Beheadings in the Third Reich

[Pete26]

Did RMJ ever publish a procedure for guillotine executions? If yes, is there a copy somewhere?

[fredric]

Did RMJ ever publish a procedure for guillotine executions? If yes, is there a copy somewhere?

You will find a letter on this subject from an RMJ official in Der Tod Von Plotzensee by Gostomski and Loch. I have not found a step-by-step, official procedure for guillotine executions. The RMJ did specify how sharfrichters were to dress and that a black curtain must separate the sentencing area from the fallbeil. I have a few documents which specify that two burning candles and a crucifix are to be on a table in the sentencing area (later abandoned) and that the prosecutor, the prison doctor and the warden were to be present. As far as the guillotining procedure, I think this was left up to the sharfrichter. Some of the more detailed descriptions of guillotinings can be found in Polchau's book and in a report by the Wolfenbuettel chaplain. I would be interested in the comments of others on this subject. I wish we knew how to access RMJ files.

[Pete26]

It would be interesting to find other related documents as well, such as a fallbeil maintenance manual. There had to be written instructions on how to properly install the machine, size and capacity of the floor drain required, how to sharpen and replace the blade, how to test the machine after the blade replacement, how to lubricate it to ensure proper operation, etc. In other words, something equivalent to an "installation, operation and maintenance" manual.

But sometimes I wonder if such documents actually existed. Given the ghastly nature of the equipment involved, maybe that knowledge and skill was left to the individual executioners. However, given German penchant for order and detail, there probably were such instructions. Or maybe there were guillotiner training courses? More than likely, certain period of apprenticeship under an experienced executioner was required to learn the trade. It is mentioned in the Evan's book that Gropler on occassion actually let some of his assistants swing the axe and do the actual beheading. I would assume that some assistants were also permitted to drop the blade on a fallbeil as well.

[Pete26]

Was such a machine ever used in Germany? We know that they used benchless guillotines in Italy. The bench does not increase the cutting effectiveness of a guillotine, it merely allows to place the condemned in a lying position under the blade, and of course provides the required vertical stability for the vertical frame, which would have to be braced if the bench is eliminated. In a benchless guillotine execution, the condemned must kneel and place his head in the lunette. I think that benchless guillotine executions could be performed very rapidly - even faster than a benched machine execution.

[htk]

Why the reichhart bashing ? no word about the judges (both civil and military) who sentenced the "guilty" to death accordingly the then valid law. They where the ones who send people to their deaths without any remorse and clemancy.
Those where the people who shunned Reichhart when in Landsberg prison and who after went back to work after the war and not even touched by the allies for their part.
Guilty ? yes and no. But is that not the heart of the problem which even is valid in todays world.

[htk]

backing up my position : http://www.spiegel.de/international/ger ... 76,00.html

[Pete26]

They are all equally guilty. The judges, Nazi party leaders, executioners, even common people who supported this tyranny. No dictatorship can ever exist without support of people who take advantage of the situation and serve oppressive regimes to advance their careers and their income. And indifference is no excuse either.

[andreobrecht]

htk:
I fully agree with all the points you are making about other guilty parties in Nazi Germany and the article about rehabilitation of people that died opposing the regime makes very good points.
I was only bashing Reichhart in particular because, reading the posts, I was seeing an "aura" of admiration for the guy which I really felt was misplaced and needed to be addressed.
He was not a particularly vile killer but he did knowingly kill several hundred innocent people for money and escaped the consequences of his actions on a "technicality" (being an officially appointed executioner). Had he done the same work at a concentration camp he would probably have been hung as a war criminal.
I don't think he deserves admiration in any way.

[fredric]

htk:
I fully agree with all the points you are making about other guilty parties in Nazi Germany and the article about rehabilitation of people that died opposing the regime makes very good points.
I was only bashing Reichhart in particular because, reading the posts, I was seeing an "aura" of admiration for the guy which I really felt was misplaced and needed to be addressed.
He was not a particularly vile killer but he did knowingly kill several hundred innocent people for money and escaped the consequences of his actions on a "technicality" (being an officially appointed executioner). Had he done the same work at a concentration camp he would probably have been hung as a war criminal.
I don't think he deserves admiration in any way.

I don't think Reichhart "escaped the consequences of his actions" as did sharfrichters Hehr, Weiss and Rottger and possibly a few more along with most of their cadre of assistants. So did judges, prison wardens, physicians guards and lawyers. Why was Reichhart tried and not the others? Some possible reasons: he was a Nazi, well-known for executing more people than the others including iconic anti-Nazis (e.g. the Scholls).

The book "Tod durch das Fallbeil" contains specifics on the sentence Reichhart received in 1949 from the Munich "Spruchkammer." My German is too poor to get the details but I believe he received a fined of 26,000 DM and a suspended (?) jail sentence. I do not think it was a severe sentence but I think he was left penniless and suffered a mental breakdown. I believe he was found guilty because the prosecution convinced the court that he had actively supported a lavish lifestyle as an executioner. He did earn a lot (over 41,000 RM in 1944) Perhaps someone on the Forum can provide an accurate translation of the sentence? He certainly was not an admirable man but less so than say Roland Freisler.

Their innocence or guilt of the 3165 people Reichhart executed depends upon the point of view. Certainly they were victims of a cruel, unjust system and hideous laws. But some might still say the Scholls or the July 20 bomb plotter were traitors while most of us considered them heros. Per the article, Germans are still debating the innocence of Germans who opposed the Nazi State or broke its unjust laws. For much of his career Reichhart did not think about the guilt or innocence of his victims; he thought about making as much money as possible from his job as a legal killer. His victims were found guilty by Weimar era courts, Nazi courts and by Allied Military tribunals. (He eventually would claim he stopped working as an executioner for the Allies when he felt some of the condemned were not guilty. This may have been an attempt to reposition himself in a better light)

I agree that had he done the same work for the SS in a concentration camp rather than on orders from the RMJ, he might have been hanged as a war criminal. As it was, he lived out his life as an impoverished social outcast.

[Paul53]

Stuttgart.
Part 5.


By the way ,I would be very grateful,when you would unofficially inquire about the remark of Reichart, that the ""gentlemen of the anatomy"" could see the execution ,and to report to me personally in due time""
The Chief justice office Stutgart replied to Berlin: ""The remark by Reichart, that the gentlemen of the Anatomy were able to view the execution, is,as the representative of the Board of Directors of the prison assured me, not valid.In the first place,as the Leader of the prison explained to me, the gentlemen in question is just one person,namely the driver of the Anatomy truck, who always comes alone here.Secondly, this driver only comes foreward when the corpse is already in the coffin.This driver did request to be present at an execution in the past, but was refused of course.Moreover,the corridors and hallways of the prison are especially guarded, so that no (unpermitted, unlicensed) person could see anything from a window.I personally do not doubt the validity and truthfullness of the presentation of the situation by the representing official of the Prison Board of Directors.Moreover, the official working on this case, also interviewed the Prison Docter, dr. J, the (official) City physician,who is always present at the executions, about his impressions.Dr J. corroborated the information given by the Prison Board,and used the oppertunity, to express his irritation about the arrogant behaviour of the Scharfrichter Reichart,that was observed by him for a longer period before..

At that point, the dr J. gave a judgement on Reichart, from the point of view of a"" judicial practitioner"' as he expressed it, that I do not want to withold from you.""(could not find the richt word)Someone who forcefully presents himself to other people,vain,a psychopath not without querelant traces,of hardly average intelligence,who needs the execution activity to satisfy his pathological vanity.""

( no love lost between those two .Seems to me a bit exagerrated,but perhaps true.Although somehow, Reichart does not seem to me a person with""hardly average intelligence"" but that also may not be true).

Anyway,

As typical, dr J mentiones the excessively elegant dressing of Reichart,and his enduring loudly given criticism on the installations in Stuttgart,as for example,his exclamation""with the Stuttgart machine, the head does not come down nicely""This expression by a prison physicion that is know to me as being businesslike and relaxed,seems to make it understandable,that Reichart, already from reasons given by his personality,is often confronted with rejection.Further, is is clear ,by the reports of the Prison psysician and the Leader of the institution,that the impressions given by the Scharfrichter of his conflicts with the institution,that this view is again far from the truth.I welcome it therefor, that he is not to present himself here in the immediate future""

[Paul53]

It seems to me the behaviour of a narcist, but I am no psychologist.

[Paul53]

It is easy to detect from the reports of the Stuttgart Justice officials,that they combined their disaffection towards Reichhart, so that they supported eachother and that they in so doing, distorted reports and actual proceedings.They conducted an ""harrassment"" against him.While Reichart had a few peculiarities,he had right with his criticism on the Stuttgart situation.The arrogant,disguised-as-professional jargon and demeaning judgement of his character from the Institution Physician, known as businesslike and relaxed,failed any basis in reality and testified of a biaised and hateful opinion against the person and business of Reichart.At the same time. the reports from the Stuttgart officials, exposed a certain lack of respect,and a peculiar jealousy of the activities of Reichart as an executioner .

[Paul53]

Note: this is still a translation.

[Pete26]

On July 13, 1943 two members of the White Rose, Alexander Schmorell and Dr. Kurt Huber were beheaded in the Stadelheim prison.

"The execution order directed that Alexander Schmorell should be first, then Kurt Huber. The time was set for 1700 hours, or five o'clock, as it was for Sophie Scholl. But there was a delay. Three SS officers arrived at Stadelheim unannounced and produced Gestapo papers authorizing them to witness the execution. This was unheard of imposition, but the SS officers explained their mission. It was, they said, a matter of technical information: They wished to ascertain exactly how long it took for a man to strangle to death in a hanging and whether or not the length of time could be extended or shortened at will. The SS men, smart and sinister is their well-cut black uniforms, were annoyed to learn that this was not to be a hanging but a beheading. In order that some professional benefit might nevertheless be derived from their visit, they delayed the execution further while they examined the guillotine and had its operation explained to them in detail. The prison officials, themselves accustomed to administering death, were shocked by this gross intrusion into proceedings which even the most heartless and debased were, by the common agreement of mankind, bound to respect."

(Source: Richard Hanser, A Noble Treason)

[Pete26]

Top row, from left to right: Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, Kurt Huber
Bottom row, from left to right: Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf

All were guillotined in Munich Stadelheim prison by Johann Reichhart. First three, Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst died on 22 February 1943. Alexander Schmorell and Kurt Huber died on 13 July 1943. Willi Graf was executed on 12 October 1943.