garrotte

Garrotte can refer to an instrument of execution and torture, or to an instrument of murder.

Garrotte as an instrument of execution

Garrotte in the former torture museum in Freiburg im Breisgau

A garrotte (also Garotte or Garrota , from Spanish garrote vil = shameful / vile stick; in German also called neck iron , strangle iron or strangling screw ) is a device in which the convicted person is tied to a wooden pole. The garrote was and is still used as an instrument of torture .

In contrast to the constriction of the carotid artery , the trachea is compressed in the garrot . The victim is strangled , death occurs slowly by suffocation . In early versions, the executioner put a noose ( Outer Spanish Winds ) around the victim's neck from behind, which he slowly twisted with a stick. The sling was later replaced by a metal band that was only used for fixing. A metal screw was turned into the neck of the victim from behind, which usually resulted in death instantly.

In Spain - where the dictator Francisco Franco ( Franco dictatorship ) ruled from the 1930s until his death in 1975 - death sentences were carried out by the Garrotte until 1974. It was reported extensively in the state-influenced media. Her last victims were Salvador Puig Antich and Georg Michael Welzel (alias Heinz Ches ). In 1978 the death penalty was abolished in Spain.

• 

  Execution with the Garrotte in 1901 in Bilibid Prison in Manila , Philippines

• 

  Painting by
  Francisco de Goya :
  Desastres de la Guerra ,
  Pl. 34: For a knife .
  Because he has a knife, the man is publicly garretted during the Spanish War of Liberation .

• 

  Pattern of the older garrotte, here as a medical application when tying an arm with the
  Spanish winch

Garrotte as a murder tool

A medium-thick metal wire with pieces of wood about 10–15 cm long at both ends is also known as garrotte. This classic garrotte was mainly used by criminals in France in the 19th and early 20th centuries (for example in Paris- Montmartre or in the port district of Marseille ). The long-established Mafia organizations (especially the Cosa Nostra in Sicily ) often used the garrote as a murder instrument. With the garrote as a murder tool, the murderer can usually strangle his victim from behind without making any loud noises.

Web links

Wiktionary: Garrotte  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Commons : Garrotte  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Death penalty. Retrieved December 22, 2013.