Death Penalty News

A blood-stained guillotine used by an infamous executioner to kill 1,200 people in Nazi Germany should be put on public display, the man who rediscovered it has said. The grisly relic was operated by Johann Reichhart, believed to be the fastest executioner in history, and took just seconds to take somebody’s life with a blade weighing 30lbs and a wooden bench bleached from constant washing. Journalist and author Ulrich Trebbin found it by accident at the Bavarian National Museum in Munich, announcing his discovery in 2014. However, at the time, the Bavarian regional government concluded it should stay out of the public eye in case it offends the families of victims and attracts ghoulish attention.

Seventy-five years ago Thursday, a group of young German idealists, students who had dared to speak out against the Nazis, were executed by the regime they had defied. Like a flickering flame in the darkness, the White Rose, as its members called themselves, is an inspiring group that never lost its courage — and a frightening reminder of how rare such heroes are. The group’s founder, Hans Scholl, and his sister Sophie grew up outside Munich. Their father instilled in them a strong moral compass and a religious worldview. Like many his age, Hans joined the Hitler Youth. But he began to have doubts almost immediately: The Nazis did not allow him to sing certain songs, fly certain flags or read Stefan Zweig, his favorite author. He earned a spot as a flag-bearer at the annual Nuremberg Rally and returned disturbed at what he had seen. Hans wanted to become a doctor, and when he was drafted he was posted as a medic in France. After a tour of duty, he went back to the University...

Nazi Germany perverted every democratic institution that was supposed to uphold the rule of law and ensure the people of Europe’s most powerful nation were governed fairly. And in relation to the law, Roland Freisler played a huge part in this warped ideology. Freisler displayed a strong patriotic streak towards his country from a young age. He was awarded the Iron Cross 1st Class and 2nd Class because of his actions with the German Imperial Army’s 22nd Division during the First World War. It was during this action that the lawyer was captured by the Russian forces and interned in a prison camp in 1918. It was then that Freisler learned Russian and was appointed a Commissar and given the duty of organising the camp’s food supplies. This title, handed to him by the communists, that would prevent Freisler from advancing further in the Nazi party as it tainted his reputation and made him appear to be someone who had co-operated with the Soviets. Freisler’s action during...

Johann Reichhart (center) was born into a family of executioners. The young girl moved impassively into the shadow of the guillotine which would end her life. It was 5pm on February 22, 1943, and darkness was already falling outside. In the death chamber at Munich’s Stadelheim Prison, 21-year-old Sophie Scholl would pay with her life for distributing leaflets decrying Adolf Hitler . “Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go, but what does my death matter if through us, thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action?” said Sophie as her executioner looked on. In a long black coat, white shirt, black bow tie and top hat, Johann Reichhart was just three years older than the girl whose life he was about to end. Reichhart took 3,165 lives during his time as Germany’s chief executioner. Ironically, after the collapse of the Third Reich , he would hang some of those he once served, Nazi war criminals, on behalf of the victorious Allies. The beheadings of Sophi...

Sophia Scholl Sophia Magdalena Scholl (9 May 1921 – 22 February 1943) was a German student and anti-Nazi political activist, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich (LMU) with her brother Hans. As a result, they were both executed by guillotine. Since the 1970s, Scholl has been extensively commemorated for her anti-Nazi resistance work. Early life In 1932, Scholl started attending a secondary school for girls. At the age of twelve, she chose to join the Bund Deutscher Mädel (League of German Girls), as did most of her classmates.  Her initial enthusiasm gradually gave way to criticism. She was aware of the dissenting political views of her father, friends, and some teachers. Even her own brother Hans, who once eagerly participated in the Hitler Youth Program, became entirely disillusioned with the Nazi Party. ...

Iwao Hakamada with his sister shortly after his release in March 2014 TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The annual Death Penalty Movie Week will be held at a Tokyo theater in February, with eight films from home and abroad providing viewers with an opportunity to think about the "right to life." The event will take place as pro- and anti-death penalty groups have been facing off at symposiums and on other occasions since the Japan Federation of Bar Associations declared in October it would work for the abolition of capital punishment by 2020. The eight films to be screened include 2005 German movie " Sophie Scholl -- The Final Days ," which depicts the anti-Nazi struggle of a student who was executed, and "Freedom Moon," produced in Japan in 2016, that recounts the life of death row inmate Iwao Hakamada. Hakamada, convicted of a 1966 quadruple murder, was released in 2014 after a court decided to reopen the case. The film shows how his mental state has...