Beheadings in the Third Reich
Phrases used in fallbeil executions
Was this phrase used frequently in fallbeil executions?
"Ich übergebe Się dem Scharfrichter!”
I am handing you over to the executioner".
This was spoken by the prosecutor after reading the verdict and verifying the name of the prisoner.
Another variation was of course: "Scharfrichter, walten Sie Ihres Amtes".
"Executioner, do your duty."
And, following the fall of the blade, the executioner reporting to the state attorney:
"Herr Staatsanwalt, das Urteil ist vollstreckt".
"Mr attorney, the verdict has been enforced."
"Ich übergebe Się dem Scharfrichter!”
I am handing you over to the executioner".
This was spoken by the prosecutor after reading the verdict and verifying the name of the prisoner.
Another variation was of course: "Scharfrichter, walten Sie Ihres Amtes".
"Executioner, do your duty."
And, following the fall of the blade, the executioner reporting to the state attorney:
"Herr Staatsanwalt, das Urteil ist vollstreckt".
"Mr attorney, the verdict has been enforced."
Last edited by Pete26 on 19 Apr 2014, 23:16, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Wroclaw (Breslau) Mannhardt fallbeil
Sledge is still on the fallbeil at Kiev. Only the blade was removed and as Piotr says, in a museum.Pete26 wrote:
http://images.ioh.pl/Online/IOH10/obozy/2-2_m.jpg
The text on the bottom of the photo:
"Guillotine in Zaklad Karny (prison) in Wroclaw at the time of WWII
http://ipn.gov.pl/__data/assets/image/0 ... 1-5068.jpg
755 people were beheaded with this guillotine, of these 380 were Czechs and Slovaks, 264 were Poles.
http://www.forensicstory.pl/wiadomosci/ ... ludzi.html
Wroclaw prison Zaklad Karny where the guillotine was located:
http://www.sw.gov.pl/Data/Files/250481t ... c/duze.jpg
This fallbeil was taken by the Russians, moved to Kiev and it is displayed in a museum in Kiev today. The fallbeil is missing the sledge/blade.
http://www.gilotyna.we.wroclawiu.pl/Pol ... a2%20m.jpg
Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich
Thanks. Have you come across that Katowice fallbeil execution building photo? Do you think that the small building I pointed out in the B/W photo could be it? Are you aware of any photos of Katowice or Wroclaw fallbeil in situ (inside the execution rooms)? Those would be very interesting.
Posting that stuff about Polish fallbeils was an exercise for me if I could search in Polish. And I did better than I thought I would. But I have a hard time spelling Polish words correctly, although I can understand most of written text.[/quote]
The execution building was destroyed after the war but maybe you are right with your conception mentioned above
Unfortunately I know nothing about any more photos Katowice/Breslau fallbeil taken during the war
BTW-Your polish is better my english then for you: in polish
"The most beautiful love story I know..."
http://katowice.naszemiasto.pl/archiwum ... ,t,id.html
Posting that stuff about Polish fallbeils was an exercise for me if I could search in Polish. And I did better than I thought I would. But I have a hard time spelling Polish words correctly, although I can understand most of written text.[/quote]
The execution building was destroyed after the war but maybe you are right with your conception mentioned above
Unfortunately I know nothing about any more photos Katowice/Breslau fallbeil taken during the war
BTW-Your polish is better my english then for you: in polish
"The most beautiful love story I know..."
http://katowice.naszemiasto.pl/archiwum ... ,t,id.html
Victims of National Socialism in Carinthia
The document contians a list of 1409 names at the end. These are the victims of National Socialism in Carinthia. Many of these people were guillotined at the Regional Court in Graz.
http://www.kaernoel.at/downloads/ns_in_villach.pdf
http://www.kaernoel.at/downloads/ns_in_villach.pdf
Wroclaw prison execution building
Does anyone know if the Wroclaw prison execution building where the fallbeil was located is still standing? I assume that the building in front of which the fallbeil is photographed is the execution building. It is a one story building, somewhat reminiscent of Stadelheim or Plotzensee execution buildings. Most likely it was torn down after WWII. Here is another color photo of the prison:
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/3606/3606361.jpg
A memorial plaque (in Czech and Polish languages) to 638 Czech resistance fighters who were executed in this prison:
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/73/73377.jpg
http://encyklopedie.brna.cz/home-mmb/?a ... &load=1499
40 condemned Czech prisoners were shot in this prison at the wall of cell block B on 24 January 1945 by Wehrmacht soldiers. 5 were shot at a time. The bodies were thrown into sewer pits and several loads of slag dumped on top of them. The bodies were exhumed in January 1946 and transported to Brno, Czechoslovakia, for identification and burial.
"Here rest the heroes of our resistance fight, executed by German fascists in Breslau on 24.1.1945."
http://encyklopedie.brna.cz/data/images ... mg6850.jpg
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/3606/3606361.jpg
A memorial plaque (in Czech and Polish languages) to 638 Czech resistance fighters who were executed in this prison:
http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/73/73377.jpg
http://encyklopedie.brna.cz/home-mmb/?a ... &load=1499
40 condemned Czech prisoners were shot in this prison at the wall of cell block B on 24 January 1945 by Wehrmacht soldiers. 5 were shot at a time. The bodies were thrown into sewer pits and several loads of slag dumped on top of them. The bodies were exhumed in January 1946 and transported to Brno, Czechoslovakia, for identification and burial.
Google translation into English:V den evakuace věznice ve Vratislavi (Breslau), Kletschkaustrasse 31, dne 24. 1. 1945 byla část vězňů transportována do Zwickau, po jejich odjezdu bylo 40 tzv. kandidátů smrti, vybraných předtím a ponechaných ve věznici, hromadně zastřeleno na dvoře domu I, u zdi bloku B, vždy po pěticích (jejich těla byla naházena do jímky na vodu a splašky, označené jako "Saugstelle"). Popravu prováděla jednotka armády, ne SS.
Na společný transport neodjelo několik vězňů (údržbáři, zámečníci apod.), kteří byli odvedeni do kotelny, odkud slyšeli smrtící salvy i rány z milosti. Na rozkaz dozorce Rodera poté museli vězni J. Ditrich, Jan Čáp z Brna, Jan Kovařík z Brna-Bosonoh, František Kudělka z Frýdlantu nad Ostravicí a Josef Novák posypat zakrvácené místo popravy připravenými pilinami, příští den časně ráno pak museli za svitu svítilny dozorce naházet do jímky dvě káry škváry. Po skončení práce naložili nákladní auto různými písemnostmi a odjeli také do Zwickau - oni přinesli po osvobození zprávu o popravě ve Vratislavi.
Trvalo dlouho, než se podařilo oběti jmenovitě určit. Nastal nesnadný úkol, zajistit exhumaci a přepravu popravených do rodné země. Velikou zásluhu na tom, že se tak stalo, má paní Ivana Berková z Brna. Situace byla složitá i v tom, že mnohé rodiny nemohly finančně přispět na nákladnou exhumaci a převoz. Ministerstvo zahraničí ČSR pouze slíbilo, že se o hroby v zahraničí bude starat.
U Vratislavi byla situace složitá v tom, že věznice sloužila svému účelu i nadále a civilisté by se sem těžko dostávali. Díky mimořádnému úsilí paní Berkové, která se obracela na různé instituce a vlivné osobnosti, se podařilo získat povolení k exhumaci. Za pomoci ministerstva národní obrany, jmenovitě ministra generála Ludvíka Svobody, byly dány k dispozici 4 nákladní automobily, finance zajišťovali příbuzní, konaly se sbírky, přispěl i Zemský národní výbor v Brně. Aktivní pomoc poskytli také vedoucí československé repatriační komise v Katovicích major V. Krátký, z polské strany prokurátor Gajewski, ředitel věznice v Breslau Alfred Limanowski, vedoucí věznice v Klečkově František Klitenik.
Identifikace přímo na místě se účastnil bývalý vězeň Jan Kovařík. Odborné zkušenosti při exhumaci uplatnil Adolf Šoustar, hrobník z Brna-Židenic. Vzhledem k době, která uplynula od popravy, nebyla možná přesná identifikace; nezvratně se podařilo zjistit identitu Eduarda Berky podle chrupu (ještě v době věznění v Brně poslal manželce moták s nákresem svého chrupu, poznamenaného tvrdými výslechy) a Josefa Bohatce podle úředního dokladu nalezeného v jeho oděvu.Těla byla dána do cínových rakví a po rozloučení s polskými přáteli se smutný průvod vydal přes Katovice a Český Těšín do Brna.
A memorial plaque at Brno cemetery to the victims of the massacre in Wroclaw prison on 24 January 1945. The inscription reads:On the day of the evacuation of the prison in Wroclaw (Breslau), Kletschkaustrasse 31, 24 1, 1945 the number of prisoners transported to Zwickau, after their departure were 40 condemned candidates, previously selected and retained in prison, collectively shot in the yard I, the wall block B, five a a time (their bodies were thrown into pits for water and sewage, labeled "Saugstelle"). Execution carried out by the army unit, not SS.
The common transport did not leave a number of prisoners (maintenance workers, machinists, etc.) who were led away into the boiler room, where they heard the deadly volleys and mercy shots. The superintendent ordered Rodera after prisoners were J. Dietrich, Jan Stork from Brno, Jan Kovarik from Brno barefoot, Francis Kudělka of Frýdlantu over Ostravicí and Josef Novák sprinkle bloody execution site with prepared sawdust, the next day early in the morning, then by the light of the superintendent's flashlights throw into the pit two loads of slag. After work, loaded the truck with various documents and also went to Zwickau - and after the liberation they reported the execution in Wroclaw.
It took a long time before the victim were able to be specifically identify. There was a difficult task to ensure the exhumation and transfer executed in his native country. Great credit for that goes to Ivana Berková from Brno. The situation was complicated and that many families could not financially contribute to costly exhumation and transport. Foreign Ministry Czechoslovakia only promised that the graves will be provided.
In Wroclaw, the situation was complicated in that prison served its purpose and civilians continue to have difficulties getting here. Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of Ms. Berka, who contacted at a variety of institutions and influential personalities managed to get a permission to exhume the bodies. With the help of the Ministry of National Defence, namely the Defence Minister General Ludvik Svoboda, 4 trucks were made available, finance ensured relatives, has held collections, also contributed to the Provincial People's Committee in Brno. Active assistance provided also head of the Czechoslovak Repatriation Commission in Katowice major V. Short, from the Polish side Attorney Gajewski, director of the prison in Breslau Alfred Limanowski, head of the prison in Klečková František Klitenik.
Identification on the spot participated former prisoner Jan Kovarik. The expertise of the exhumation applied Adolf Šoustar, gravedigger from Brno-Zidenice. Given the time that has elapsed since the execution, identification of the bodies was not possible; conclusively determine the identity managed by Eduard Berky teeth (even at the time of imprisonment in Brno sent his wife a message with a diagram of his teeth, marked by harsh interrogations) and Josef Bohatec according to official documents found in his clothes. Bodies were placed into tin coffins, and after parting with Polish friends, the sad procession moved across the Katowice and Brno in Czech Cieszyn.
"Here rest the heroes of our resistance fight, executed by German fascists in Breslau on 24.1.1945."
http://encyklopedie.brna.cz/data/images ... mg6850.jpg
Last edited by Pete26 on 23 Apr 2014, 01:57, edited 2 times in total.
Re: Wroclaw prison execution building
That´s what I found: http://goo.gl/maps/M4ReyPete26 wrote:Does anyone know if the Wroclaw prison execution building where the fallbeil was located is still standing? I assume that the building in front of which the fallbeil is photographed is the execution building. It is a one story building, somewhat reminiscent of Stadelheim or Plotzensee execution buildings. Most likely it was torn down after WWII. Here is another color photo of the prison: http://dolny-slask.org.pl/foto/3606/3606361.jpg
[...]
Letters from under the guillotine
These 5 Polish youths were guillotined in Dresden on 24 August 1942.
http://szkolasalezjanki.pl/32-patron-gi ... -poznanska
http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... annel%3Dsb
http://szkolasalezjanki.pl/32-patron-gi ... -poznanska
http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... annel%3Dsb
Captain Antoni Kazstelan
Polish captain Antoni Kazstelan was guillotined in Königsberg on 14 December 1942 and his body sent to the university of Königsberg for dissection.
http://muzeum.koscian.pl/muzeum/photos/n_9547_1.jpg
http://polska-zbrojna.pl/home/articlein ... NIEWINNIE-
http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... annel%3Dsb
Question for the forum:
Was there a permanent fallbeil in Königsberg? (If Captain Kazstelan was guillotined there, then obviously there must have a been an operational fallbeil there at some time, either permanent or temporary.) Did it stay in Königsberg, or was it transferred to Danzig (Gdansk) on a certain date? Or were both Konigsberg and Danzing central execution sites, much like Posen (Poznan), Katowice, and Breslau (Wroclaw)?
http://muzeum.koscian.pl/muzeum/photos/n_9547_1.jpg
http://polska-zbrojna.pl/home/articlein ... NIEWINNIE-
http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... annel%3Dsb
Question for the forum:
Was there a permanent fallbeil in Königsberg? (If Captain Kazstelan was guillotined there, then obviously there must have a been an operational fallbeil there at some time, either permanent or temporary.) Did it stay in Königsberg, or was it transferred to Danzig (Gdansk) on a certain date? Or were both Konigsberg and Danzing central execution sites, much like Posen (Poznan), Katowice, and Breslau (Wroclaw)?
Crematorium furnace where Pankrac victims were burned
http://zpravy.idnes.cz/foto.aspx?r=doma ... G_6441.jpg
Frantisek Suchy, son of the Strasnice Crematorium director Suchy, who as a young student witnessed arrival of crated beheaded bodies from Pankrac prison, with blood still dripping from the crates, at the Strasnice Crematorium, and who was asked by his father to secretly copy the names of Pankrac guillotined victims and other murdered victims. If Nazis had found out about this illegal activity, the penalty would have been death. He and his father also secretly collected and hid the ashes of cremated victims, defying the Nazi orders to mix them with compost and use them as fertilizer.
The bodies were cremated in secrecy at night, under supervision of Gestapo officers who were often drunk and opened the crates, picked up the severed heads, looking for gold teeth and jewelry, and if they found nothing, they vented their rage on bodies of the victims.
http://img.ceskatelevize.cz/program/por ... rie_07.jpg
Student ID of Frantisek Suchy:
http://www.pametnaroda.cz/data/witness/ ... 1291017189
Frantisek Suchy, son of the Strasnice Crematorium director Suchy, who as a young student witnessed arrival of crated beheaded bodies from Pankrac prison, with blood still dripping from the crates, at the Strasnice Crematorium, and who was asked by his father to secretly copy the names of Pankrac guillotined victims and other murdered victims. If Nazis had found out about this illegal activity, the penalty would have been death. He and his father also secretly collected and hid the ashes of cremated victims, defying the Nazi orders to mix them with compost and use them as fertilizer.
The bodies were cremated in secrecy at night, under supervision of Gestapo officers who were often drunk and opened the crates, picked up the severed heads, looking for gold teeth and jewelry, and if they found nothing, they vented their rage on bodies of the victims.
http://img.ceskatelevize.cz/program/por ... rie_07.jpg
Student ID of Frantisek Suchy:
http://www.pametnaroda.cz/data/witness/ ... 1291017189
Re: Captain Antoni Kazstelan
Konigsberg got its Tegel in 1938. Danzig got its Tegel in 1944. Both were execution prisons within Vollstreckungsbezirk II.Pete26 wrote:Polish captain Antoni Kazstelan was guillotined in Königsberg on 14 December 1942 and his body sent to the university of Königsberg for dissection.
http://muzeum.koscian.pl/muzeum/photos/n_9547_1.jpg
http://polska-zbrojna.pl/home/articlein ... NIEWINNIE-
http://translate.google.com/translate?h ... annel%3Dsb
Question for the forum:
Was there a permanent fallbeil in Königsberg? (If Captain Kazstelan was guillotined there, then obviously there must have a been an operational fallbeil there at some time, either permanent or temporary.) Did it stay in Königsberg, or was it transferred to Danzig (Gdansk) on a certain date? Or were both Konigsberg and Danzing central execution sites, much like Posen (Poznan), Katowice, and Breslau (Wroclaw)?
Source: Waltenbacher.
Re: Danzig Anatomical Institute
Here is a quote from testimony of one of the workers at Danzing Anatomical Institute:
http://www.cwporter.com/mazur.htmApart from this, there was a large supply of corpses in the Anatomical Institute, amounting to about 400 corpses. A large number of the corpses had been decapitated. The decapitated corpses had been guillotined in the prison of the town of Königsberg, and in 1944 a guillotine was set up in the Danzig prison. I saw this guillotine in the yard, in one of the rooms of the prison; I saw it when I went to the Danzig prison for corpses. I attach a sketch of the guillotine.
When I arrived at the prison for corpses, the corpses were fresh, just after execution, and we received them in a room next to the one where the guillotine was. The corpses were still warm.
On each corpse there was a label giving the surname and year of birth, and these names were noted down in a special book in the Anatomical Institute. I do not know where that book is now. I went to the prison in Danzig for corpses 4-5 times.
Use of Dortmund fallbeil after WWII
According to this statement, the Dortmund prison fallbeil was used for execution even after WWII.
http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/eurofem.htmlThe last woman executed after being sentenced to death by an ordinary court was Else Ferrazza, condemned for the murder of her husband by the Strafkammer (criminal court) at the Landgericht (superior court) of Essen and guillotined at Dortmund on the 27th of March 1947.
Re: Use of Dortmund fallbeil after WWII
I don't have immediate access to the source material-Richard Evans' book on capital punishment in Germany-so I'm going from memory here. Dortmund, apparently, was the scene of many postwar executions. Dortmund was the primary location where German civil authorities guillotined criminals in the British zone of occupation. Several criminals condemned by British courts were also executed here.Pete26 wrote:According to this statement, the Dortmund prison fallbeil was used for execution even after WWII.
http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/eurofem.htmlThe last woman executed after being sentenced to death by an ordinary court was Else Ferrazza, condemned for the murder of her husband by the Strafkammer (criminal court) at the Landgericht (superior court) of Essen and guillotined at Dortmund on the 27th of March 1947.
Re: Use of Dortmund fallbeil after WWII
Evans says the firm of Fritz and Otto Tiggemann was hired to repair Dortmund's guillotine in 1948. Evan states Tiggemann could not finish the repair order because they "reported difficulties in getting hold of a suitable blade." Thus he says Dortmund had to borrow a fallbeil which he describes as "a portable guillotine in good working order" located in the Regensberg prison. Some guesses: the borrowed fallbeil might have been Stadelheim's Mannhardt, reportedly moved to Straubing and then to Regensberg about this time. This old Mannhardt could be disassembled and shipped as was done many times before the War. Regensberg, to my knowledge, did not have a Tegel. Another possibility is that Dortmund may have borrowed the famous "Rastatt" fallbeil, built by Tiggemann in 1946. Tiggemann also was building a new machine for North Germany at this time which was sent to Mainz but never used. They did find a blade maker: Prinz und Kremer who manufactured a "notched" blade like those on the early Mannhardts for the Mainz fallbeil.Ossian wrote:I don't have immediate access to the source material-Richard Evans' book on capital punishment in Germany-so I'm going from memory here. Dortmund, apparently, was the scene of many postwar executions. Dortmund was the primary location where German civil authorities guillotined criminals in the British zone of occupation. Several criminals condemned by British courts were also executed here.Pete26 wrote:According to this statement, the Dortmund prison fallbeil was used for execution even after WWII.
http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/eurofem.htmlThe last woman executed after being sentenced to death by an ordinary court was Else Ferrazza, condemned for the murder of her husband by the Strafkammer (criminal court) at the Landgericht (superior court) of Essen and guillotined at Dortmund on the 27th of March 1947.
How many beheadings at Dortmund? This would be interesting.