Beheadings in the Third Reich

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fredric
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Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich

#5551

Post by fredric » 28 Apr 2015, 06:51

Pete26 wrote:
rafalx wrote:My photos from Plötzensee prison (april 2013)
There are only 5 hooks on the hanging beam now. In older photos there were six. What happened to the sixth hook? Was it stolen? Or perhaps it is being exhibited in some other museum?
And in some photos there are eight hooks. I believe it was originally fitted with five, then increased to eight. Groups of eight
were hanged during the "bloody nights" Sept 1943. When I visited Plötzensee, the hooks were welded to the beam perhaps to keep them from
being stolen. I think they may have been moveable when first installed. The entire beam was removed after the war and reset during renovations
to the execution room. Maybe that is when some were removed. I did not see any hooks displayed separately at the Memorial hq in the Bendlerblock but they might know what happened.

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Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich

#5552

Post by Pete26 » 29 Apr 2015, 00:09

fredric wrote: And in some photos there are eight hooks. I believe it was originally fitted with five, then increased to eight. Groups of eight
were hanged during the "bloody nights" Sept 1943. When I visited Plötzensee, the hooks were welded to the beam perhaps to keep them from
being stolen. I think they may have been moveable when first installed. The entire beam was removed after the war and reset during renovations
to the execution room. Maybe that is when some were removed. I did not see any hooks displayed separately at the Memorial hq in the Bendlerblock but they might know what happened.
Are you sure the hooks were welded to the I-beam? If you look at the close-up photo of the hanging beam which I posted on page 350, the I beam is really rusty. I do not see any welds between the hangers and the I-beam. The "hooks" consist of a metal hanger and an "S" shaped hook attached to it. The body of the hanger is welded together in the middle to keep it from spreading apart. In order to steal one of those, one would have to use a crowbar or something similar to pry apart the upper part of the hanger which is loosely secured against the I-beam lower flange. In order to install the hanger/hook on the beam, the upper part going around the flange had to be spread and then crimped together, unless the hangers were slipped onto the beam from one end before it was installed. These hangers/hooks could be moved empty, but not with a person hanging from one. Pankrac prison hanging beam hooks were riding on a trolley with wheels, so those could be moved even with a prisoner hanging from it.


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fredric
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Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich

#5553

Post by fredric » 29 Apr 2015, 02:58

You are probably right. I recall the hook would not even wiggle so assumed it was welded. Rusty yes.

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Another axe beheading by Carl Gropler

#5554

Post by Pete26 » 29 Apr 2015, 06:02

Serial murderer Friedrich Schumann, beheaded by Carl Gropler with an axe on 27 August 1921 in Berlin Plotzensee prison.

Image

http://murderpedia.org/male.S/images/sc ... humann.jpg


http://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/schumann-friedrich.htm
The Berlin lawyer Erich Frey recalled later his brief encounter with the executioner: "At the end of the corridor, I had to give way to a broad-shouldered man. He looked like a transportworker, the high-buttoned jacket looked strange (out of place) on him. His closely-cropped skull rested on a plied bullsneck. In spite of the faint light, he looked sun-tanned and healthy. Never before, I had seen executioner Gröpler from Magdeburg. But, as he passed me with a slight bow, I knew, it was him. Anyone who had any business in the Criminal Court of Justice, knew about Gröpler. He had been a horse butcherer before. ... he collected every month a small fixed income, and had in return to be ready with his massive axe and his three skilled assistants, at the demand of the State attourney. He became for every execution, 300 Mark and the extra costs. Gröpler went to see his customers ... 'You can go to him without trouble,' I heard the guard say to Gröpler, 'he has no nerves' (in a Berlin dialect)."

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Propaganda postcard

#5555

Post by Pete26 » 02 May 2015, 01:22

Image

http://www.psywarrior.com/heilbeilillust.jpg
A Soviet propaganda postcard published on 25 August 1941 that depicted Adolf Hitler in full uniform with his head an executioner's axe, standing over a stump that would be used to behead his enemies. A pile of human skulls are at the lower right. Black blood dripping from the head of the axe gives the general appearance of Hitler's hair. Text at the bottom of the card is Heil Beil ("Hail the Hatchet").
http://www.psywarrior.com/AxisLeadersMonsters.html

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Re: Another axe beheading by Carl Gropler

#5556

Post by Pete26 » 03 May 2015, 00:31

Pete26 wrote:
The Berlin lawyer Erich Frey recalled later his brief encounter with the executioner: "At the end of the corridor, I had to give way to a broad-shouldered man. He looked like a transportworker, the high-buttoned jacket looked strange (out of place) on him. His closely-cropped skull rested on a plied bullsneck. In spite of the faint light, he looked sun-tanned and healthy. Never before, I had seen executioner Gröpler from Magdeburg. But, as he passed me with a slight bow, I knew, it was him. Anyone who had any business in the Criminal Court of Justice, knew about Gröpler. He had been a horse butcherer before. ... he collected every month a small fixed income, and had in return to be ready with his massive axe and his three skilled assistants, at the demand of the State attourney. He became for every execution, 300 Mark and the extra costs. Gröpler went to see his customers ... 'You can go to him without trouble,' I heard the guard say to Gröpler, 'he has no nerves' (in a Berlin dialect)."
Berlin lawyer Erich Frey who described his encounter with executioner Karl Gropler:

Image
http://www.anwaltsgeschichte.de/krimina ... s/frey.jpg
http://www.anwaltsgeschichte.de/krimina ... -frey.html

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Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich

#5557

Post by fredric » 03 May 2015, 07:21

Frey is referring to a tunic-style jacket with many buttons which the Prussian Minister of Justice demanded Groppler to wear instead of the formal "frock coat" tuxedo and top hat. Groppler disliked this tunic (see Evans, Rituals) and eventually was permitted to return to his traditional formal dress. The reason for the the tunic was that the Prussian Justice Minister did not like Groppler's practice of removing his formal jacket before carrying out the beheading. The Minister felt this was too theatrical a gesture. We do have one illustration of what I think is supposed to be Groppler with his sleeves rolled up and holding the axe. Herr Groppler objected to the Minister's demand, saying he often got blood on his shirt and by putting his jacket back on, he could conceal the blood, especially important in multiple executions. He also said the tighly buttoned tunic restricted his control of the axe.

Frey was a famous prosecutor whose story is quite interesting. Rather a dramatic-looking personality with the monocle. So here we see a guy who
watched Groppler at work. But no photos of Groppler can be found.

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Tooth gold fillings and crowns

#5558

Post by Pete26 » 04 May 2015, 03:32

Robert Tyfa, one of executioner Alois Weiss's assistants in Pankrac prison, testified after his capture:
Die Aufseher aus dem Gefangnis, deren name ich nicht kenne, haben dann die Sarge verschlossen, und wenn irgendeiner von den Gefangenen goldene Zahne hatte, dann haben Sie auf Truhe ein kleines Zeichen gemacht, und wahrscheinlich haben sie sich das Gold dann spater aus dem Gebiss herausgeholt. Die Sarge wurden dann zusammen zum Krematorium abtransportiert, wo sie dann eingeaschert wurden. Wo dann aber die Asche von diesen Leichen hinkam, das ist mir nicht bekannt.
Translated:

"The prison official, whose name I do not know, then closed the casket, and if any of the detainees had golden teeth, then he made a small mark on the chest, and probably they had the gold then later from the dentition retrieved. The caskets were then transported together to the crematorium, where they were then cremated. What happened to the ashes later is not known to me."

This means that gold tooth fillings, crowns, and bridges were most likely removed from dead bodies before they were cremated.
This was usual practice in concentration camps as well. However in this case the heads were separated from the bodies and one had to hold the head by itself to remove the gold teeth.

Source: Berufswunsch Henker by Klaus Hillenbrand, Campus Verlag GmbH, FRANKFURT AM MAIN, 2013, ISBN: 978-3593-39723-8

According to statements made by Frantisek Suchy, the son of Strasnice crematorium director, drunken Gestapo officers were once again searching for gold teeth after the bodies arrived at the crematorium, in hopes of finding some gold that was overlooked by the guards at Pankrac prison. This had to be a sickening spectacle, opening caskets, picking up bloody heads, opening mouths looking for gold teeth. And usually they found nothing, and then took out their frustration on helpless bodies and heads of the decapitated victims.

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Fritz Haarmann's Hackebeil

#5559

Post by Pete26 » 05 May 2015, 06:36

Fritz Haarmann's Hackebeil, or cleaver, with which he killed and dismembered at least 24 young men between 1918 and 1924. He sold some of their flesh to unsuspecting citizens of Hannover as "pork". The cleaver is displayed at the Hannover Police Museum.

Image

http://www.neuepresse.de/var/storage/im ... elQuer.jpg

Image
Communal grave of Haarmann's victims

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... ictims.jpg

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Helmuth Hubener arrest photo

#5560

Post by Pete26 » 06 May 2015, 19:44

Image

Helmuth Hubener arrest photo. 17 year old Hubener was guillotined on 27 October 1942 in Plotzensee prison for treason.

Juvenile law under which Hubener was sentenced:

Image

http://arts.monash.edu.au/publications/ ... s/rjgg.jpg

http://arts.monash.edu.au/publications/ ... erling.php

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Fritz Haarmann's head

#5561

Post by Pete26 » 09 May 2015, 03:46

Fritz Haarmann's guillotined head, preserved in a glass container at the University of Gottingen. 89 years after his execution it was finally cremated and ashes buried in 2014.

Warning: graphic images


http://www.goettinger-tageblatt.de/Nach ... n/IMG_0002

http://www.goettinger-tageblatt.de/Nach ... n/IMG_0003

http://www.goettinger-tageblatt.de/Nach ... n/IMG_0001

http://www.goettinger-tageblatt.de/Nach ... n/IMG_0004

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German execution axes

#5562

Post by Pete26 » 09 May 2015, 18:49



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fredric
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Re: German execution axes

#5564

Post by fredric » 09 May 2015, 21:15

Nice beil photos, good to have them for comparison. The (lower) is Scandinavian setting on the bench is unique but has no connection with Nazi Germany. It is great for comparison... one might call it a "Danish modern" beheading tool. Note the paddles to hold the condemn's head steady and metal hoops to hold the torso. Quite an axe too...really a work of art, quite Nordic, almost Viking, ja?

Beils from pre-and-early Nazi days were more practical than the Scandinavian model; richtbeils were heavy-duty choppers. Harald Polchau describes the beils he saw in Plotzensee as "huge tools." The closest beil to ones used by Groppler, Reindel, Englehardt, Krautz and Herr would be the center beil which I believe was owned by Sharfrichter Sigismurd Schesmer (sp). I would guess it is late 18th century. The one one the right probably is near
that time period and the one on the left is earlier...and may be in the Swiss Criminal Museum. Quite elaborate beil.

Anyone know the location of Groppler's axe? A replica of Reindel's axe is in the German History Museum (not displayed). When Julius Krautz was
appointed scharfrichter of Berlin, he did not have an axe and borrowed the Museum's. I think Reindel had sold his axe to a restaurant where it was displayed and now is probably lost. Another story is that it was passed along to another Scharfrichter and later confiscated by the Gestapo. Evans
says that the RMJ collected all execution equipment (axes, benches, blocks) from scharfrichters and possibly German prisons
at the time the fallbeil became the standard.

I have read that Gustav Vopel (post-Nazi, self-acclaimed sharfrichter) got his axe from Breslau. The execution rooms in Posen and Danzig
had blocks as well as fallbeils. Probably some axes hidden away too.

Today the Rothenburg Criminal Museum has a fine collection of beils. One is a match for the axe described in Mortimer's book as the
one Groppler used to behead Von Falkenhayn.

Richtbeils typically are said to weigh about 13lbs.
None were filled with mercury as claimed but this claim endures. Another claim was that the axe blade was immersed in ice
water before or between beheadings to keep blood from sticking to the blade. Blades were sometimes engraved with the names
and dates of victims as I have seen on some French guillotine blades.

A few axe executions did take place after the fallbeil became the norm. I have heard that a few axe executions continued after the War in the Eastern Zone.

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Peter Kürten execution

#5565

Post by Pete26 » 10 May 2015, 04:13

A sketch depicting the execution of German murderer Peter Kürten:

Image

https://frankzumbach.files.wordpress.co ... _00028.jpg

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