Translated by google:Geboren am 10. Juli 1901 in Berlin, besuchte Paul Junius die Volksschule, begann zunächst eine Modelltischlerlehre, arbeitet dann als Arbeitsbursche, Hilfsschlosser und Maschinenschlosser. 1916 trat er in den DMV, 1917 schloss er sich dem Arbeiter-Touristen-Verein "Naturfreunde" an und war als Wassersportler Mitglied der Wanderpaddler "Havel". Ende 1923 trat er in die KPD ein, wirkte als ehrenamtlicher Funktionär in Berlin und stand seit 1933 an der Spitze illegaler Betriebszellen in den Askania-Werken, wo er als Dreher arbeitete. Er hielt im Auftrag der Gruppe Kontakt zu antifaschistischen Arbeitern verschiedener Rüstungsbetrieben im Süden Berlins. 1933 gewährte er dem gesuchten KPD-Funktionär Werner Prochnow Quartier und hatte später auch Kontakte zur Widerstandsgruppe um John Sieg, Herbert Grasse und Otto Grabowski in Neukölln. Als Mitglied der Saefkow-Gruppe war er für die illegale Arbeit in den Betrieben in Berlin-Marienfelde und Berlin-Mariendorf verantwortlich. Am 13. Juli 1944 in Helmstedt verhaftet, hierher war der Betrieb verlagert gewesen, wurde Paul Junius am 26.Oktober 1944 vom Volksgerichtshof zum Tode verurteilt und am 4. Dezember 1944 in Brandenburg-Görden ermordet.
http://www.museum-lichtenberg.de/Born on July 10, 1901 in Berlin, Paul Junius attended elementary school, initially started a model carpenter apprenticeship, then works as a work boy, auxiliary mechanic and machinist. In 1916 he joined the DMV, in 1917 he joined the Arbeiter-Touristen-Verein "Naturfreunde" and was a water sports member of the hiking paddler "Havel". At the end of 1923 he joined the KPD, worked as an honorary functionary in Berlin, and since 1933 has been at the head of illegal plant cells in the Askania works, where he worked as a turner. He held on behalf of the group contact with anti-fascist workers of various armaments companies in the south of Berlin. In 1933 he granted the wanted KPD functionary Werner Prochnow quarters and later had contacts with the resistance group to John Sieg, Herbert Grasse and Otto Grabowski in Neukölln. As a member of the Saefkow group, he was responsible for the illegal work in the companies in Berlin-Marienfelde and Berlin-Mariendorf. Arrested on July 13, 1944 in Helmstedt, here the operation had been relocated, Paul Junius was sentenced to death on 26 October 1944 by the People's Court and murdered on 4 December 1944 in Brandenburg-Görden.
Translated by google:Geboren am 11. April 1907 in Berlin, lernte Tischler und arbeitete anschließend in Berlin und Hamburg. 1925 trat Kowalke in die KPD ein und gehörte seit Ende 1931 dem illegalen AM-Apparat des ZK der KPD an. Er war für Waffen- und Munitionsbeschaffung verantwortlich und reiste Ende 1932 zu einer militärischen Ausbildung nach Moskau. Nach Beendigung des Kurses kehrte er über Prag im Mai 1935 nach Deutschland zur illegalen Arbeit zurück. Ende 1935 emigrierte Kowalke nach Prag und war dort im AM-Apparat der Auslandsleitung der KPD eingesetzt. Er kam dann als Instrukteur unter dem Namen Arthur Janda nach Danzig und arbeitete mit den zwei kommunistischen Volkstagsabgeordneten zusammen. Als diese verhaftet wurden, ging Kowalke erneut nach Prag und wurde zur illegalen Arbeit nach Mitteldeutschland geschickt. Im Februar 1937 reiste er über Amsterdam nach Paris, in den folgenden Monaten Instrukteur des ZK der KPD in Bremen und im Ruhrgebiet. Bei Kriegsausbruch in den Niederlanden, ging Kowalke im Spätherbst 1941 nach Westdeutschland, um Verbindungen zu suchen und aufzubauen sowie für illegal einreisende Instrukteure Quartiere zu beschaffen, was erst in der Folgezeit in Berlin gelang.
Kowalke wurde ein enger Mitarbeiter des illegalen ZK-Instrukteurs Wilhelm Knöchel. Mit dem ZK-Instrukteur Wilhelm Beuttel schrieb er Artikel für die Zeitungen »Ruhr-Echo«, "Freiheit" und die von Knöchel redigierte Zeitung "Der Friedenskämpfer". Während eines illegalen Treffs am 2. Februar 1943 verhaftet, am 5. November 1943 vom 2. Senat des VGH zum Tode verurteilt, wurde Alfred Kowalke am 6. März 1944 im Zuchthaus Brandenburg ermordet.
http://www.museum-lichtenberg.de/Born on April 11, 1907 in Berlin, Tischler learned and then worked in Berlin and Hamburg. In 1925 Kowalke joined the KPD and belonged since the end of 1931 to the illegal AM apparatus of the Central Committee of the KPD. He was responsible for arms and ammunition procurement and traveled to Moscow in late 1932 for a military training. After completing his course, he returned to Germany in May 1935 for illegal work via Prague. At the end of 1935 Kowalke emigrated to Prague where he was employed in the AM apparatus of the KPD's foreign office. He then came to Danzig as an instructor under the name of Arthur Janda and worked with the two communist members of the People's Party. When these were arrested, Kowalke again went to Prague and was sent to Central Germany for illegal work. In February 1937 he traveled via Amsterdam to Paris, in the following months instructor of the Central Committee of the KPD in Bremen and in the Ruhr area. At the outbreak of the war in the Netherlands, Kowalke went in the late autumn of 1941 to West Germany to seek connections and to establish and for illegally arriving instructors to procure quarters, which succeeded only in the aftermath of Berlin.
Kowalke became a close associate of the illegal ZK instructor Wilhelm Knöchel. With the ZK instructor Wilhelm Beuttel he wrote articles for the newspapers "Ruhr Echo", "Freedom" and the newspaper "The Peace Fighter" edited by Knöchel. Arrested on February 2, 1943, sentenced to death by the second senate of the VGH on November 5, 1943, Alfred Kowalke was murdered on March 6, 1944 in the Brandenburg penitentiary.
Translated by google:Geboren am 25. Oktober 1904 in Nickelnischken in Ostpreußen, stammte Franz Mett aus einer kinderreichen Arbeiterfamilie. Nach dem Besuch der Volksschule arbeitete er zeitweise als Bergmann im Ruhrgebiet und als Metallarbeiter in Berlin. 1928 trat er der KPD bei, seit 1929 war er arbeitslos und widmete sich ganz der Parteiarbeit, zuerst als Kassierer, später als Funktionär im Berliner Unterbezirk Zentrum. Wegen seiner Aktivitäten im kommunistischen Widerstand, Mett war Kurier der Berliner Bezirksleitung und schleuste illegale Schriften aus der Tschechoslowakei nach Deutschland ein, wurde er im November 1934 festgenommen und am 30. Januar 1935 vom 3. Strafsenat des Kammergerichts Berlin wegen "Vorbereitung zum Hochverrat" zu drei Jahren Zuchthaus verurteilt, die er im Zuchthaus Luckau verbüßte, wo er Robert Uhrig kennen lernte, mit dem er nach der Haftentlassung 1938 eine neue Widerstandsgruppe aufbaute. Mett, der nach seiner Entlassung als Automatenhelfer bei der Fabrik "Robert Carst" in der Alten Jacobstraße beschäftigt war, gehörte zu den führenden Mitgliedern der Uhrig-Gruppe und war u. a. verantwortlich für den Aufbau und die Anleitung illegaler Gruppen in Großbetrieben. Am 4. Februar 1942 verhaftet, wurde er am 6. Juni 1944 vom 5. Senat des Volksgerichtshofes zum Tode verurteilt und am 21. August 1944 im Zuchthaus Brandenburg-Görden ermordet.
http://www.museum-lichtenberg.de/Born on October 25, 1904 in Nickelnischken in East Prussia, Franz Mett came from a large working-class family. After attending elementary school, he worked at times as a miner in the Ruhr and as a metalworker in Berlin. In 1928 he joined the KPD, since 1929 he was unemployed and devoted himself entirely to party work, first as a cashier, later as an official in the Berlin subdistrict center. Because of his activities in the communist resistance, Mett was a Berlin district executive and smuggled illegal writings from Czechoslovakia to Germany, he was arrested in November 1934 and on January 30, 1935 by the 3rd Criminal Court of the Berlin Court for "preparation for high treason" He was sentenced to three years in a penitentiary, which he served in the Luckau Prison, where he met Robert Uhrig, with whom he built a new resistance group after his release in 1938. Mett, who was employed after his dismissal as a machine assistant at the factory "Robert Carst" in the old Jacob street, belonged to the prominent members of the Uhrig group and was u. a. responsible for setting up and guiding illegal groups in large companies. Arrested on 4 February 1942, he was sentenced to death on 6 June 1944 by the 5th Senate of the People's Court and murdered on 21 August 1944 in the Brandenburg-Görden penitentiary.
Translated by google:Geboren am 15.Januar 1913 in Berlin-Schöneberg. Nach dem Besuch der Volks- und Mittelschule absolvierte Herbert Tschäpe eine kaufmännische Lehre bei der Zentral-Europäischen Versicherungsbank. Nach nur einem Jahr wurde der Lehrvertrag gelöst und Herbert Tschäpe besuchte für ein Jahr die Kaiser-Friedrich-Oberrealschule in Berlin-Neukölln, danach arbeitete er als Bauarbeiter bei verschiedenen Berliner Firmen. Von 1928 bis 1930 in der Sozialistischen Arbeiterjugend (SAJ) organisiert, wurde er 1930 Mitglied des KJVD und der KPD. Er war politischer Leiter des KJVD in Berlin-Neukölln und gehörte 1933 der illegalen Leitung des KPD-Unterbezirks Berlin-Neukölln an. Im Dezember 1933 verhaftet und im Februar 1934 zu einem Jahr Gefängnis verurteilt. Nach seiner Entlassung im Dezember 1934 entlassen (die Untersuchungshaft wurde angerechnet) arbeitete er bis zu seiner Flucht aus Deutschland bei einer Gartenbaugesellschaft in Berlin-Zehlendorf. Mitte 1935 emigrierte Herbert Tschäpe in die Tschechoslowakei und meldete sich im Herbst 1936 zu den Internationalen Brigaden nach Spanien. Als Hauptmann in der XI. Internationalen Brigade kämpfte er bis 1938 auf Seiten der spanischen Republik, danach war er bis Ende 1940 in einem französischen Lager interniert. Im Mai 1941 kehrte er nach Deutschland zurück, wurde sofort verhaftet und kam in das KZ Sachsenhausen. Von dort flüchtete er am 22. April 1944, lebte illegal in einer Laube und nahm Kontakt zur Widerstandsgruppe um Anton Saefkow auf, wo er verantwortlich für den zivilen Sektor der Arbeit des NKFD war. Am 5. Juli 1944 erneut verhaftet, wurde er am 24. Oktober 1944 vom Volksgerichthof zum Tode verurteilt und am 27. November 1944 im Zuchthaus Brandenburg-Görden ermordet.
http://www.museum-lichtenberg.de/Born on January 15, 1913 in Berlin-Schöneberg. After attending elementary and secondary school, Herbert Tschäpe completed a commercial apprenticeship with the Central European Insurance Bank. After only one year, the apprenticeship contract was solved and Herbert Tschäpe attended for one year the Kaiser-Friedrich-Oberrealschule in Berlin-Neukölln, after which he worked as a construction worker at various Berlin companies. Organized from 1928 to 1930 in the Socialist Workers' Youth (SAJ), in 1930 he became a member of the KJVD and the KPD. He was political leader of the KJVD in Berlin Neukölln and belonged 1933 to the illegal guidance of the KPD Unterbezirks Berlin Neukölln. Arrested in December 1933 and sentenced to one year in prison in February 1934. After his release in December 1934 dismissed (the custody was counted) he worked until his escape from Germany at a horticultural society in Berlin-Zehlendorf. In the middle of 1935, Herbert Tschäpe emigrated to Czechoslovakia and in the fall of 1936 he applied to the International Brigades in Spain. As a captain in the XI. He fought on the side of the Spanish Republic until 1938, after which he was interned in a French camp until the end of 1940. In May 1941, he returned to Germany, was arrested immediately and came to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. From there he fled on April 22, 1944, lived illegally in an arbor and made contact with the resistance group around Anton Saefkow, where he was responsible for the civil sector of the work of the NKFD. Arrested again on 5 July 1944, he was sentenced to death by the People's Court on 24 October 1944 and murdered on 27 November 1944 in the Brandenburg-Görden penitentiary.
Translated by google:Geboren am 29. April 1913 in Berlin-Lichtenberg, erlernte der Sohn einer Arbeiterfamilie den Beruf eines Schlossers und Werkzeugmachers. 1928 wurde er in Berlin Mitglied des KJVD, engagierte sich in der Roten Jungfront der Jugendorganisation des RFB. Nöldner leitete die KJVD- Gruppe Görlitzer Viertel und gehörte der Leitung des KJVD Berlin-Kreuzberg Südost an. Ab 1933 illegal tätig in einer KPD-Zelle des Unterbezirks Südost, wurde er im Dezember 1935 verhaftet, am 4. Juni 1936 vom 4. Senat des Kammergerichts Berlin wegen "Vorbereitung zum Hochverrat" zu 3 Jahren Zuchthaus verurteilt. Nach den Haftstationen Luckau, Esterwegen und Aschendorfer Moor II wurde er Anfang Dezember 1938 entlassen. Unter Polizeiaufsicht stehend, arbeitete er dann bei der Fabrik "Auert" in Berlin-Weißensee.
Seit 1939 mit Lucie Kolboske verheiratet, wurde ihr gemeinsamer Sohn Jürgen 1941 geboren. Während des zweiten Weltkrieges hatte er Kontakt zu der von Anton Saefkow, Franz Jacob und Bernhard Bästlein geführten Widerstandsgruppe und bemühte sich als Verbindungsmann um die Herstellung von Kontakten zu anderen antifaschistischen Gruppen in mehreren Berliner Rüstungsbetrieben. Am 7. Juli 1944 wurde er festgenommen und mit Bernhardt Almstadt und Arthur Weisbrodt am 19. September 1944 vom Volksgerichtshof zum Tode verurteilt. Der Werkmeister Erwin Nöldners reichte im Namen aller Mitarbeiter der Firma Auert ein Gnadengesuch ein, das jedoch ignoriert wurde. Am 6. November 1944 wurde Erwin Nöldner im Zuchthaus Brandenburg-Görden ermordet.
http://www.museum-lichtenberg.de/Born on April 29, 1913 in Berlin-Lichtenberg, the son of a working-class family learned the trade of a locksmith and toolmaker. In 1928 he became a member of the KJVD in Berlin, was involved in the Red Youth Front of the Youth Organization of the RFB. Nöldner headed the KJVD Group Görlitzer Viertel and was a member of the KJVD Berlin-Kreuzberg Südost. From 1933 onwards, he was illegally arrested in a KPD cell in the suburb of Southeast. He was arrested in December 1935 and sentenced to 3 years in prison by the 4th Senate of the Berlin Supreme Court on 4 June 1936 for "preparation for high treason". After the detention centers Luckau, Esterwegen and Aschendorfer Moor II, he was released in early December 1938. Under police supervision, he then worked at the factory "Auert" in Berlin-Weißensee.
Married to Lucie Kolboske in 1939, her son Jürgen was born in 1941. During the Second World War, he had contact with the led by Anton Saefkow, Franz Jacob and Bernhard Bästlein resistance group and tried as a liaison to the establishment of contacts with other anti-fascist groups in several Berlin armaments companies. On July 7, 1944, he was arrested and sentenced to death by the Volksgerichtshof on 19 September 1944 with Bernhardt Almstadt and Arthur Weisbrodt. The foreman Erwin Nöldners filed a pardon request in the name of all employees of the company Auert, which was however ignored. On November 6, 1944 Erwin Nöldner was murdered in the Brandenburg-Görden penitentiary.
Some time ago I sent my comments on this article which appeared on Chris Woodyard's terrific sitePete26 wrote:the-prussian-execution-machine.jpg
Not a realistic illustration of the block and table. The block could not be this thin in profile as it would be totally unstable. The top of the block must have a flat spot for the neck behind the cutout. Otherwise the executioner could not fully sever the neck, unless he aimed for the gap between the block and the table which is not the way an execution axe was intended to be used. The table looks like a dining room table, in reality it was nothing more than a crude bench with folding legs, which was directly attached to the block so there was no gap between them.
http://hauntedohiobooks.com/news/silk-h ... execution/
I do not agree that it was enough just to drop a 13 lb axe on a person's neck and the gravity alone would do the job. Here is why. If we use the Pankrac fallbeil as an example, the sledge and blade weigh about 60 kg (about 130 lbs). They fall from the height of about 1.2 meters (3.9 ft) on a person's neck. The kinetic energy of the sledge/blade at the end of the fall is 130 X 3.9 = 507 ft-lbs. Now if a 13 lb axe blade is dropped from the same distance, its kinetic energy will be only 50.7 ft-lbs, or 1/10 that of the fallbeil blade. Another disadvantage of the axe is that the blade is relatively straight and it has to sever the neck by crushing action, rather than cutting, as the slanted guillotine blade does. Separating by crushing requires even more energy. I seriously doubt that if they used a 13 lb sledge/blade combination on a fallbeil that it would do the job it was designed to do.fredric wrote: Some time ago I sent my comments on this article which appeared on Chris Woodyard's terrific site
"hauntedohiobooks.com). I recommend this weird site to all. The illustration and news article were familiar to me. It appeared in several variations in U.S. newspapers. The article in its many forms is a bonanza of axe beheading information, mythical and factual. You will find everything from the mercury-filled axe to this crazy illustration, all myths.
The illustration to "artist's license" by a newspaper artist of the day. Everything is crazy, especially the axe and the table!
The real board would have been thin, with folded legs as you say and most important, slanted upward and hooked to
the block, leaving a gap. A zinc tray was beneath that gap to catch the blood. The tray was hooked to the block.
The block had a "chin cup" and the victim was held by the helper's, either their hands or two straps. The victim was pulled up and forward. The axe was dropped, almost always severing the head. No chop. Just drop. 13 lb. blade dropped from above the scharfricter's head.
An assistant positioned the head (hell of a job) and pulling forward. Immediately after the head was cut,
the straps were loosened allowing the trunk to fall and the blood to drain into the zinc tray. Of course the block was surrounded by sand.
This "sand castle" formed a neat little moat for the blood...a blood cup. The same type of sand cup was used beneath the Mannhardt when
the Mannhardt was first introduced...perfect for outdoor executions.
Suggest everyone read the full article on Woodyard's fun site. It is not her writing. It is a "find" by her. Her books are good!
The advangtage of a heavier axe is that it does not have to be raised nearly as high as a light axe to perform the same task. This enables the executioner to follow the blade with his eyes and aim much better, even if he is putting force into accelerating the blade downward.fredric wrote:Can't dispute your engineering analysis of the kinetic energy of the falling richtbeil and conclusion that the scharfrichter could not have
just "dropped" the richbeil on a victim's neck but would have had to swing the richtbeil to increase its striking power.
I am not an engineer. I am a researcher on the topic.
Here are a few comments on the subject by people who observed richtbeil beheadings:
1. In 1935, in response to press criticism of beheading with the richtbeil as being "barbaric", the Reich Ministry of Justice (in a response to
Ernst Hanfstaengl) wrote: "Execution with the axe cannot be described as an impractical or cruel way of carrying out a death sentence.
We are dealing not with a normal 'chopper' but with a specially made execution axe. Because of its unusual weight, it has such a powerful
cutting force that it is absolutely unnecessary to swing it. The weight of this instrument also helps achieve a particularly accurate blow."
2, Jan Valtin (author of "Out of the Night" describing the execution of three communists) says: " Before I could realize what was happening,
the headsman raised his ax over Comrade Dettmer's head. He did not strike. He simply let it fall on Johnny's neck. Then, with an easy
motion, he drew the blade toward him, and stepped back. Johnny Dettmer's head fell into the basket."
3. The weight of richtbeil blades probably varied. Polchau describes one as "massive" but give no weight. I have a drawing of Groppler's
axe (Groppler executed the communists in Valtin"s book). The drawing says "Schwere des Beils 6 Klg" (13.227 lbs). 13 lbs. is also
given as the weight of Vopel's axe which he asserted he borrowed from Breslau (possibly a lie).
4. In the only photo so far discovered of an axe beheading, Reindel seems to have raised the axe above and perhaps (blurred) a bit
behind his head... and could well have put some extra energy into the fall... but this is certainly not what the foreign press
depicts in a drawing of Reindel... about to swing the axe like a baseball bat!
The following model clearly shows the tray between the block and the table:fredric wrote:
Some time ago I sent my comments on this article which appeared on Chris Woodyard's terrific site
"hauntedohiobooks.com). I recommend this weird site to all. The illustration and news article were familiar to me. It appeared in several variations in U.S. newspapers. The article in its many forms is a bonanza of axe beheading information, mythical and factual. You will find everything from the mercury-filled axe to this crazy illustration, all myths.
The illustration to "artist's license" by a newspaper artist of the day. Everything is crazy, especially the axe and the table!
The real board would have been thin, with folded legs as you say and most important, slanted upward and hooked to
the block, leaving a gap. A zinc tray was beneath that gap to catch the blood. The tray was hooked to the block.
The block had a "chin cup" and the victim was held by the helper's, either their hands or two straps. The victim was pulled up and forward. The axe was dropped, almost always severing the head. No chop. Just drop. 13 lb. blade dropped from above the scharfricter's head.
An assistant positioned the head (hell of a job) and pulling forward. Immediately after the head was cut,
the straps were loosened allowing the trunk to fall and the blood to drain into the zinc tray. Of course the block was surrounded by sand.
This "sand castle" formed a neat little moat for the blood...a blood cup. The same type of sand cup was used beneath the Mannhardt when
the Mannhardt was first introduced...perfect for outdoor executions.
Suggest everyone read the full article on Woodyard's fun site. It is not her writing. It is a "find" by her. Her books are good!
It depends what height would the axe be dropped from. It also depends on how sharp the blade is and where it strikes the neck. if it slices through it between two vertebrae, then less energy would be required than slicing through a vertebra itself. It also depends on how big and heavy is the executioner wielding the axe.fredric wrote:Thanks.
I figure the Reich Ministry of Justice/Roland Freisler's comments stand up too.
What do you calculate the weight a free fall axe would have to be to cut through
15-1/2 " (circumference) of muscle, a windpipe and vertebrae?
c
