Penzberg murder night

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Reminder card for the sixteen murdered

The so-called Penzberger Mordnacht was a final phase crime of the Second World War that was committed on April 28, 1945 in Penzberg (approx. 50 km south of Munich ) by members of a unit of the so-called " Werewolf Upper Bavaria ". The perpetrators of this crime were Lieutenant Colonel Berthold Ohm , Lieutenant Colonel Hans Bauernfeind , SA Brigade Leader Hans Zöberlein , Local Group Leader Martin Rebha (h) n and Werewolf members Ferdinand Zila and Felix Achtelik.

Happenings

On the morning of April 28, 1945, the Bavarian Freedom Campaign broadcast a message on the radio. The war was declared over for Bavaria. The former mayors, who were deposed by the National Socialists in 1933 , were asked to take their positions again.

In Penzberg, the former SPD mayor Hans Rummer (1880-1945) then prevented the mine from being blown up, ensured the liberation of forced laborers and prisoners from neighboring camps and deposed the National Socialist mayor. While attempts were made to reconstitute the democratic city administration that had been eliminated in the course of the National Socialist “ seizure of power ”, the 22nd Heavy Thrower Regiment of the 18 People's Thrower Brigade , which was only set up in February 1945, surrounded the town hall. After approval by the Munich Gauleiter Paul Giesler , the regiment commander, Berthold Ohm, had Rummer and seven of his fellow soldiers shot. For this they were driven in a bus with curtained windows at 6 p.m. near the sports field on Bichler Strasse and each of the victims was shot individually .

A unit of the so-called "Werwolf Oberbayern", led by the well-known war writer and SA brigade leader Hans Zöberlein, joined the thrower regiment after this shooting. In the subsequent "punitive action" that unit killed as " flying court martial " another eight people who arbitrarily resisters were, among them Agathe Fleissner a pregnant woman.

Victim

A total of 16 people and one unborn child died on the night of the Penzberg murder:

  • About 18 o'clock:
    • Hans Rummer, former SPD mayor
    • Michael Boos (* 1888 in Penzberg), SPD member
    • Rupert Höck (* 1891), KPD member
    • Johann Dreher (* 1895), member of the SPD
    • Ludwig März (* 1897 in Penzberg), KPD member
    • Paul Badlehner (* 1899), KPD member
    • Paul Schwertl (* 1901), member of the SPD
    • Josef Kastl (* 1905), KPD member (shot while fleeing, later succumbed to the injuries)
  • Other victims were hanged on the trees in Bahnhofstrasse, Gustavstrasse and Karlstrasse with a werewolf sign :
    • Gottlieb Belohlawek (* 1897)
    • Franz Biersack (* 1896 in Penzberg), KPD member
    • Married couple Agathe (* 1904 in Penzberg) and Franz Xaver Fleissner (* 1900 in Penzberg)
    • The couple Therese (* 1900 in Penzberg) and Johann Zenk (* 1899 in Penzberg)
    • Albert Grauvogel (* 1901), KPD member
    • Johann Summerdinger (* 1899)

Furthermore, Sebastian Tauschinger was supposed to be hanged, but the rope broke and he survived injured. Franz Schwab was shot and was also able to flee.

process

The trial of the Penzberg murderers began on June 14, 1948. It was conducted in the Penzberg Comradeship House and lasted about two weeks. The following were charged and convicted:

  • Lieutenant Colonel Berthold Ohm, Commander of the Heavy Thrower Regiment 22, for 15 years in prison ;
  • Lieutenant Colonel Hans Bauernfeind, chief of the "Flying Stand-up Court" of the werewolf unit, to death ;
  • Hans Zöberlein, head of the werewolf unit, to death;
  • Martin Rebha (h) n, Hauer and NSDAP local group leader from Penzberg, member of the werewolf, to life imprisonment;
  • Ferdinand Zila, Penzberger, member of the werewolf, for three and a half years in prison;
  • Felix Achtelik, member of the werewolf, to life imprisonment.

The following were acquitted:

  • Captain Kurt Bentrott, department commander in the Heavy Thrower Regiment 22 and
  • Lieutenant Fritz Rethage, battery chief there.

The death sentences were converted into life imprisonment when the law of the new Federal Republic of Germany was passed . In five other trials between 1950 and 1956, all sentences were reduced. Bauernfeind was acquitted. Ohm's penalty was initially reduced. In 1956 he was finally acquitted. Zöberlein was released from prison in 1958 for health reasons. Mayor Josef Von Werden, who was temporarily appointed in 1944, was sentenced to three years in prison in 1951.

Commemoration

Memorial by Nikolaus Röslmeir

In 1948, a memorial created by Nikolaus Röslmeir for the victims at the shooting site on the An der Freiheit square was erected in Penzberg . The Straße des 28 April 1945 is also in the immediate vicinity . Honor graves are located in the municipal cemetery. There is also a permanent exhibition on the night of the murder in the Penzberg Museum . A memorial ceremony is held every year on April 28th; a major memorial event every five years.

In 2009 all 16 victims were made honorary citizens of the city of Penzberg.

literature

Web links

Commons : Memorial to the victims of April 28, 1945  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Justice and Nazi crimes: Collection of German criminal judgments for National Socialist homicides 1943–1966 / JNSV Volume 3, pp. 71–78.
  2. ^ Legal review of April 28, 1945 ( memento of March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ). In: museum-penzberg.de (PDF; 1.15 MB).
  3. ↑ Luberger, urban history of Penzberg. 1st edition p. 156.
  4. ^ City of Penzberg appoints 16 murder victims as honorary citizens. April 30, 2005, accessed April 29, 2020 .