Since today is dedicated to old, Black and White gore photos, we continue with this set which contains pictures of The Schutzstaffel (SS), a paramilitary group most notorious for their deeds involving the carry out of the Holocaust under the Nazi leadership. The Schutzstaffel were responsible for execution of many Jews as well as other ethnic groups deemed inferior by the Nazis. As seen in these pictures, the SS commanders sometimes carried out their executions by beheading the victims with an axe.
- Photo of Person Just Beheaded by Axe by the Schutzstaffel
- SS Members Beheading Jews by Axe
The Gardelegen Massacre Photos with Info
This post contains photos and info about the Gardelegen Massacre in which 1016 prisoners from the Dora-Mittelbau concentration camp and its sub-camps were murdered in cold blood by the retreating Nazi army. When the Gardelegen Massacre took place, the World War II was pretty much over with the Nazis ultimately defeated, so in order to prevent the soon to be liberated prisoners from turning on their captors, they were lined up for mass execution.
On April 4th, 1945 transport trains carrying over 2000 religious, political, and military prisoners left Nordhausen, Rottleberode, Wieda and Ilfeld Concentration Camps and headed Northwest. The knowledge these slave laborers possessed would be detrimental to the Germans if they fell into Allied hands. The SS therefore was forced to move them away from the advancing Allied Army.
On Wednesday, April 11th the train could travel no further than Letzlingen. Allied bombers had destroyed the railway lines ahead. The prisoners were unloaded from the train and forced to march toward Gardelegen. The sick and lame who could travel no further were shot where they fell. The remaining prisoners that reached Gardelegen were temporarily housed in the stables of the Remonteschool Garrison. Upon learning the American Army was quickly advancing from the west, the SS began to implement recognized Nazi policy for disposing of their human freight.
On Friday the 13th, the SS guards, with the help of some Luftwaffe troops, marched the prisoners to a masonry barn on the nearby estate of Isenschnibbe. They were herded into the hay storage shed and ordered to sit down on gasoline soaked straw scattered on the floor, knee deep. Nazi policy stated that the prisoners were to be killed to prevent any possibility of having them turn on their guards in the event of liberation. By order of the Gardelegen Nazi Party leader Kreisleiter Thiele, policy was carried out. Shortly thereafter, an SS corporal set fire to the straw with phosphorus grenades. Luftwaffe guards encircled the building and shot down any prisoners that tried to escape to freedom. The remaining prisoners burned alive.
Several prisoners successfully escaped. One, a Pole named Eugene Sczwincz, lay buried under a mass of charred bodies for three days.
I stumbled, and others coming behind me were mowed down. Some of the Germans firing the machine guns were Luftwaffe troops. I could see their uniforms. I lay under a pile of dead from Friday until Sunday morning without moving, because on Saturday the Germans came in and asked who needed medical attention. When someone moved and asked for help, the Germans shot them. I got out when the Germans left and the Americans arrived.
Gallery of photos of the Gardelegen Massacre is below:
- Thousand Victims of the Gardelegen Massacre Laid Down on the Ground
- Charred Bodies of the Gardelegen Massacre Lay Among Ashes
- Those Who Tried to Escape the Fire Were Shot Dead
- Residents of Gardelegen View Corpses of Murdered Prisoners
- People of Gardelegen Are Shown the Grave Before the Barn Where Prisoners Were Murdered by the Nazis
- Mayors from Nearby Towns Pay Respect to Prisoners Murdered in the Gardelegen Massacre
- Photo of Erhart Brauny Who Was Sentenced to Life in Prison for His Part in the Gardelegen Massacre
- Prisoner Who Died Burned to Death in the Gardelegen Massacre
- The Barn in Which Thousand Prisoners Were Set on Fire
- As Corpses in the Barn Lay Motionless, Gardelegen Citizens Dig Out Bodies from a Mass Grave Behind the Barn
- These Unburned Bodies Have Bullet Holes
- When Bodies of Executed Prisoners Were Discovered, Some Were Still Giving Off Smoke
- These Bodies Were Exhumed from a Grave Near the Barn
- Soldiers in the 102nd Division Discovered the Mass Grave on April 15, 1945
- Barn in Which Prisoners Had Been Burnt to Death Was Discovered by the American Soldiers
- Gardelegen Citizens Dug Out a Body from Mass Grave
- Gardelegen Citizens Were Forced to Open a Mass Grave
- Many People Engaged in Uncovering Corpses from Mass Grave in Gardelegen
- Hundreds of Corpses Were Found in a Mass Grave
- Old World War II Photo of the Gardelegen Massacre
- Soldier Inspecting Corpses of Prisoners Killed in the Gardelegen Massacre
- People Dug Out of Mass Grave Laid Out on the Ground
- Discovering the Grizzly Scene of the Gardelegen Massacre
- Antique Photo of the Gardelegen Massacre Victim
- Gardelegen Massacre Victims Piled Up on Top of One Another
- Ledged Under the Wooden Boards Trying to Escape the Fire