Shot in the neck system

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A genickschussanlage was a device for surprising execution in the era of National Socialism . The victim was placed under a pretext so that a shot in the neck could be fired from the neighboring room ( shot in the neck ). In some cases, shooting systems in the neck were camouflaged as measuring rods or medical instruments attached to the wall. Such facilities are mainly known from concentration camps , the facilities not only being used for the execution of official death sentences , but also for the inconspicuous murder of large groups of victims.

Plant in Buchenwald concentration camp

In Buchenwald were after the attack on the Soviet Union from 1941 mainly Soviet prisoners of the local genickschussanlage murdered from behind using. Prisoners transferred from other assembly camps for the purpose of execution were transported to the former stable of camp commandant Karl Otto Koch under the pretext of a medical examination . After they had undressed, they were led one by one into a room that was suggestively furnished as an examination room, but the floor of which was painted red to hide traces of blood that might have aroused suspicion in the prisoner entering. The victim was then placed in front of a wall with a ruler for the purpose of "measuring" and then shot through a slot in the ruler by his murderer, who was waiting in a side room behind the wall. An execution squad called Command 99 was responsible for operating the facility .

The prisoners of war who were determined to be murdered immediately on the basis of the commissioner's order and transferred to the camp were generally not registered in the camp lists, which is why neither the names, arrival nor death of those affected are documented. Information on the number of Soviet prisoners of war killed in the manner described in the Buchenwald concentration camp therefore varies widely and ranges from 800 to at least 7,000 to over 8,000 victims.

  • Model of the rooms in the stable building after it was converted into a place of execution

  • Replica of the facility in Buchenwald concentration camp.

  • When measuring the body height, the shot was shot through a hole in the guide of the head plate.

  • Back of the shot in the neck, location of the shooter

  • Tub for removing the corpses

Plant in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp

A similar facility also existed in Sachsenhausen concentration camp . When the camp was cleared, technical equipment for the shot in the neck and the gas chamber were dismantled and hidden in the industrial courtyard. The loopholes in the wall were bricked up. These systems were restored for a film made by DEFA in 1945/1946 on behalf of the Soviets.

More locations

It cannot be ruled out that such facilities also existed inside or outside other concentration camps.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Deutsches Historisches Museum, Document: The Commissioner's Order , last accessed on July 24, 2013.
  2. ↑ infobitte.de - Second World War Lexicon: Command 99 ( Memento of the original from August 2, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , last accessed July 24, 2013.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.infobitte.de
  3. ↑ Katrin Greiser: The Dachau Buchenwald Processes - Claim and Reality - Claim and Effect . In: Ludwig Eiber, Robert Sigel (eds.): Dachau Trials - Nazi crimes before American military courts 1945 - 1948 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2007, p. 163.
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Benz , Barbara Distel (ed.): The place of terror . History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps. Volume 3: Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald. CH Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-52963-1 , p. 310.
  5. ^ Christiane Roßberg: doctor without exam ; Military Publishing House of the GDR, TB No. 243, 1982, p. 38.
  6. ↑ Buchenwald Memorial: Chronicle of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp ( Memento from September 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), (via Wayback Machine ) last accessed on July 24, 2013.
  7. ↑ 1936-1945 Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp - Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum. Retrieved April 6, 2019 .
  8. ^ Günter Morsch : Killings by poison gas in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. In: Günter Morsch, Bertrand Perz: New studies on National Socialist mass killings by poison gas. Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-940938-99-2 , pp. 275-276.
  9. ^ Flossenbürg Concentration Camp Memorial: Memorial tour in German (PDF document; 4.3 MB) ( Memento from July 20, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on July 24, 2013.
  10. ^ Mauthausen Concentration Camp Memorial: "Neck shot corner" ( Memento from July 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), last accessed on July 24, 2013.
  11. ^ Polish translations: Danzig - Stutthof Concentration Camp , last accessed on July 24, 2013.