Pete26 wrote:In this short clip note how thick the 15 kg (33 lb) Stadelheim guillotine blade is. At least 3/4 inch thick steel plate. When the blade is being removed from its case there appears to be a wooden blade edge guard. Was this standard equipment for blades stored inside wooden cases?
Is this the actual blade that killed Hans and Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst? Possibly. Note that this particular blade does not have the cutouts on the side, characteristic of original Mannhardt guillotine blades. Machining these recesses was extra work and was apparently discontinued for replacement blades during the Nazi years. According to the narrator in the clip, this guillotine killed over 1000 people while used in Stadelheim prison.
http://www.br.de/mediathek/video/sendun ... l-100.html
It could be the actual blade that killed the Scholls. I say "could" because we cannot conclusively state it was the very blade.
It does, of course, fit the sledge as seen in the video.
After correspondence with Dr. Sybe Wartena of the Bavarian National Museum, I can confirm
he found two (2) blades in their storage. One has large bolt holes; the other has smaller holes with "keys" for locking bolts.
The sharp edges of both blades fit into wooden edge guards which also secure the blades in each case. The cases also
have inset boxes which may contain the bolts. Both blades have straight sides.
