Erna Wazinski

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Erna Wazinski (approx. 1944)
Stumbling block for Erna Wazinski, moved on May 7, 2012 in front of her last place of residence, Langedammstrasse 14

Erna Gertrude Wazinski (born September 7, 1925 in Ihlow (Oberbarnim) , † November 23, 1944 in Wolfenbüttel ) was a German armaments worker. At the age of 19, she was denounced by a neighbor for alleged looting after the October 15th bombing raid on Braunschweig and sentenced to death by the Braunschweig Special Court on the basis of the Ordinance against Public Pests (VVO) issued on September 5, 1939, as a “ pest ” .

Erna Wazinski, who only made a confession after being mistreated by detectives and for whom two requests for clemency had previously been made, died under the guillotine in Wolfenbüttel prison . The case came before German courts several times over a period of 40 years after the war . In 1952 a court reduced the old sentence; In 1991 he was acquitted on the basis of a new testimony . After the law to repeal unjust judgments in criminal justice came into force on September 1, 1998, all judgments according to the ordinance against pests of the people were reversed.

The almost completely preserved trial files are now in the Wolfenbüttel State Archives .

Life

Erna Wazinski (left) with a friend on the Löwenwall

Erna was the only child of Wilhelmine Wazinski, b. Chmielewski or Schmielewski, and their later husband, the invalid Rudolph Wazinski. Her parents were both born in East Prussia and around 1925 worked as farm workers on property in Brandenburg . Her father, 24 years older than her mother, only married her after the family moved to Essen in the Ruhr area in 1930. In 1931 the family moved to Braunschweig , where they lived in very modest circumstances on Langen Strasse , in a poor district in the Neustadt , lived. During the renovation of this old residential area from 1936, many of the small and winding half-timbered houses were demolished. The family then moved to the Magniviertel . The new apartment was at Langedammstrasse 14, again in an old half-timbered house. Rudolph Wazinski died a little later on February 16, 1938, when Erna was not yet 13 years old. From the age of 12, Erna Wazinski was a member of the Jungmädelbund , but did not join the BDM afterwards . She was confirmed in the Petrikirche at Easter 1940 .

She first attended the girls' school on Südklint near Langen Straße and later, after moving to the Magniviertel, the Axel Schaffeld School (today Georg Eckert School) until the regular end of her school days in 1939. She then stayed for some time at home and then had various jobs. Among other things, she worked for some time from 1942 at Otto Block, who had a lunch menu on the ground floor of the residential building at Langedammstrasse 14 . Block was repeatedly convicted , what the Youth Office of the City of Braunschweig took the occasion Erna Wazinski at the age of 17 years of child care education through admission to a home supply. In August 1942 she was sent to Wunstorf , where a newly established reception and observation home had just opened. After Erna Wazinski had been classified by psychiatrists as "normally at risk", she was transferred to the Birkenhof , a Protestant home in Hanover for girls who had finished school, where she had to stay for about a year.

After her return to Braunschweig in November 1943, the employment office arranged for Erna to work as a housemaid. In July 1944, she was assigned a position at the armaments company VIGA. The subsidiary of Brunsviga -Werke, located at Hamburger Straße 250, produced precision mechanical parts for weapons and was classified as essential to the war effort. Erna Wazinski worked here until her arrest on October 20, 1944.

The fact

Braunschweig between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on October 15, 1944 - at that time Erna Wazinski had to walk home through the burning city

On the night of Sunday, October 15, 1944, Erna Wazinski was on the night shift. Around 1:50 am there was an air raid and shortly afterwards the Royal Air Force flew a heavy air raid on Braunschweig , which caused a firestorm and destroyed 90% of the city center, including the Magniviertel. Around 12,000 high-explosive bombs , 200,000 phosphorus and incendiary bombs were dropped in just under 40 minutes . The fires only went out after two and a half days. Together with her work colleague and friend Gerda Körner, Erna Wazinski walked several kilometers from Hamburger Strasse to the Magniviertel to look for her mother, while the city center burned down. They arrived at the destroyed house around 4:00 am. It was the fourth time that mother and daughter Wazinski were bombed out and lost most of their belongings in the process. She couldn't find her mother, but assumed she was safe with neighbors. Later it turned out that Wilhelmine Wazinski had survived in the basement of the house on Langedammstrasse 8 diagonally opposite.

Erna Wazinski spent the night with her friend who lived at Friedrich-Wilhelm-Strasse 1. On the morning of October 16, the city was still burning, she and her friend, the soldier on leave from the front, Günter Wiedehöft, went to the ruins of the house in order to find personal belongings if possible. After they had cleared rubble out of the way for about two hours, Erna found two suitcases, a backpack, and a few items of clothing that it was not clear to whom they belonged. The total value of the lost property was around 200 Reichsmarks . Erna assumed it was her mother's property, as she told her boyfriend; a mistake, as it turned out later. Martha F. and Marina Fränke, a neighbor from the house at Langedammstrasse 8, filed a complaint against unknown persons on October 18 that some items had been stolen from her. She named Erna Wazinski as a suspect. According to the historians Ludewig / Kuessner , the reason for the accusation was that the SS member F., an acquaintance of the neighbor, had stalked Erna Wazinski, which is why the neighbor “did not speak well” to the accused.

arrest

Page 1679 from Reichsgesetzblatt I with the “Ordinance against pests of the people” of September 5, 1939

On Friday, October 20, Erna's friend wanted to visit her in her emergency shelter at the Körner family at Friedrich-Wilhelm-Strasse 1, but did not find her because she was still at work. While he was waiting, two detectives appeared who also wanted to see Erna Wazinski because of the “charges against unknown persons” of October 18. While everyone waited together, Günter Wiedehöft was interrogated informally about his girlfriend, describing what had happened in detail, including the joint rescue operation. When Erna arrived, he had to leave the room and wait in the hallway in front of the door while the police officers talked to her. After a short time, Wiedehöft heard the loud voices of the police officers, including the word “traitor to the people” several times, as well as loud clapping of blows. When all three left the room and Erna was led away, Wiedehöft saw that she had apparently been hit in the face; her lips were swollen and her nose was bleeding.

As one of the officers went out, he said to Wiedehöft that he should "evaporate" to the front as quickly as possible. Since the 20-year-old soldier himself now also felt threatened, he turned to the father of an acquaintance who worked for the Gestapo and asked for help. This promised to "keep him out of there", but he could not do anything "for the criminal". Thereupon Wiedehöft reported back to his unit on October 23 and came to the Eastern Front . He did not return from captivity until September 20, 1949 .

confession

A short time later it emerged that while Erna Wazinski was alone in the room with the two policemen, she had made a confession on which the indictment was based the following day. The content of this forced "confession" differed in essential points from the actual events on October 16, 1944 and almost matched the complaint made by the neighbor. The accused then admitted to having opened a suitcase in an undestroyed outbuilding into which the neighbor had brought some items from her property to safety and removed the parts described. Erna Wazinski did not mention that her boyfriend had been there during the rescue. His presence in Friedrich-Wilhelm-Strasse during the interrogation of the detectives, as well as the information he had previously given on the matter, were not mentioned in the police protocol.

accusation

A few hours later, on Saturday, October 21st, Chief Public Prosecutor Wilhelm Hirte drafted a brief indictment based on the previous day's “confession”. Erna Wazinski was accused of looting according to § 1 VVO and applied for the death penalty. The presiding judge of the special court, Walter Lerche , called the hearing for the same day, although there were older, untroubled cases; the reason for the expedited hearing of their case is unknown. Walter Ahrens and Ernst von Griesbach also sat on the bench . Christian von Campe was the public defender of the accused Erna Wazinski.

Trial and sentencing

1st page of the death sentence of October 21, 1944.
Brief report in the Braunschweiger daily newspaper from October 25, 1944.

Since the special court building in Münzstrasse was badly damaged by the October 15 bombing, the trial took place in Rennelberg prison , where Erna Wazinski was incarcerated. Less than 19 hours after her arrest, the trial against the unconvicted defendant was opened. The prosecution's representative, Public Prosecutor Horst Magnus , called for the death penalty on the basis of the complaint.

The judges at the Braunschweig Special Court had various options for legally assessing Erna Wazinski's alleged act: Under normal criminal law , it could have been assessed as simple theft and, given the negligible value of the stolen items, could have been punished with a fine or a small prison sentence. However, they decided to recognize the much tougher criminal offense of looting, in accordance with Section 1 of the Ordinance Against Public Pests (VVO), which was punishable by the death penalty according to the VVO due to the gravity of the act. The prerequisite for being sentenced to death was the unequivocal evidence that both the act itself was sufficiently serious and that the perpetrator was classified as a " pest " according to his personality .

Even the Reichsgericht advised judges to be particularly cautious about applying the VVO to adolescents and young adults. Despite the charge, which portrayed the young woman as a “pest of the people”, Chairman Lerche was positively surprised by the defendant and noted that she gave the “impression of a harmless, decent, young girl”. Erna Wazinski's outward appearance did not seem to match the indictment and the demand for the death penalty at all. The President of the District Court, Hugo Kalweit , who was present in the courtroom during a pause before the verdict was announced, told defense lawyers of Campe that this was not a case in which the death penalty had to be imposed. He immediately added that anything other than a death sentence was not to be expected.

Although there were exonerating witnesses , the defense attorney did not call them. He made no motions and instead of pleading for a mild judgment given the facts , he left the judgment at the "discretion of the court". Because of the "confession", which was not questioned by any side of the trial, the death sentence was finally passed. The court regarded the act as particularly reprehensible and justified it as follows:

“... Anyone who takes advantage of the dire plight of his fellow citizens in such a selfish manner is acting so reprehensibly and cruelly that he has to face the death penalty exclusively provided for pests of this kind in accordance with Section 1 of the Ordinance of 5 September 1939 on pests of the people. Even the youth of the accused cannot change that ... "

- From the grounds for the judgment of the Braunschweig Special Court of October 21, 1944. The passage: “Even the youth of the accused cannot change that.” Was subsequently handwritten into the judgment by Chairman Walter Lerche.

Erna Wazinski's defense attorney showed no reaction in the interests of his client immediately after the verdict was pronounced. This in turn reacted with astonishment to her death sentence . When the chairman Walter Lerche asked if she had anything else to say, she replied: “What am I doing with my mother? I have to feed my mother. "

In the post-war period, no special court judgment occupied the Braunschweig judiciary more or longer than the death sentence against Erna Wazinski, which was extraordinarily harsh even according to the case law at the time and which the special court apparently used to set an example. Of 56 reports filed with the Braunschweig Special Court after the bombing of October 15, 1944, including 28 cases of looting alone, some of which were considerably more serious, only 16 were charged, but only in the Wazinski case for looting . In total, there was only one death sentence - that against Erna Wazinski.

Investigations into the death sentence

After the death sentence was passed on Saturday, the presiding judge Lerche surprisingly asked the public prosecutor to investigate Erna Wazinski's personal environment and living conditions at the beginning of the week - a measure that normally takes place before a conviction. The public prosecutor Magnus, who was in charge of the “mercy investigations” and who had called for the death penalty on Saturday before, came across positive statements about the convicts during his investigations, which, however, were interpreted by the chief public prosecutor Hirte to their disadvantage, as she was known to two women who had a criminal record for abortions . Magnus concluded his investigation two days later and still claimed in an interview in 1989 that he could not find anything exonerating.

Interviewed work colleagues at the armaments company VIGA considered the judgment “too harsh”. The company management, however, painted a negative picture and wrote that they had often stayed away from work without excuse. By far the most negative testimony was given by the director of the Braunschweig Youth Welfare Office, Evers, on October 26th. Among other things, he wrote that she “... gave the impression of a certain precociousness even as a schoolchild ...”, “... efforts to place her in a regular employment relationship, she resisted ...”, after all she had contacted Mr. B. (the operator of the Lunch table) started to work, which has "the reputation of a pimp and impostor ". Evers continued, "Erna [...] became more and more prostitute in appearance ...". Evers also referred to a psychiatric report from 1943, according to which Erna Wazinski was "on the whole still immature with considerable psychopathic traits". Despite this expert opinion, Evers fully affirmed her ability to see her actions. The passage concluded: "Erna Wazinski was a weak-willed, instinctual, frivolous girl who, even in the present time of need, does not seem to have brought a stronger sense of responsibility."

Erna Wazinski herself was questioned again on October 25, when she first mentioned that she was engaged. She refused to give her fiancé's name, however, and Magnus never asked or asked any questions on the subject. The mother was also questioned, but given the situation of her daughter made unfavorable statements that were interpreted by the special court to the detriment of the convicted.

Requests for mercy

Erna Wazinski's petition for clemency on October 24, 1944.
(The transcription is on the picture description page.)

After the verdict, Erna Wazinski's attorney filed a pardon on Tuesday, October 24, in which he wrote, among other things:

“... It must be taken into account that the defendant, who had just turned 19, had a night shift in the Viga works on the night of October 15, 1944 and only came out of the air raid shelter of the works at 4 a.m. and then through the burning city to her apartment Mother hurried. The impression of the burning city must have had a heavy impact on the young human being, with special consideration of the defendants' concern for their sick mother in the apartment on Langedammstrasse. When the defendant came to Langedammstrasse, she found that the apartment had been completely destroyed. She couldn't find her mother. She has also not yet found her mother, as she credibly assures, on Monday, October 16, 1944. The psychological pressure must have had a very difficult effect on the defendant, who was not very strong, so that on October 16, 1944 she was really in a state that can be compared with that in which the free determination of will is excluded. I am convinced that it is irresponsible to extinguish young human life because of the removal of objects of very little value. ... "

- The counsel for clemency from Campe dated October 24, 1944

On that day, the convict herself also sent a petition for clemency to the special court. She wrote u. a .:

“... I lost my father very early and I live alone with my mother, who has a serious heart condition ... We have already been bombed three times by a terrorist attack on Braunschweig and this act has come about out of desperation. I am 19 years old and acted without thinking. Since this is my first punishment, it hits me very hard. I once again regret my deed very deeply and ask for some understanding for my difficult situation. Erna Wazinski "

- Erna Wazinski's petition for clemency on October 24, 1944

Senior Public Prosecutor Hirte refused the pardon two days later on the grounds:

“… Erna Wazinski from Braunschweig has been sentenced to death by judgment of the special court of October 21 for looting - §1 of the People's Pest Ordinance. [...] There are no concerns about the judgment. […] Finally, characteristic of the condemned woman is that she joined the milling cutter Gerda Körner on her last job. [...] She has a previous conviction for strolling around the workforce and abortion and is known for other things because of her hanging around with soldiers. The mother Koerner, to whom the convicted moved after being bombed, had served a prison sentence of several years until recently. Despite her youth, the condemned is not a person who deserves indulgence. "

- Statement of October 26, 1944 by Chief Public Prosecutor Hirte on the petition for clemency

execution

Farewell letter from Erna Wazinski, written to her mother shortly before her execution on November 23, 1944.
(The transcription is on the picture description page.)
Public announcement by the Braunschweig Special Court on November 23, 1944 about the execution of Erna Wazinski on the same day.

A few days later, at the beginning of November 1944, the Reich Minister of Justice ordered the execution to be carried out on November 23 at 12:00 p.m. in Wolfenbüttel prison . Erna Wazinski was transferred from the Rennelberg prison in Braunschweig to the place of execution in Wolfenbüttel for execution by executioner Friedrich Hehr . There she was allowed to write a last letter to her mother shortly before her execution (see picture).

Prosecutor Magnus, who was present at the execution, also kept the minutes:

“At 12:07 p.m., the condemned woman was brought before her handcuffed. Then the condemned Wazinski was the execution by the Head of the determination of the personality executioner of the special court issued the order to enforce the judgment in Brunswick on October 21 1944th The condemned's head was then separated from the torso using a guillotine . The corpse was then handed over to the city police authority in Wolfenbüttel for burial, as the relatives of the convicts had not expressed any wish to have the corpse administered. The execution took 5 seconds from the time of the performance to the completed announcement, from the handover to the executioner to the completed execution 6 seconds. "

- from the record of the execution

On the day of the execution, posters were posted in Braunschweig that Erna Wazinski had been executed as a pest.

A few days later, Wilhelmine Wazinski received notification from Chief Public Prosecutor Hirte that her daughter's death sentence had been carried out. The body of Erna Wazinski was buried on the written instructions of Hirtes by the local police. Two years later, Erna Wazinski's remains were transferred to Braunschweig and reburied there. The grave site no longer exists today.

Legal aftermath 1952–1991

Retrial in 1952

Wilhelmine Wazinski, Erna's mother, remarried in 1946 and lived in Hamburg . She authorized her acquaintance Otto Block to have the special court judgment reviewed by the Braunschweig Regional Court. On April 5, 1952, the case was renegotiated before the 3rd Criminal Chamber on the basis of an ordinance from 1947, according to which Nazi judgments should be reduced to a fair sentence in the event of cruel or excessively high sentences . During the hearing, neither the rule of law of a Nazi special court was questioned, nor the details of the conduct of the trial against Erna Wazinski. Again without questioning (existing) witnesses such as Erna Wazinski's mother or former friend and solely based on the trial files of the special court, the former death sentence was finally commuted to a prison sentence of nine months for theft . This meant that Erna Wazinski was found guilty again, only her sentence - posthumously - was mitigated.

Attempted retrial in 1959

In 1959, Block applied for the judgment of April 5, 1952 to be set aside, since the Chamber had adopted the reasons for the death sentence of 1944 at that time. At the same time, Block filed criminal complaints against the owner of the allegedly stolen objects, who had filed a complaint against unknown persons in 1944 and named Erna Wazinski as a suspect, as well as against all police officers, judges and public prosecutors involved. The opening of proceedings for extortion of testimony and perversion of justice was refused by the chief public prosecutor, stating that this was barred from May 7, 1955 .

Attempted retrial in 1960/61

On December 1, 1960, Block again requested the retrial. After extensive investigations and testimony from witnesses, the application was rejected by the regional court by decision of June 11, 1961. The complaint block pointed to the Criminal Division of the Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig (OLG) on 28 June 1962 the grounds that the confession Erna Wazinskis to the police should not be doubted. A second complaint was rejected by the 2nd criminal division of the Federal Court of Justice in October 1962 .

Retrial in 1964

Helmut Kramer , judge at the higher regional court in Braunschweig, fought for decades for the rehabilitation of Erna Wazinski and for Nazi lawyers to be brought to justice.

In 1964 Otto Block brought an official liability suit at the Braunschweig Regional Court. The 3rd Civil Chamber considered the claim for compensation to be justified and thereupon declared on July 29, 1964 that the death sentence had also been an illegal misjudgment from the point of view of "National Socialist law" , "... one of the cruelest judgments [...] irresponsible and inhuman."

The state of Lower Saxony appealed against this decision and, according to the former judge at the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court, Helmut Kramer , refused to pay compensation with "enormous legal effort" and refused a settlement . The 3rd Civil Senate of the Higher Regional Court decided in April 1965 that the proceedings had to be restarted in order to obtain compensation. This in turn was rejected on October 7, 1965 by the 3rd criminal division of the regional court. From a legal point of view, after 13 years, Wilhelmine Wazinski was back where she had started with her request in 1952.

Justification of the death sentence by the Braunschweig Regional Court in 1965

The 3rd criminal chamber justified the death sentence issued in 1944 (file number 12 AR 99/65 [1 Sond. KLs 231/44]). The basis for the 57-page decision was the fact that the 3rd criminal chamber was based exclusively on the legal situation in force in 1944 at the time of the conviction. In addition, she stated that the ordinance against public pests in 1944 had been binding law. In the grounds of the judgment, which used Nazi terminology as regards content , the reporting judge Henning Piper (later judge at the Federal Court of Justice ) pointed out the following: “... In terms of content, the People's Pest Ordinance could not be regarded as absolutely non-binding because it was immoral and non-binding for the judges of 1944 become. […] As harsh as the sentence […] appears, the [special] court from the show at that time […] had no choice but to recognize the punishment provided for in Section 1 of the Ordinance on Pests, given the existence of plunder. "

Attempted retrial in 1966

The following complaint against the judgment of October 7, 1965 was rejected by the criminal senate of the OLG, which included Hans Meier-Branecke and Gerhard Eckels , in January 1966. Another application for readmission from the summer of 1966 was finally rejected on February 27, 1967 , after it had gone through all the instances .

Otto Block, who had carried out all the proceedings on behalf of the ailing mother Erna Wazinski up to this point in time, despaired of the hopelessness of his efforts and had increasing difficulties distinguishing between Nazi and post-war judges, which ultimately led to a conviction for insult . In another criminal case against Block for violating the Legal Advice Act (of December 13, 1935), a penalty order was issued , but this was rejected again in the appeal hearing.

Braunschweig under the swastika

All legal remedies appeared to have been exhausted and the Erna Wazinski case finally closed. In the spring of 1980, however, the series of lectures organized by Helmut Kramer, Pastor Dietrich Kuessner, historian Ernst-August Roloff and others took place under the swastika in the city ​​museum . The aim of the lectures and subsequent discussions was to address the unresolved Nazi past in the bourgeoisie, the judiciary and the church and its aftermath in Braunschweig. One of the topics dealt with was the fate of Erna Wazinski and the legal aftermath in post-war Germany. In view of the great interest in the event and the controversial discussions, in 1981 Kramer published the documentation of the lecture series as well as letters, newspaper articles, etc. The documentation Braunschweig under the swastika. Bourgeoisie, Justice and Church - A series of lectures and their echo was one of the first local historical studies on the Nazi era and the history of Nazi justice.

Opening of the memorial and documentation center in 1990

In 1990 a memorial and documentation center was opened in the former execution building of the Wolfenbüttel prison, where Erna Wazinski was also murdered. From 1937 to March 1945 at least 750 people were guillotined in the building, including many from the French and Belgian resistance .

1991 retrial

1st page of the acquittal of March 19, 1991 by the Braunschweig Regional Court.

In the late 1980s , a journalist researched the case, about which he interviewed the public prosecutor Horst Magnus, who was present at the execution. The research results were incorporated into the NDR 4 - radio feature "will grace can not be granted" - The case of Erna Wazinski one that was sent on 19 October 1989th As a result of this and the reports in the Braunschweiger Zeitung , several contemporary witnesses contacted us, including Günter Wiedehöft, Erna Wazinski's friend at the time. For the first time, Wiedehöft publicly stated that he and Erna Wazinski had looked for belongings in the rubble of the house and that Erna Wazinski had kept what was found and recovered for her own or that of her mother.

On the basis of these new findings, Helmut Kramer again applied for a retrial, which ended on March 20, 1991 with an acquittal - but only on the basis of the new testimony, since, according to the arguments of 1991, the special court was not aware of the facts now described in 1944. There was no evaluation or condemnation of the work of the lawyers of the special court.

The case of Erna Wazinski and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Braunschweig

For the Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church in Braunschweig , the Erna Wazinski case was given special significance through the annulment of the death sentence passed against her - and the publication of the result of the retrial - as Walter Lerche , presiding judge of the Braunschweig Special Court in 1944 and for the death sentence in the case Wazinski shared responsibility, after his denazification in 1950 initially a member of the legal committee of the regional church, promoted to higher regional church council in 1951 and later became the second vice-president of the general synod of the United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany during the term of office of the 1st General Synod from 1949 to 1954 . Although Lerche - as the public only learned decades after his death - was demonstrably involved in 59 death sentences as a judge at the special court, he had managed to rise to the highly respected office of President of the General Synod in the regional church without ever changing his special court past was noticed by the general public.

The presiding judge of the 9th Criminal Chamber of the Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig, Gerhard Eckels, also president of the Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brunswick, announced after the acquittal Wazinskis that his chamber was like, with that in view of the up to this time not known entanglements Lerches in the Braunschweig special jurisdiction a historical commission set up by the church government under the direction of the historian Klaus Erich Pollmann will examine the activities of Lerches at the special court Braunschweig. The main question should be to find out how it was possible that Lerche, who was suspended from further exercise of the judicial office in the post-war period, could achieve such a high position in the regional church.

The first results of the historical commission were presented for discussion in July 1993 during a colloquium . In 1994 the final report was published under the title The Difficult Road to the Post-War Period. The Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church in Braunschweig 1945–1950. However, the Erna Wazinski case was only mentioned in passing in the report, without any reference to Lerche and the fact that the case was the trigger for the investigation being indicated. On the one hand, the commission assessed Lerche's activity as a special judge as "not particularly negative ..., at least not more than all the judges who then passed judgments under the military service regulations ..." According to the commission report, "... an indication that Lerche is not considered an individual case is to be considered, even if the judicial tribunal in 1946 expressed itself in this way. ”On the other hand, the commission states:“ ... chaired by Dr. Walter Lerche has the special court like about 54 death sentences ... - death sentences, mostly for the rule of law as standards judicial killings must be described. Lerche and the special judges involved in these processes were responsible for this ... Although this does not put the special judges' guilt into perspective, it justifies the complicity of all those instances that were involved in the creation and enforcement of this ordinance [VVO] and all others who oppose have not protested such inhumane tightening of criminal law. "

The Brunswick Johanna. a German Requiem

Adam Silk : The Brunswick Johanna. A German Requiem. First edition from 1986

After the Erna Wazinski case was first made known to the general public in 1980 through the Braunschweig series of lectures under the swastika , interest in the (local) historical reappraisal of the Nazi era and the history of justice in Braunschweig grew. The retrial and the circumstances surrounding it, as well as the appointment of the historians' commission at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Braunschweig ultimately led to Erna Wazinski's fate being taken up by journalists, writers and theater makers: Adam Silk processed the story of her life in his novel Die Braunschweigische Johanna , published in 1986 . A German requiem . The theater version of the work was on 20 February 1999 at the Braunschweig State Theater premiered . In 1989, on the 45th anniversary of Erna Wazinski's death, the feature "Grace cannot be granted" - The Erna Wazinski case , which is based on research by a journalist , was broadcast on NDR-4 . The following year, the feature was broadcast again in an updated version. Even Wolfgang Bittner themed the event in his 1992 novel No Man's Land and mentioned in the chapter The judiciary is black in addition to a highly detailed description of the case "Erna W." involved the postwar careers of the (real) case, " Dr. L. "and the" Dr. M. ".

literature

  • Ernst Klee : The Personal Lexicon for the Third Reich , Frankfurt a. M. 2003, ISBN 3-10-039309-0 .
  • Wilfried Knauer, Lower Saxony Ministry of Justice. In cooperation with the press and information office of the Lower Saxony state government (ed.): National Socialist Justice and Death Penalty . A documentation on the memorial in the Wolfenbüttel correctional facility. Steinweg, Braunschweig 1991, ISBN 3-925151-47-8 .
  • Helmut Kramer (ed.): Braunschweig under the swastika. Citizenship, Justice and Church - A series of lectures and their echo , Magni-Buchladen, Braunschweig 1981, ISBN 3-922571-03-4 .
  • Helmut Kramer (Ed.): “The ordinance against pests of the people of 5.9.1939 was a valid law…” , reader on the Erna Wazinski case , without place and year.
  • Hans-Ulrich Ludewig , Dietrich Kuessner : "Let everyone be warned" - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933-1945 , In: Sources and research on Braunschweigische Landesgeschichte , Volume 36, self-published by the Braunschweigisches Geschichtsverein, Langenhagen 2000, ISBN 3-928009-17- 6 .
  • Lower Saxony State Center for Political Education (Ed.): Justice in National Socialism. Crimes in the name of the people . Exhibition catalog. Nomos Verlag, Baden-Baden 2002, ISBN 3-7890-8178-7 .
  • Klaus Erich Pollmann (ed.): The difficult way into the post-war period. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Braunschweig 1945–1950 , Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-525-55239-4 available online .
  • Adam Silk : The Brunswick Johanna. A German Requiem. Novel. Syndikat, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-8108-0243-3 , new edition on the occasion of the premiere of the theater version in the Braunschweig State Theater on November 20, 1999: Revonnah, Hanover 1999, ISBN 3-934818-25-0 (2nd, extended edition : 2002).
  • Bernhild Vögel: A Brief Life - The Case of Erna Wazinski . Working materials for educational work with booklet, ed. v. Educational Association Work and Life, Braunschweig 2003. ISBN 3-932082-06-0 .

Web links

Commons : Erna Wazinski  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joachim Schmid in: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck, Günter Scheel (Ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon. 19th and 20th centuries , Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7752-5838-8 , p. 641.
  2. ↑ a b Bernhild Vögel: A short path through life - The case of Erna Wazinski. Working materials for school and extracurricular youth education , Braunschweig 1996, p. 1.
  3. ↑ File number: SAW: 42 Neu Fb 7 Nr. 1610, 1 Sond Js 835/44, after: Pollmann: Der Schwierige Weg in die Nachkriegszeit , p. 91.
  4. ↑ Ludewig, Kuessner: “Everyone should be warned” - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945 , p. 242.
  5. ↑ No. 32 of the annex (to Article 1, Section 2, No. 3) of the Act to Repeal National Socialist Judgments in the Criminal Justice System .
  6. ^ A b Johannes Unger: The case of Erna Wazinski , In: Kirche von unten , Heft 50, Braunschweig 1991, pp. 14-20.
  7. ↑ Signature of the trial files in the Lower Saxony State Archives in Wolfenbüttel: 42 B. Neu FB No. 7/1979 No. 60.
  8. ↑ a b c Justification of the judgment of the Braunschweig Special Court of October 21, 1944. In: vernetztes-gedaechtnis.de , accessed on September 10, 2019. (Maiden name of mother Chmielewski )
  9. ↑ Statement of October 26, 1944, signed by the mother, In: Helmut Kramer (ed.): "The ordinance against pests of the people of September 5, 1939 was a valid law ..." , reader on the Erna Wazinski case .
  10. ↑ Bernhild Vögel: A short way of life - The case of Erna Wazinski. Working materials for school and extracurricular youth education work , Braunschweig 1996, p. 2 f.
  11. ↑ Bernhild Vögel: A short way of life - The case of Erna Wazinski. Working materials for school and extracurricular youth education , Braunschweig 1996, p. 3.
  12. ↑ Bernhild Vögel: ... and in Braunschweig? Materials and tips for exploring the city 1930–1945 , 2nd updated edition, p. 37.
  13. ↑ a b Bernhild Vögel: A short path through life - The case of Erna Wazinski. Working materials for school and extracurricular youth education , Braunschweig 1996, p. 4.
  14. ↑ Braunschweiger Zeitung (ed.): The bomb night. The air war 60 years ago. Braunschweig 2004, p. 8.
  15. ↑ Bernhild Vögel: A short way of life - The case of Erna Wazinski. Working materials for school and extracurricular youth education , Braunschweig 1996, p. 5.
  16. ↑ Bernhild Vögel: ... and in Braunschweig? Materials and tips for urban exploration 1930–1945 , 2nd updated edition, p. 35.
  17. ^ A b Ludewig, Kuessner: “So everyone should be warned” - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945 , p. 240.
  18. ↑ Death sentence of October 21, 1944 against Erna Wazinski, In: Helmut Kramer (Ed.): “The ordinance against public pests of 5.9.1939 was a valid law…” , reader on the Erna Wazinski case .
  19. ↑ a b c d e Ludewig, Kuessner: "So everyone should be warned" - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945 , p. 125.
  20. ↑ a b c Statement by Günter Wiedehöft from June 13, 1990, In: Helmut Kramer (Ed.): "The ordinance against public pests of 5.9.1939 was a valid law ..." , reader on the Erna Wazinski case .
  21. ↑ The reasoning of the judgment of the Regional Court Braunschweig on the acquittal of March 20, 1991, quoted in: Helmut Kramer (Ed.): “The ordinance against public pests of 5.9.1939 was a valid law…” , reader on the Erna Wazinski case .
  22. ↑ VVO: § 1 Looting in the vacated area
    (1) Anyone who loots in the vacated area or in voluntarily cleared buildings or rooms is punished with death.
    (2) The judgment is made […] by the special courts. [...] .
  23. ↑ a b Helmut Kramer (ed.): Braunschweig under the swastika. Bourgeoisie, Justice and Church - A series of lectures and their echo , p. 33.
  24. ↑ a b c Ludewig, Kuessner: “So everyone should be warned” - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945 , p. 126.
  25. ↑ Bernhild Vögel: A short way of life - The case of Erna Wazinski. Working materials for school and extracurricular youth education , Braunschweig 1996, p. 10.
  26. ↑ Ludewig, Kuessner: “So everyone should be warned” - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945 , p. 124.
  27. ↑ Ludewig, Kuessner: “So everyone should be warned” - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945 , p. 128.
  28. ↑ Helmut Kramer (ed.): Braunschweig under the swastika. Bourgeoisie, Justice and Church - A series of lectures and their echo. P. 41.
  29. ↑ Johannes Unger: “Grace cannot be granted” - The Erna Wazinski case , manuscript of the NDR-4 broadcast of August 30, 1990, p. 15.
  30. ↑ Writing of the VIGA work at networked Gedächtnis.de.
  31. ↑ Bernhild Vögel: A short way of life - The case of Erna Wazinski. Working materials for school and extracurricular youth education , Braunschweig 1996, p. 11.
  32. ↑ Ludewig, Kuessner: “So everyone should be warned” - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945 , p. 127.
  33. ↑ Plea for clemency from the defender, In: Helmut Kramer (ed.): “The ordinance against pests of the people of 5.9.1939 was a valid law…” , reader on the Erna Wazinski case .
  34. ^ Opinion from Senior Public Prosecutor Hirte on Erna Wazinski's petition for clemency. In: Justice under National Socialism. P. 75.
  35. ↑ Letter Hirtes of 21 November 1944 the Board of the prison Wolfenbüttel, In: Helmut Kramer (ed.): "The Regulation against enemies of the people from 5.9.1939 was applicable law ..." , Reader case Erna Wazinski .
  36. ↑ Johannes Unger: “Grace cannot be granted” - The Erna Wazinski case , manuscript of the NDR-4 broadcast of August 30, 1990, p. 20.
  37. ↑ a b Birds: A Short Life - The Erna Wazinski Case , quoted from Kramer: "The ordinance against pests of the people of 5.9.1939 was a valid law ..." , reader on the Erna Wazinski case .
  38. ^ Helmut Kramer: Judge in front of the court. The legal processing of the special jurisdiction. ( Reading sample, p. 134 ; PDF)
  39. ↑ Helmut Kramer (ed.): Braunschweig under the swastika. Bourgeoisie, Justice and Church - A series of lectures and their echo , p. 31.
  40. ↑ a b Ludewig, Kuessner: "So everyone should be warned" - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945. P. 241.
  41. ↑ Executed woman rehabilitated. In: Frankfurter Rundschau of March 22, 1991, quoted from Forum Justizgeschichte e. V. ( Memento from May 6, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  42. ↑ Excerpt from the decision of the Braunschweig Regional Court of October 7, 1965, file number 12 AR 99/65 (1 special KLs 231/44). ( Memento from September 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  43. ↑ Helmut Kramer (ed.): Braunschweig under the swastika. Bourgeoisie, Justice and Church - A series of lectures and their echo , p. 35.
  44. ↑ FN 22 in: Helmut Kramer (Ed.): Braunschweig under the swastika. Bourgeoisie, Justice and Church - A series of lectures and their echo , p. 56.
  45. ↑ Helmut Kramer (ed.): Braunschweig under the swastika. Bourgeoisie, Justice and Church - A series of lectures and their echo. Magni-Buchladen, Braunschweig 1981, ISBN 3-922571-03-4 .
  46. ^ A b Ingo Müller : Hold up the mirror to German types of judges. In: vdj.de. Retrieved on September 10, 2019 (Ingo Müller's tribute to Helmut Kramer on the occasion of the award of the Hans Litten Prize on November 26, 1994.).
  47. ^ Helmut Kramer: Judge in front of the court. The legal processing of the special jurisdiction. ( Excerpt, p. 137. (PDF))
  48. ↑ Ludewig, Kuessner: “So everyone should be warned” - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945 , p. 270.
  49. ↑ Klaus Erich Pollmann (ed.): The difficult path in the post-war period. The Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church in Braunschweig 1945–1950 , p. 9 f.
  50. ↑ Ludewig, Kuessner: "So everyone should be warned" - The Braunschweig Special Court 1933–1945 , p. 271.
  51. ↑ Klaus Erich Pollmann (ed.): The difficult path in the post-war period. The Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church in Braunschweig 1945–1950 , p. 10.
  52. ↑ Klaus Erich Pollmann (ed.): The difficult path in the post-war period. The Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church in Braunschweig 1945–1950. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1994, ISBN 3-525-55239-4 .
  53. ↑ Klaus Erich Pollmann (ed.): The difficult path in the post-war period. The Evangelical Lutheran Regional Church in Braunschweig 1945–1950. P. 86 f.
  54. ↑ Adam Silk: The Brunswick Johanna. A German Requiem. Syndikat, Frankfurt am Main 1986, ISBN 3-8108-0243-3 , new edition on the occasion of the premiere of the theater version in the Braunschweig State Theater on November 20, 1999: Revonnah, Hanover 1999, ISBN 3-934818-25-0 (2nd, extended Edition 2002), see also: The Braunschweigische Johanna. A German requiem . ( Memento from June 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  55. ↑ The sequel in the NRhZ - Chapter XIV in: Neue Rheinische Zeitung (online), online flyer No. 62 from September 19, 2006.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on January 6, 2010 in this version .
personal data
SURNAME Wazinski, Erna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wazinski, Erna Gertrude
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Nazi victim of the National Socialist Special Court in Braunschweig
DATE OF BIRTH September 7, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Ihlow (Oberbarnim)
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 1944
Place of death Wolfenbüttel