Beheadings in the Third Reich

Pete26 · #5326

Katowice "Red widow"
In Katowice prison, located on the street Mikołowska was installed a guillotine, by which death sentences were carried out. Katowice guillotine aroused the horror of not only the population of Silesia, but also perpetrators who operated it. The serving executioner August Koestner committed suicide. It was only in occupied Poland, constantly covered in blood. The post-war history of this machine for cutting off heads is equally grim.

But initially convicts from Upper Silesia and Cieszyn, the Basin Dabrowski were sent to Wroclaw. However, there were so many death sentences that it was more profitable to bring the device to Katowice prison. The guillotine stood here in a separate one-story red-brick building, which was attached to the prison building. After the war, the chamber was demolished, but preserved eyewitness accounts revealed that the whole interior was lined with white tiles, and the "Red widow" was hidden by a black curtain. That is, not without reason - they called the guillotine from prison in Katowice at Mikołowska Street "Red Widow". It was bathed in blood. From 9 October 1941 to 22 January 1945 in Katowice, 552 people were beheaded. The guillotine worked for a few more days before Russians entered the city. The executions were performed in a hurry but according to the plan: seven prisoners from Piekar, Siemianowice, Knurow, Orzesze and Ruda of Silesia were executed. Only then Nazis tried to hide the guillotine. It is not known exactly who were all victims of the guillotine. The Nazis burned the most detailed documentation, but in Katowice Registry Office there is a list of the remaining victims. It is known, however, that priest Jan Macha, publicist Paul Musioła - commander of the resistance movement in Cieszyn, Charles Kornaś - scout activist and one of the best heads of the Silesian resistance were beheaded. Women died also. During the first execution by guillotine lost his life 32-year-old Joseph Myrczek, a bricklayer from Czechowice. But the second victim was a 31-year-old Rozalia Drewniak, a brave highlander from Zywiec. 53 other women were beheaded. Very young people, almost children died in this way too. Katowice guillotine knife cut off the heads of boys aged 13 to 19 years. Zygmunt Walter-Janke, the last commander of the Silesian Army, he knew what the condemned went through. In his memoirs, he gave an eyewitness testimony: "The atmosphere of terror and fear, reached its peak at night between the hours 2200 and 2400. During this time convicts on death row were brought out of the cells. They took off their clothes and put on a paper shirt. Prior to the execution of a condemned man his neck was shaved. The hand shackled, he was brought to the execution chamber. " Constantine Ostrowski as one of the authors of the collective elaboration of a "Nazi prisons in Silesia, in the Basin Dabrowski and Czestochowa 1939-1945" (Katowice 1983) in their study of prison Katowice wrote: "In the anteroom were waiting the prosecutor and the doctor. Attorney responsible for the paperwork asked if the condemned had something to say. Most condemned answered: "No!" or "I am innocent." Now only a black curtain separated the prisoner from the executioner and his helpers. The prosecutor read out the formula flatly rejecting request for clemency and ended with these words: I am turning you over to the executioner! Then instantly the black curtain opened and in a flash the executioner's helpers grabbed the victim, threw him on the bench of the guillotine, and the head disappeared into the lunette. At a given signal the executioner pulled on the blade release handle and the blade of the guillotine fell upon the neck of the condemned man from a height of over two meters. Bodies of those beheaded in Katowice were taken to the crematorium in Auschwitz, and there burned. The Nazis fleeing from Katowice at the end of January 1945, did not want the guillotine and did not want to take it to the Reich, or leave it in place. They buried her at night where no one was likely to look for it - at the Bogucice cemetery in Katowice . Execution documents were destroyed. Residents secretly dug out the guilotine. It was used as a proof of the crime. It's a shame that we do not know the victim's names. Maybe there are still people who remember something of that case. Guillotine after finding in Bogucice a few years was stored in the attic of the building of the Regional Headquarters of the Citizens' Militia in Katowice. Nobody was interested in it. In the end, however, it was discovered by the then representative of the Commission for the Investigation of German Crimes in Poland. The prosecutor heard strange stories about "Red widow" in the attic of the command. The authorities sent the guillotine to Auschwitz. There it is sitting in storage almost forgotten.

Translated from this article:

http://wielkiekatowice.blogspot.com/201 ... wdowy.html

The article refers to boys aged between 13 and 19 beheaded by this guillotine. If a 13 year old was indeed beheaded in Katowice, this would be the youngest Nazi guillotine victim discovered to date on this forum. Executing a 13 year old would even violate the Nazi penal code which required the minimum age of 14 years for a death sentence.

A total of 552 people, including 54 women, were beheaded by this guillotine between 9 October 1941 and 22 January 1945 in Katowice prison.

Note: The statement "and the blade of the guillotine fell upon the neck of the condemned man from a height of over two meters" is incorrect, as the fall blade fall distance was a lot less, close to 1.1 meters. The overall height of the entire Tegel fallbeil was only 2.3 meters, the bench top was at least 0.5 meters above the floor, the neck of the condemned in the lunette accounted for another 15 cm or so, and the center of the bottom edge of the blade was probably another 60 cm below the top of the outer frame with the sledge at the summit.

wm · #5327

Pete26 wrote:The article refers to boys aged between 13 and 19 beheaded by this guillotine.

It doesn't say that, it says "13 boys up to 19 years old".

And I think It should be "I am turning you over to the executioner, Sir", it wasn't the "you" always used in concentration camps/labor camps.

One of the victims of the guillotine was a 1. FC Kattowitz footballer Porala. In 1944 he was executed for mass counterfeiting of ration cards. I'm not sure he was a Pole, German or Silesian.
It's interesting that not only the guillotine was running to the very end there, the German football league was running to the very end too.

Pete26 · #5328

wm wrote:
Pete26 wrote:The article refers to boys aged between 13 and 19 beheaded by this guillotine.
It doesn't say that, it says "13 boys up to 19 years old".

Yes, the google translator messed it up. I used it because the article was rather long, even though I understand most of Polish I read. But it turned out to be a mess, I had to clean up the translated article quite a bit.

Pete26 · #5329

It is 136 cm (53.5 inches) long.

fredric · #5330

For members following this topic, two books of possible interest:

Barnes & Noble says the long-promised book "Beheaded by Hitler" (Fronthill Publishing; noted author Colin Pateman) will be available mid-August. Amazon states it is "out of print." The publisher's initial description of the book said it would contain previously unpublished photographs. On the book jacket are photos of the Posen/Tegel with soldiers and a photo of the "People's Court" It is described as a hard-cover book.

A book titled "Dr. Tegel - Miracle Worker of Berlin- Harald Poelchau in Nazi Germany" by Ralph Kruger has come to my attention. This would, I believe, be the first book published in English about Poelchau who witnessed many executions at Plotzensee. It is a paperback. ISBN 1628544422

Jayslater · #5331

Greetings,

If you should have any questions on Beheaded by Hitler or have suggestions, comments and book ideas, please do not hesitate to contact me: j. slater (at) fonthillmedia.com

With very best wishes,

Jay

svenga · #5332

Just ordered my copy of beheaded by Hitler, that says a lot considering I rarely read books!. But looking forward to reading something I have studied so much over the past years.

Hope everybody is well.

Sven.

Pete26 · #5333

svenga wrote:Just ordered my copy of beheaded by Hitler, that says a lot considering I rarely read books!. But looking forward to reading something I have studied so much over the past years.

Hope everybody is well.

Sven.

Amazon.com still lists it as "temporarily out of stock".

svenga · #5334

Pete,

I purchased mine through eBay, it was marked as despatched today after placing the order last night.

There are a handful of book suppliers offering it on there for around £15.

gordon anderson · #5335

fredric wrote:For members following this topic, two books of possible interest:

Barnes & Noble says the long-promised book "Beheaded by Hitler" (Fronthill Publishing; noted author Colin Pateman) will be available mid-August. Amazon states it is "out of print." The publisher's initial description of the book said it would contain previously unpublished photographs. On the book jacket are photos of the Posen/Tegel with soldiers and a photo of the "People's Court" It is described as a hard-cover book.

A book titled "Dr. Tegel - Miracle Worker of Berlin- Harald Poelchau in Nazi Germany" by Ralph Kruger has come to my attention. This would, I believe, be the first book published in English about Poelchau who witnessed many executions at Plotzensee. It is a paperback. ISBN 1628544422

Sadly there are no new fallbeil pictures in the book. I think most have been seen on this site. There is one of mine I restored and enhanced for Robert Opie that was originally made from a television screen showing a German newreel. Only a very brief general description of a Tegel---- and some of that information is wrong i.e. Reichhart made no clamping device for the bascule. etc. Many details about those executed. Much material from the internet.