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An SS officer standing in front of a newly constructed gallows in the forest near Buchenwald concentration camp.

Photograph | Photograph Number: 13144
An SS officer standing in front of a newly constructed gallows in the forest near Buchenwald concentration camp.

An SS officer standing in front of a newly constructed gallows in the forest near Buchenwald concentration camp.

Date
1942 April 26
Locale
[Poppenhausen], [Thuringia] Germany
Photo Designation
MAJOR CONCENTRATION CAMPS 1940-45 -- Buchenwald -- PREWAR/WARTIME -- Death/Burial/Execution
Photo Credit
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Robert A. Schmuhl

About This Photograph

Event History
On April 26, 1942, a Polish forced laborer, who worked at Bauern Schmidt's couryard was beaten to the point of unconsciousness by a German policeman, Albin Gottwald. Two Poles took revenge on Gottwald and stabbed him to death on a forest path between Poppenhausen and Einoed. The two Poles then escaped. One of the two Poles, Jan Sowka (b. 10/19/22 in Thayngen, Switzerland) was apprehended shortly after his escape. On May 11, 1942, nineteen prisoners from Buchenwald were taken to the place in the woods where Gottwald's body had been found. The Buchenwald SS built three gallows -- two conisted of ten hooks each, and one was a single gallows. The nineteen Polish prisoners were positioned behind the gallows, and Jan Sowka stood on the opposite side. The executions began at 10:50 where the prisoners and Jan Sowka were hanged one after another on the single gallows. At the end, they were all hanged from the two group gallows. Hundreds of Polish forced laborers from the surrounding area were rounded up and forced to watch the executions.

See https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005198.
See Also "Buchenwald Main Camp" in Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos Volume 1 Part A.

Keywords and Subjects

Rights and Restrictions

Photo Source
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Copyright: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Provenance: Robert A. Schmuhl
Source Record ID: Collections: 1995.A.1119
Second Record ID: Collections: RG-10.137
 
Record last modified: 2004-10-18 00:00:00
This page: https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1051083