Nacht und Nebel- Prisoners from France

[Researching Bruce Dowding]

In 1943 "full tribunal" was held at Bochum (or possibly in Berlin) and NN prisoners who had been arrested working with the French Resistance near Abbeville France in December 1941 were executed by beheading at Lubeckerstrasse jail, Dortmund . They included BRUCE DOWDING, (my Uncle ) M.Marcel DUYAHON , M.DÉSIRÉ DIDRY, M.Drotais Dubois and abbe PIERRE CARPENTIER (NN Prisoner 789/42.
According to a book "Turncoat " by Murphy the prison register records “the condemned sheltered , in
1940 to 1941 , English soldiers secretly presently in occupied France ,
just as they encouraged young French and Belgians to enlist in the English Army. Duhayon and Carpentier did, moreover, collect important military information in the aim of communicating this to the enemy”. Murphy (p158) says Carpentier and Bruce were sentenced by a Nazi Tribunal in Berlin on 16 April 43 .
My request for assistance is Does anyone know where the "trial records " might be available to research? And whether their category change from simple prisoners to NN prisoners might have been recorded?

[reitchelazan]

That is lost or even now it is secret material.

[steve248]

First of all the Nacht und Nebel Decree was issued on 7 Dec 1941 so a trial and beheading in Dec 1941 in Germany seems extraordinary fast work.

Second, because the prisoners were taken to Germany and held in civilian or military jails, as opposed to concentration camps, shows this transfer was by the German Army and the Abwehr - not the Sicherheitspolizei.

Three lines of enquiry present themselves to my mind.

1. Bundesarchiv Freiburg/Breisgau (the military archive).
2. Bundesarchiv Berlin-Lichterfelde.
3. Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (included responsibility for Dortmund affairs).

Write a short note asking if they have German military tribunal records from whatever time and place, and sentences carried out in civilian jails at such a place and time. Don't go overboard with the names of victims as this will cloud the issue at this stage. You can write in English but they will respond in German.

You can find their addresses on the web.

[Researching Bruce Dowding]

they were beheaded on 30 June 1943 at Dortmund