at the outbreak of WWII, most of them had already left LAH. They were all NCOs and were subsequently promoted by one rank.
I have skimmed through the list of SS-men promoted after the events of June 30ths. The most likley candidates would be Hans Albin Freiherr von Reitzenstein (04.03.1911 in Berlin) and Bernhard Siebken (05.04.1910 in Pinneberg), both of whom were members of the LSHA and roughly Meissners age. If some evidence can be salvaged that either one of them attended the Arendt Gymnasium, where Meissner went to school, we've probably identified the man in charge of the Karl Ernst Execution.
Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
I am quite doubtful about the involvement of SS Motor-Brigade Berlin since it was apparently a part-time unit as almost all "specialist" formations of early Allgemeine-SS. Usually the executions were trusted to full-time units (LAH at Berlin and Munich, Sturmbann D/KL Staff at Dachau, Politische Bereitschaft Württemberg at Ellwangen), "wild" shootings at Silesia by ad-hoc firing squads formed from local Standarten being an exception to the rule. Still I am not saying that this cannot have been the case, especially since you have such a detailed account to quote and I am very interested in learning more about it.
Initial orders for arrangements to be made for executions (not sure if that order only covered the three first executions - or also the subsequent ones!) at Berlin came from Göring via a messenger and Kohlroser, being in charge of LAH compartment left in Berlin (Sepp Dietrich along with other senior officers was in Munich) first tried to verify the authorization. According to the testimony given at Dietrich case in Munich Landgericht (although I am not sure if Kohlroser himself was present at the trial as a witness), he managed to contact Bavarian minister of interior, Gauleiter Wagner who ascertained that Führer had ordered the executions.
After the verification he proceeded by ordering a firing squad to be formed and it was to be headed by Sturmführer Keilhaus. The fire squad consisted of 8 NCO's and a drum major, drawn from different companies available at Lichterfelde (this is the most detailed description I have been able to find and this is by Lehmann, using interviews of Keilhaus and Albert Stenwedel as his primary sources). One fire squad was only used, it was not changed the following day - of course we need to choose which piece of available evidence we value over others but to me this appears quite contradictory to possibility of any other officer than Keilhaus directing the executions. Nevertheless this does not exclude the presence (as observers) of other officers like Reitzenstein or Stenwedel.
On 30.6.1934 3 persons were shot: Ernst, Gerth and Voss. Between 1.7. and 2.7.1934, 11 more executions. There are also varying numbers, for example "Justiz im Dritten Reich 1933-1945" presents in a footnote that total of 16 were shot at Lichterfelde, without specifying the names.
Lehmann certainly knew the identity of everyone involved but was not - rather understandably - willing to disclose it. The exact location were the shootings took place is not known but most accounts give it as the corner of Baseler-Strasse and Finckensteinallee.
The mentioned corner photographed in May 2009, photo by me.
Here is interesting testimony by a pastor of a nearby church:
The same church in May 2009, photo by me.
And another interesting detail, again without exact source:
I have to thank all the participants in the thread, especially Zsasz for providing lots of new information and sharing his findings. Keep it coming, it is highly appreciated!
Initial orders for arrangements to be made for executions (not sure if that order only covered the three first executions - or also the subsequent ones!) at Berlin came from Göring via a messenger and Kohlroser, being in charge of LAH compartment left in Berlin (Sepp Dietrich along with other senior officers was in Munich) first tried to verify the authorization. According to the testimony given at Dietrich case in Munich Landgericht (although I am not sure if Kohlroser himself was present at the trial as a witness), he managed to contact Bavarian minister of interior, Gauleiter Wagner who ascertained that Führer had ordered the executions.
After the verification he proceeded by ordering a firing squad to be formed and it was to be headed by Sturmführer Keilhaus. The fire squad consisted of 8 NCO's and a drum major, drawn from different companies available at Lichterfelde (this is the most detailed description I have been able to find and this is by Lehmann, using interviews of Keilhaus and Albert Stenwedel as his primary sources). One fire squad was only used, it was not changed the following day - of course we need to choose which piece of available evidence we value over others but to me this appears quite contradictory to possibility of any other officer than Keilhaus directing the executions. Nevertheless this does not exclude the presence (as observers) of other officers like Reitzenstein or Stenwedel.
On 30.6.1934 3 persons were shot: Ernst, Gerth and Voss. Between 1.7. and 2.7.1934, 11 more executions. There are also varying numbers, for example "Justiz im Dritten Reich 1933-1945" presents in a footnote that total of 16 were shot at Lichterfelde, without specifying the names.
Lehmann certainly knew the identity of everyone involved but was not - rather understandably - willing to disclose it. The exact location were the shootings took place is not known but most accounts give it as the corner of Baseler-Strasse and Finckensteinallee.
The mentioned corner photographed in May 2009, photo by me.
Here is interesting testimony by a pastor of a nearby church:
Allerdings geht aus dem Tagebuch des Priester Beyer aus der nahe liegenden Kirche zur "Heiligen Familie" hervor, "dass die Salven von früh bis in die Nacht hinein klatschten".
The same church in May 2009, photo by me.
And another interesting detail, again without exact source:
If I only knew who was that eyewitness, perhaps either Keilhaus or Stenwedel...?Nach Augenzeugenberichten wurde das Hinrichtungskommando jedoch "immer wieder durch reichliche Schnapsgaben in die nötige Stimmung gebracht".
I have to thank all the participants in the thread, especially Zsasz for providing lots of new information and sharing his findings
. Keep it coming, it is highly appreciated!Re: SA-Obertruppführer Erich Schieweck, Blood Purge victim
This seems to be a case of misapprehensionb: What I meant to say is, that members of the motor Brigade were present in Lichterfelde on June 30th to July 2nd, not that they carried out the executions. Meissner expressively writes that the former schoolmate of his who commanded the firing squad was a high ranking member of the Leibstandarte.mty wrote:I am quite doubtful about the involvement of SS Motor-Brigade Berlin since it was apparently a part-time unit as almost all "specialist" formations of early Allgemeine-SS. Usually the executions were trusted to full-time units (LAH at Berlin and Munich, Sturmbann D/KL Staff at Dachau, Politische Bereitschaft Württemberg at Ellwangen), "wild" shootings at Silesia by ad-hoc firing squads formed from local Standarten being an exception to the rule. Still I am not saying that this cannot have been the case, especially since you have such a detailed account to quote and I am very interested in learning more about it.!
The reason why members of the Motor-Brigade were summoned in Lichterfelde seems to have been a simple precaution: To get more boots on the ground in order to defend the Kadettenanstalt in case the Berlin SA should decide to make an attack. One needs to remember that two thirds of the Leibstandarte had been transferred to Bavaria on June 29th so that only one third was left in Berlin. On top of that the Berlin SA was highly superior to the SS in terms of quantity comprising a three-digit number of storm troopers. So the SS leadership probably was eager to mobilise as many reserves a possible, even calling up the purely nominal members of part-time units like the motor brigade so that they would stand better chances in case of an attack and not be overrun in no time.