Kurt Wachholz

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Kurt Willi Wachholz (born August 10, 1909 in Calau , † April 28, 1969 in Leipzig ) was a German SS-Hauptscharführer , SD man and supervisor of the Gestapo prison "Small Fortress Theresienstadt" .

Wachholz was sentenced to death in 1968 by the East Berlin City Court for his crimes against prisoners of war and against humanity in the period from 1941 to 1945 and executed in April 1969 . He was convicted of, among other things, the brutal murder and cruelty of 300 prisoners, some of whom he had slain, kicked to death or stoned and drowned. He was also found guilty of participating in the shooting of at least 183 people in over 25 shootings.

After the war, the married Wachholz initially lived unrecognized in his hometown in Zinnitz , City of Calau, in southern Brandenburg , and worked as a transport worker. After his identification, due to the administrative assistance of the Czechoslovak authorities or due to the possibility that the GDR prosecution had had access to the files of the ČSSR since 1965 , Wachholz was arrested on February 19, 1968. He came into custody ; in August 1968 he was charged as a suspected Nazi war criminal . On November 26, 1968, the criminal trial was opened before the 1st criminal senate of the City Court of Greater Berlin, chaired by the City Court Director Ernst Brunner . After nine days of negotiations, including a visit to the crime scene in Theresienstadt , the public prosecutor of the GDR, Gerhard Friedrich , applied for the death penalty to be imposed on December 11th . The verdict was announced on December 13th on the grounds that Wachholz had repeatedly committed war crimes and crimes against humanity , partly independently and partly jointly . The death sentence was carried out by shooting in the central execution site of the GDR in Leipzig .

A political dimension was the fact that the date of the process was initiated on this day the General Assembly of the United Nations discussed the non-application of limitation periods in war crimes.

See also

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Report in "Neues Deutschland" on the arrest of Wachholz in the edition of August 3, 1968
  2. ^ Message in "Neues Deutschland" in the edition of November 27, 1968 on the start of the trial against Wachholz
  3. ^ Report on filing a criminal complaint in the edition of "Neues Deutschland" from December 12, 1968
  4. ^ Report on the pronouncement of the verdict in "Neues Deutschland", edition of December 14, 1968. Court decision: LG / BG Berlin 681213 Az .: 101aBs23 / 68, ie: Ob.Gericht der DDR 690124 Az .: 1aUst62 / 68
  5. ^ Henry Leide: Nazi Criminals and State Security: The Secret Past Policy of the GDR. V&R, Göttingen 2005, ISBN 3-525-35018-X , p. 114. ( Access via Google book search )
personal data
SURNAME Wachholz, Kurt
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wachholz, Kurt Willi (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German SS-Hauptscharführer, overseer of the Gestapo prison Small Fortress Theresienstadt
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Calau
DATE OF DEATH April 28, 1969
Place of death Leipzig