Beheadings in the Third Reich
Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich
Thank you for an interesting post. I do not think that Stadelheim prison modern record keeping policy applies in any way to the Third Reich era, which is a unique period in German history.
Can you tell us if the name of your great grandfather appears on this memorial tablet? The tablet lists more than 90 names of people executed in Stadelheim prison during the Third Reich era, and most of these names are those of Czech nationals. Click on the image to make it larger.
Can you tell us if the name of your great grandfather appears on this memorial tablet? The tablet lists more than 90 names of people executed in Stadelheim prison during the Third Reich era, and most of these names are those of Czech nationals. Click on the image to make it larger.
The youngest person officially guillotined by Nazis
Recently I discovered the following guillotine execution record from Ploetzensee prison. If the birth and execution dates are correct, the victim was only 15 years old at the time of his execution and he was executed for the crime of arson. If you remember the case of Valerian Wrobel who was guillotined at the age of 17 in Hamburg prison on 25 August 1942 for an arson attempt, this death sentence appears to be also of the same origin, i.e using the "People's Pest Regulation" law to pass a sentence of death. This young individual is listed among executed Czech nationals, and may well be the youngest person officially guillotined by Nazis.
(A person as young as 14 years could be officially sentenced to death and judicially executed in Nazi Germany).
The execution record is as follows:
Name: Kurt Walter Schmidt
Employment Status: Unemployed
Date and place of birth: 15 June 1926, Brandov, Czech Republic
Date of death sentence: 20 January 1942, sentenced by People's Court for arson
Date of execution by guillotine: 27 March 1942
Source of the execution record: Gedenkstätte Plötzensee
(A person as young as 14 years could be officially sentenced to death and judicially executed in Nazi Germany).
The execution record is as follows:
Name: Kurt Walter Schmidt
Employment Status: Unemployed
Date and place of birth: 15 June 1926, Brandov, Czech Republic
Date of death sentence: 20 January 1942, sentenced by People's Court for arson
Date of execution by guillotine: 27 March 1942
Source of the execution record: Gedenkstätte Plötzensee
Last edited by Pete26 on 19 Jul 2019, 17:59, edited 1 time in total.
A list of Czechoslovak nationals executed in Ploetzensee prison
http://old.ustrcr.cz/cs/popraveni-plotzensee
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... plotzensee
Most of the victims on the list were guillotined, only a few were hanged. The list identifies the method of execution for each victim. While most victims on the list have been executed for resistance activity and other political reasons, some were executed for common crimes, such as burglary or theft. There are several cases of people sentenced to death by using the "People's Pest Regulation".
Note: Prior to April 1943, when a new guillotine execution site was created in Prague Pankrac prison, Czechoslovak nationals sentenced to death were typically transported either to Berlin Ploetzensee prison or to Munchner Platz Dresden execution sites, where they were guillotined.
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... plotzensee
Most of the victims on the list were guillotined, only a few were hanged. The list identifies the method of execution for each victim. While most victims on the list have been executed for resistance activity and other political reasons, some were executed for common crimes, such as burglary or theft. There are several cases of people sentenced to death by using the "People's Pest Regulation".
Note: Prior to April 1943, when a new guillotine execution site was created in Prague Pankrac prison, Czechoslovak nationals sentenced to death were typically transported either to Berlin Ploetzensee prison or to Munchner Platz Dresden execution sites, where they were guillotined.
Last edited by Pete26 on 19 Jul 2019, 15:40, edited 1 time in total.
The White Rose: Faces of a Friendship
There are quite a few unique photos in this presentation on White Rose:
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... e-Rose.pdf
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/ ... e-Rose.pdf
Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich
I guess you mean the "Volksschädlingsverordnung (correct name: Verordnung gegen Volksschädlinge") with "People´s Pest Regulation"?
https://tinyurl.com/y2ldk9yn
Not less important was in many cases the Heimtückegesetz:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimt%C3%BCckegesetz
Did a search for "Volksschädlinge" on anno.onb.ac.at for 1944/45 and found this two as youngest victims:
1. 16.5 year old Alois Hütter from Linz, son of a deserter which commited suicide, and convicted for theft:
Source: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno? ... ch&seite=3
2. 17 year old Roland Tonnoir, a foreigner who commited theft and burglary with a gang.
Source: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno ... ch&seite=3
https://tinyurl.com/y2ldk9yn
Not less important was in many cases the Heimtückegesetz:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heimt%C3%BCckegesetz
Did a search for "Volksschädlinge" on anno.onb.ac.at for 1944/45 and found this two as youngest victims:
1. 16.5 year old Alois Hütter from Linz, son of a deserter which commited suicide, and convicted for theft:
Source: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno? ... ch&seite=3
2. 17 year old Roland Tonnoir, a foreigner who commited theft and burglary with a gang.
Source: http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno ... ch&seite=3
Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich
Pete26:
Thank you for reply My great-grandfather was buried in Perlacher Forst Cemetery where this memorial tablet comes from. His name stands there: "Hladeček Karl".
Today, I asked the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich if they have in their ownership the guillotine from this https://www.welt.de/geschichte/zweiter- ... choll.html. Because it could be the apparatus my great-grandfather passed on under.
Thank you for reply My great-grandfather was buried in Perlacher Forst Cemetery where this memorial tablet comes from. His name stands there: "Hladeček Karl".
Today, I asked the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich if they have in their ownership the guillotine from this https://www.welt.de/geschichte/zweiter- ... choll.html. Because it could be the apparatus my great-grandfather passed on under.
Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich
Yes, this is the guillotine used in Stadelheim prison for executions during WWII. It was one of six Mannhardt style guillotines produced in 1860's. These guillotines were already about 80 years old when used during WWII. Now the Stadelheim guillotine is over 150 years old. And the executioner was Johann Reichhart.heraldika wrote: ↑19 Jul 2019, 21:44Pete26:
Thank you for reply My great-grandfather was buried in Perlacher Forst Cemetery where this memorial tablet comes from. His name stands there: "Hladeček Karl".
Today, I asked the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich if they have in their ownership the guillotine from this https://www.welt.de/geschichte/zweiter- ... choll.html. Because it could be the apparatus my great-grandfather passed on under.
The guillotine was located in a separate one story building. This original execution building in Stadelheim prison no longer exists as it was converted into an automotive shop in the late 1950's and then demolished in the early 1960's to make room for the new prison cell block construction. If you search this site, there are several authentic photos of the execution building exterior and also some interior photos after WWII.
Here is a photo of Karel Hladeček:
https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Hladeček
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... de%C4%8Dek
Oldřich Hlaváč
Dentist Oldřich Hlaváč was guillotined in Berlin Ploetzensee prison on 18 December 1942.
http://www.lks-casopis.cz/clanek/doktor ... pisovatel/
Die Rheinland-Pfälzische fallbeil
This fallbeil, also known as Mainz Fallbeil was never used to execute anyone and is presently displayed in the Koblenz Museum.
https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland ... p-100.html
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... p-100.html
Last edited by Pete26 on 23 Jul 2019, 02:49, edited 1 time in total.
Re: The youngest person officially guillotined by Nazis
Attempt? There was a fire which needed to be extinguished. One can hardly speak of "attempt" then. It´s irrelevenat that not the entire barn and farm buildings burnt down.
Source?
Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich
Thanks for your treatise, Pete26.
I still wait for a reply from the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich if the guillotine is still in their ownership.
Wiki page you quoted is my work
I still wait for a reply from the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich if the guillotine is still in their ownership.
Wiki page you quoted is my work
Pete26 wrote: ↑20 Jul 2019, 15:59Yes, this is the guillotine used in Stadelheim prison for executions during WWII. It was one of six Mannhardt style guillotines produced in 1860's. These guillotines were already about 80 years old when used during WWII. Now the Stadelheim guillotine is over 150 years old. And the executioner was Johann Reichhart.heraldika wrote: ↑19 Jul 2019, 21:44Pete26:
Thank you for reply My great-grandfather was buried in Perlacher Forst Cemetery where this memorial tablet comes from. His name stands there: "Hladeček Karl".
Today, I asked the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich if they have in their ownership the guillotine from this https://www.welt.de/geschichte/zweiter- ... choll.html. Because it could be the apparatus my great-grandfather passed on under.
The guillotine was located in a separate one story building. This original execution building in Stadelheim prison no longer exists as it was converted into an automotive shop in the late 1950's and then demolished in the early 1960's to make room for the new prison cell block construction. If you search this site, there are several authentic photos of the execution building exterior and also some interior photos after WWII.
Here is a photo of Karel Hladeček:
Karel Hladeček.jpg
https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karel_Hladeček
https://translate.google.com/translate? ... de%C4%8Dek
Last guillotine executions in Hamburg
The last guillotine executions in Hamburg were carried out on 9 May 1949. Robert Amelung (age 29) and Peter Steinhauer (age 39) were guillotined for the crime of murder. The murder victim was Peter Nikolitsch (age 34). Marie Mohr was also sentenced to death, but was later acquitted.
The executions were most likely carried out by Friedrich Hehr who continued guillotine executions in post war Germany in Wolfenbuettel and Hamburg until abolition of the death penalty in 1949. It is not clear what guillotine was used for these executions, as the Haumburg guillotine was shipped to Dierbergen-Butzow prison in late 1944. Was this guillotine shipped back to Hamburg after WW II ended? The old wooden guillotine previously used in Hamburg was not functional any more.
https://www.mopo.de/hamburg/historisch/ ... n-32265134
The executions were most likely carried out by Friedrich Hehr who continued guillotine executions in post war Germany in Wolfenbuettel and Hamburg until abolition of the death penalty in 1949. It is not clear what guillotine was used for these executions, as the Haumburg guillotine was shipped to Dierbergen-Butzow prison in late 1944. Was this guillotine shipped back to Hamburg after WW II ended? The old wooden guillotine previously used in Hamburg was not functional any more.
https://www.mopo.de/hamburg/historisch/ ... n-32265134
Re: Beheadings in the Third Reich
Is there a reason to ignore my posts? I´m not going hours through archive material for that!