Beheadings in the Third Reich

[Pete26]

Ernst Volkmann was guillotined in Brandenburg-Görden prison on 9 August 1941 for his refusal to serve in German military forces for religious reasons.

http://deserteursdenkmal.at/wordpress/w ... 9x1024.jpg

[fredric]

The Dresden-Tegel photographs are some of the finest documentary pictures of a Tegel I have ever seen.
They probably document a test set-up when the Tegel arrived. The close-up images of the winch and
halsbrett are the first, clear images from this angle I have seen. A great discovery for those of us following
this subject. I believe this Tegel was used at Dresden, then shipped to Leipzig. Keep up supplying us
with your many discoveries!

[Pete26]

http://wiadomosci.onet.pl/kiosk/trupy-w-piwnicy/g13kn

https://translate.google.com/translate? ... edit-text=

The photograph (graphic) in the linked article above shows an actual body (guillotined or shot) being autopsied. The top of the skull is removed and the brain is exposed.

Among those who went to his lab tables following their death were some of the more notable members of the limited German resistance of the Nazi era. The bodies of Harro Schulze-Boysen and his wife Libertas, along with Arvid Harnack and Liane Berkowitz, all members of the Red Orchestra, which tried to thwart Germany's invasion of the U.S.S.R. in 1941, were taken there after their executions near the end of 1942. The next year the body of Elfriede Scholz, sister of novelist Erich Maria Remarque, was also released to Stieve after her execution for "undermining morale" after saying that the war was lost.[1]


Mildred Fish Harnack, executed for espionage in 1943. Her body is the only one of the 182 Stieve used for research whose burial location is known
Harnack's Wisconsin-born wife Mildred originally seemed to escape this fate when she received a six-year sentence for her espionage activities. It was overturned on Hitler's direct order, to be replaced with beheading, making her the only American woman Hitler personally ordered executed.[1] Another one of Stieve's students carried her remains home in a shopping bag and had them buried in Zehlendorf Cemetery, making her the only member of the Red Orchestra whose burial site is known.[11]

When the bodies of Harnack and the Schulze-Boysens were in the examining room, one of Libertas' friends, Charlotte Pommer, who had gone into medical studies, recognized them and quit the program on the spot, since she knew that Libertas wanted to be buried somewhere quiet and tranquil. Later Pommer became a dissident herself, hiding a family member of one those involved in the 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler and eventually being jailed herself near the end of the war. She is the only one of Stieve's students or assistants known to have left the program for moral reasons. Stieve himself claimed to have refused the bodies of some of the assassination plotters—the only time he allegedly did so—but reportedly had no problem dissecting the body of Walter Arndt, a longtime friend who was executed in 1944. Supposedly he kept Arndt's heart.

Note: The remains of Mildred Fish Harnack were cremated by one of the pathologists who recognized her, and the cremated remains were then carried in a shopping bag and burried in Zehlendorf Cemetery.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermann_Stieve

Note: Charlotte Pommer (or Sommer referred to in the first article) was the one who recognised the body of her friend Libertas Schulze Boysen in the autopsy room.

[Pete26]

This is an interesting description of how beheadings were carried out at Vienna Regional Court. The article mentions that the beheaded bodies were first placed in a holding casket or container lined with galvanized sheet metal. This was done no doubt to contain the blood which would otherwise flow all over the floor. (A large galvanized metal lined container was used in French guillotine executions to hold the bodies and to contain the blood). Also, of interest is the description how the noise of the blade crashing down could be heard by other prisoners, and how they always counted one victim too many because they did not realize that the first blade impact was caused by testing the guillotine prior to the execution session.
The weight of the blade and the sledge is given as 46 kg, which is lower than that specified for the Pankrac fallbeil (60 kg) and that for the Katowice fallbeil (52 kg). Could this discrepancy in weight be the result of varying thicknesses of individual blades or error in weighing each asembly? The weight of each sledge without the blade should be about the same.

Die nazistische Mordmaschine.

Ingesamt waren in den jahren der Hitler Herrshaft im Landesgericht 1184 hinrichtungen erfolgt. Hiervon waren 537 politische Todesurteille gegen Zivilisten, 67 Kopfungen von Militars, 49 kriegsbedingte Vergehen, 31 kriminelle Falle. Unter den Hingerichteten befanden sich 93 Frauen in allen Alterklasen, darunter ein 16-jahriges madchen und eine 72-jahrige Frau, die beide aus politischen Grunden hingerichtet worden waren.

Die Kopfungen wurden druch drei Scharfrichterpartien zu je vier Mann vollzogen. die erste unter dem Chef Reichhart was aus Munchen, die zweite unter dem Chef Weiss aus Prager Deutschen zusammengesetzt, die dritte unter dem Chef Ulicke war die eigentliche der General-staatsanwaltschaft Wien. Die Hochstzahl der Hinrichtungen an einem Tage wurde am 31 Juli 1943 mit 31 Delinquenten erzielt. Einen Tag spater, am 1 August 1943, wurden 30 Personen gekopft. Pro Aktion wurden vom Wehrmachtsgefangnis Wien 10, Hardtmuthgasse; durchschinttlich vier bis funf Mann einbezogen.

An der Hinrichtungstagen erfolgte um 9 Uhr Vormittag im Auftrag der Dienstbehorde allgemeiner Einschluss. Es herrschte im ganzen Hause Stille. Die Todeskandidaten wurden einzeln aus den Zellen geholt und in die Abteilung parterre-Strafe-Manner gebracht. Sie wurden dort neuerdings umgekleidet und nach harten Gegenstanden untersucht. hierauf wurden alle auf dasstrengste gefesselt, von den Beamten den etwa 100 Meter langen Wieg durch das Parterre - Strafe - Manner zu den Arme sunderzellen gefuhrt, die gegenuber dem Raum 47 C, dem eigentlichen Hinrichtungsraum, gelegen warren. In den Zellen befanded sich je nach Zahl der Todeskandidaten drei, vier bis sechs Mann.

Um 12 Uhr betrat der Staatsanwalt oder sein Vertreter den Raum. Er verlas das Todesurteil und teilte mit, dass keine Begnadigung erfolgt ist. Um 13 Uhr wurde den Delinquenten das Hemd ausgezogen und die Hande wurden nach ruckwarts geschlossen. Punkt 18 Uhr wurden sie nach dem beruchtigten Raum 43 C zur Hinrichtung gefuhrt. Der Richter befanded sich vor einem swarzen Vorhang. Die Verurteilten waren rechts und links von je einem der Scharfrichtergehilfen umstellt. Nach dem letzten Wort des Urteilsspruches wurden die Todeskandidaten von den Henkern gepackt und durch den schwarzen Vorhang gestossen, wo sie der dritte Gehilfe bei den Beinen packte und auf das Schafott schleppte. Der Scharfrichter selbst brachte den Bajonettverschluss durch Herunterzichen des hebels zur Auslosung. Ein 46 kg schweres Messer sauste aus einer Hohe von 80 cm bis 1 m herunter. Der Kopf fiel in einen fur jeden Toten vorbereiten Blechkorb. Sodann wurden die Leichen in einem mit Blech ausgeschlagenen Holzsarg gelegt. Das Blut floss in das vorbereitete Ausflusskanalrohr. Nach jeder Hinrichtung wurde gespult. die Leichen wurden nachts eingesargt und in geschlossenen Lastkraftwagen abtrasportiert.

Die letzte Hinrichtung erfogte am 23 Marz 1945. Die meisten politischen Verurteilten starben als Helden. Die Hinrichtungen erfolgten blitzartig. So wurden die 31 Todesurteile am 31 Juli 1943 im Verlauf von einer Stunde vollstreckt. Inbegriffen was die Verlesung des Urteils. Sobald die Automobile mit den leichen der Justifizierten von den Haftlingen der aberen Stockwerke bemerkt wurdenm ertonten laut schallend die rufe Morder!. Es wurden daher uber ganze Stockwerke disziplinare Strafen verhangt. Sie vermochten nicht die Wut den Abscheu der Gefangenen zu mindern, und die Rufe wiederholten sich immer wieder.

In den Trakten I und II E konnte man die dumpfen Schlage der Hinrichtungen horen. Die haftlinge dieser Abteilungen wussten daher zumeist die Zahl der Todesopfer. Sie zahlten nur ein Opfer zuviel, da der Scharfrichter selbst vor Beginn der Exekutionen jedesmal einen Probehieb fuhrte.

Translated by google (with necessary corrections):

The Nazi murder machine.

In the course of the years of Hitler's reign, 1184 executions took place in the Regional Court (of Vienna). Of these, 537 were political death sentences against civilians, 67 beheadings of military members, 49 war-related offenses, 31 criminal cases. Among these, 93 women were in all age groups, including a 16-year-old girl and a 72-year-old woman, both of whom had been executed for political reasons.

The beheadings were carried out by three executioner's parties, each consisting of four men. The first under the chief Reichhart was from Munich, the second under the chief Weiss from Prague, the third under the chief Ulicke was the one of the general procuratorate of Vienna. The maximum number of executions per day was on 31 July 1943 with 31 delinquents. A day later, on 1 August 1943, 30 people were killed. Per action were taken by the Wehrmachtsbefangnis Wien 10, Hardtmuthgasse; Literally four to five men.

On the day of the execution, at 9 o'clock in the morning on the orders of the service authority, general lockdown took place. There was stillness in the whole house. The death candidates were brought out of the cells individually and brought into the men's penal block. They were there recently dressed and searched for hard objects. All of them were tied to the strongest, and from there the officials led the hundred-meters long journey to the radially arranged holding cells which were situated opposite room 47C, the actual execution room. The cells contained three, four or six men, depending on the number of death candidates.

At 12 o'clock the prosecutor or his representative entered the room. He read the death sentence and said there was no pardon. At 1 pm, the shirt was pulled off of the delinquents, and the hands were tied behind the back. At six o'clock they were led to the execution to the presentation room 43C. The executioner was in front of a black curtain. The condemned to the right and left were each surrounded by one of the executioner's assistants.. After the last word of the verdict, the death candidates were seized by the executioner's assistants and pushed through the black curtain, where they were grabbed the third assistant by the legs and dragged onto the scaffold. The executioner himself released the blade by pulling a lever. A 46 kg heavy knife bounced down from a height of 80 cm to 1 meter. The head fell into a tin basket prepared for each dead man. The corpses were then placed in a wooden holding casket, which was lined with sheet metal. The blood flowed into the prepared discharge canal. After each execution, it was spooled. The corpses were placed in coffins at night and carried away in closed trucks.

The last execution took place on 23 March 1945. Most of the political condemned died as heroes. The executions were lightning-like. Thus, the 31 death sentences were carried out on 31 July 1943 in the course of an hour. This included reading of each verdict. As soon as the trucks with the corpses were noticed by the prisoners of the upper floors , loud "murder" exclamations were heard. Therefore disciplinary punishments were imposed on entire floors. They could not diminish the anger of the detainees, and the calls repeated again and again.

In tracts I and II E one could hear the thud of the executions. The detainees of these detachments were, therefore, mostly aware of the number of death sacrifices. They counted one sacrifice too many, as the executioner tested the guillotine each time before the executions began.

Source: "Mich konnt ihr Loschen, aber nicht das Feuer" by Willi Weinert

[fredric]

I believe the weight variable is due to different blades although a 14 kg difference between Wein and Pancrac is
quite a lot. The sledges also may have been differently manufactured because the "Tegel" style machines were made not only in the Tegel workshops but also by private contractors.
This is an interesting article. I won't pick apart some erroneous descriptions because they are due to translation.

[Pete26]

I believe the weight variable is due to different blades although a 14 kg difference between Wein and Pancrac is
quite a lot. The sledges also may have been differently manufactured because the "Tegel" style machines were made not only in the Tegel workshops but also by private contractors.
This is an interesting article. I won't pick apart some erroneous descriptions because they are due to translation.

Another possibility for weight variation is that the specified weight of 46 kg represents the weight of the sledge alone, without the blade. The blade weight of 14 kg is quite credible, as the Mannhardt blade supposedly weighs 15 kg by itself and both of these blades are very similar in size and thickness. Also, if one weighs the sledge and blade while they are inside the main frame by using some kind of a suspension scale and there is a lot of friction between the sledge and vertical frame sliding surfaces, the weight indicated may not be very accurate and it will be significantly less than the true weight. The most accurate method would be to weigh the sledge and blade when removed from the main frame. Unfortunately, we have no idea how the 60 kg, 52 kg, and 46 kg weights (Pankrac, Katowice, and Wienna fallbeils, respectively) were determined and by what method. I seriously doubt that there could be a 14 kg difference between solid steel parts manufactured to specified dimensions in that size. If the fallbeil was about 3 times the size of a regular Tegel in all dimensions, it would be easier to accept. While there could be some variations in the thickness of the blade itself, the sledge had to be built to pretty tight tolerances and the size of the blade looked quite uniform too on various Tegel fallbeil photographs.

As for translation of the article, the original google version was awful - I know there is still some cleaning up left to do. Maybe some German speaking members of this forum can clean it up a bit. Some of the timelines given in the article appear to make little sense - for example, why would someone order a prisoner to remove his shirt at 1 PM and then leave him half naked until 6 PM execution time? Did they give them some other clothing to wear? It most likely was not very warm inside that prison in wintertime. What is very credible though is the confirmation of extremely fast pace of these executions - about 2 minutes for each including removal of the body and cleanup. That required extremely coordinated work and great efficiency. Too bad that that efficiency was wasted on such butchery. It is difficult to imagine how strong the smell of blood had to be in that room half way through the execution session. I suppose that for the members of the execution team it was the smell of money. And it seems that the floor drain did get clogged regularly - that is why they mention cleaning the drain after each execution session.

What they refer to as "scaffold" is in reality the fallbeil bench itself. The article says that once the prisoner was led into the execution room by two assistants (and when they reached the fallbeil bench end I assume) , the third assistant grabbed the prison by the legs and they placed him on the fallbeil bench. Probably not very gently, especially if he resisted in any way.

The description of the height of 80 cm to one meter for the height from which the blade was dropped is not very meaningful. This height was fixed, it did not vary because Tegel fallbeils are built to same dimensions and once the sledge is locked in at the summit, the drop height is fixed and pretty much the same from machine to machine. It would be at least one meter, or even slightly more than that. And if the blade drop height varied so much, this would mean that the executioner would have to drop a partially raised blade and this was probably against the execution protocol rules.

[fredric]

"Scaffold" (shafott) often is the term used for the "richtbank". This seems strange to those of us speaking English and
associating the term scaffold to mean a raised platform.
The clogged drain was a well-documented problem. This is the first I have heard of it at Wein. Reichhart complained about the blocked floor drain at Plotzensee ( Dachs and Pastor Harald Poelchau). The blood + sawdust mixture blocked the drain. I examined the drain close-up years ago and by then it was completely sealed by
whitewash...so it could easily be blocked. Photos taken by the Russians also show it blocked. It also could back up due to the nearby canals. The Brandenburg-Gordon drain also backed up and overflowed outdoors, terrifying prisoners awaiting execution.
The executioners at Plotzensee would create a temporary channel to route blood and other effluents directly into the large sump/pump (located in the rear, right corner of the room). If this were not done and the floor drain plugged, the whole room would flood with bloody water. I have posted before that Reichhart reports (per Dachs) that he and his team were up to their ankles and he had to cease executions. This was during a high number of executions following the July 20 bomb plot (he and another executioner, probably Rottger, working two fallbeile).
Plotzensee officials had this second fallbeil brought in to double "production" (I believe it was the old Mannhardt from Stuttgart, an f-gerat by then in terrible condition).
The description does contain some questionable information as you point out but the protocol for the execution team is worth noting. I am sure Reichhart's team, assuming this is the team described, was on top of their game at
Wein; they loved the city (but hated the faulty fallbeil) and would want to impress the officials. Reichhart claimed he had the fastest team working at that time.

[Pete26]

It seems that early Tegels, like the Vienna fallbeil made in the late 1930s were more prone to malfunctions than those manufactured at a later date. For example, Alois Weiss expressed great satisfaction with the Pankrac Tegel, which was delivered in early 1943, so it was probably built around that time too. No doubt there were teething problems with these early Tegels and the problems were slowly rectified as more were built. But even Weiss conceded that the Stadelheim Mannhardt was the best most reliable machine he ever worked with. Reichhart definitely preferred Mannhardts over Tegels.

In several articles I read it was stated that the first customer of the Vienna Tegel was no other than the serial poisoner Karoline Martha Marek, who was guillotined on 6 December 1938 by Reichhart and managed to kick him hard before being subdued. Some sources say that she was guillotined in the courtyard of the Regional Court, but that's probably false information. More than likely the guillotine was immediately installed in the execution room inside the courthouse where it remained until the last execution session in March 1945. But I suppose it is possible that when first delivered to the Courthouse, the fallbeil was placed in the courtyard where the gallows used to be and used there for some time before being moved indoors. Vienna Tegel guillotine was sent to Vienna by rail, packed as "industrial machinery" on October 3rd, 1938.

I did not realize that the old Stuttgart falbeil was a Mannhardt. If it was indeed brought into Ploetzensee prison temporarily, was it placed inside the same execution room or used outdoors? The Plotzensee fallbeil was mounted in the center of a rather narrow execution room, so would there be enough room to set up another fallbeil next to it, so was the Mannhardt placed behind it next to the sump drain?

[Pete26]

This is a plan view of the Stuttgart Regional Court and the prison next to it. The guillotine execution site was in one of the court's inner courtyards as shown (Hinrichtungsstaette). The executioner for this Central execution site was Johann Reichhart.



https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... %2C_04.jpg



A photo of the Regional Courthouse in Stuttgart (Justizgebäude), taken in 1889. The street shown in the photograph is apparently Ulrichstrasse, and the guillotine was located in the courtyard closer to that street.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... %2C_06.jpg

[Pete26]

An amusing French clip about history of the guillotine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4xRTafwaM

[fredric]

Stuttgart had a Mannhardt, one of the six built. It was set up outdoors, dismantled and stored. I have not seen a report that Stuttgart received a Tegel. The machine was worked by Reichhart who was very critical of the prison about its maintenance and setup. He demanded that a podium be built for it and it was. Later a concrete pad was poured but it continued to be used outdoors. By 1940, the prison and Reichhart were aware the constantly oiled, disassembled and reassembled fallbeil was suffering. The base was reported to be brittle "like glass" from the oil.
Still the volume of executions was increasing as victims were transported to Stuttgart from locations outside including Alsace. Daily bombing made outdoor executions difficult and the prison was overcrowded. A new execution room, indoors, was too costly and officials then moved executions to Bruchsal. A "new" fallbeil, based upon the Mannhardt design (and pictured on this forum topic) was obtained. By this time Reichhart had been removed from Stuttgart and replaced by Hehr. What happened to the Stuttgart fallbeil is a mystery but I sense it was destroyed when the prison was bombed.

[Pete26]

Stuttgart had a Mannhardt, one of the six built. It was set up outdoors, dismantled and stored. I have not seen a report that Stuttgart received a Tegel. The machine was worked by Reichhart who was very critical of the prison about its maintenance and setup. He demanded that a podium be built for it and it was. Later a concrete pad was poured but it continued to be used outdoors. By 1940, the prison and Reichhart were aware the constantly oiled, disassembled and reassembled fallbeil was suffering. The base was reported to be brittle "like glass" from the oil.
Still the volume of executions was increasing as victims were transported to Stuttgart from locations outside including Alsace. Daily bombing made outdoor executions difficult and the prison was overcrowded. A new execution room, indoors, was too costly and officials then moved executions to Bruchsal. A "new" fallbeil, based upon the Mannhardt design (and pictured on this forum topic) was obtained. By this time Reichhart had been removed from Stuttgart and replaced by Hehr. What happened to the Stuttgart fallbeil is a mystery but I sense it was destroyed when the prison was bombed.

I am surprised that they did not build a small execution shed that would protect the guillotine from inclement weather and also hide the execution from prying eyes of many court employees who no doubt watched from every window looking out on that courtyard when the executions took place.

[fredric]

Seems logical to build a shed but did not because of the frequent bombings and possibly lack of materials.
I do not find any reports of unwanted "prying eyes" although this is reported at many sites, especially those in
urban settings. It is reported that people in one German city could hear the screams of the victims as they were
hauled to the fallbeil. I will publish my thoughts on the locations of the Mannhardts soon, something I prepared
when I had the opportunity to communicate with the Bavarian National Museum... as I said, six were built and all were used during the War. They dismantled (three assistants could do it in a few hours or less), were heavy, could be packed in two crates unless a bench and supports had to be shipped too. Shipments were by rail. Once the War began, the Mannhardts were bolted fast to the floor and not shipped. Reichhart's portable fallbeil which he says he transported in his truck, is something cannot identify but it is possible he was talking about the Stadelheim machine. It certainly was transported to and from many locations pre-War. Some German prisons did manufacture their own bench and bases to fit the Mannhardt framework so only the upright frame, sledge, blades, tools and the head tub had to be shipped...still bulky but it was done. The main crate was huge.

[fredric]

Some of the "Tegels" were manufactured by Karl Krause Works, Berlin (according to Evans, it was located in
Berlin but other sources, including its current website, say Leipzig). You can find photos of Krause paper-cutters(guillotines) which are finely made machine tools. I believe they are still made and I operated one as
part of my college job in a small printing operation. It is likely Karl Krause turned out far better "Tegels" than
Tegel. Krause often did not put a nameplate on their products and certainly would not want their name on a head-cutter.

[Pete26]

Gregor Wohlfahrt was guillotined in Berlin Ploetzensee prison on 7 December 1939 for religious opposition to military service.

https://www.ushmm.org/lcmedia/idcard/lc/image/5466.gif

https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/idcard.php ... d=10006638