Justifiable Homicide
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8505800303 |
| Author | G. E. Whitcomb |
| Date | 01 July 1985 |
| Published date | 01 July 1985 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
G. E.
WHITCOMB
JUSTIFIABLE
HOMICIDE
When a criminal was executed in accordance with his sentence, the
law considered the action to be justifiable.
The words are so easily written
and
very quickly read,
but
the legal
term takes on a bone-chilling meaning when one is cal1ed
upon
to
witness a prisoner being official1ymurdered. As far as I am aware, I
am the only surviving British police officer who witnessed the last
executions by guillotine in Germany.
It
was also my painful
duty
to
be present when men were hanged
and
shot
by firing squad
...
how I
came to be officially engaged at such terrifying ordeals needs a word
or two of explanation.
Through
no fault of my own, I suffered the indignity of standing
for long periods in a depressing "dole"queue. Ihated the grumbling,
the coughing
and
spitting as we shuffled along to have a dog-eared
card stamped by an equally dishevel1ed clerk in exchange for a few
shillings every week.
Thankful1y, life was
not
al1 gloom. A new world opened with
security
and
apension when I was accepted as a constable in a
Northern
police force. My wildest dreams certainly did not envisage
attending executions
and
none of my instructors hinted of such
responsibilities. World
War
II was responsible for many upheavals
and I eventual1y found myself seconded to the Foreign Office for
duty in Germany.
It
was Spring, 1947. The long trial in the General Military Court,
Brunswick, was drawing to a close. The Judge, summing up,
described how the two accused Germans befriended a helpless old
man who merely sought their assistance to guide him over the
hil1s
and
through
the imaginary line separating the British and Russian
Zones of Occupation. He was taking his few remaining possessions
to give to his children living in the Russian Zone
and
to see them,
possibly for the last time. On reaching asecluded spot, the Germans
attacked
their elderly
companion
with a large stick and brutal1y
rammed
the old man's
scarf
down
his
throat,
dislocating the jaw.
It
began to snow heavily covering the victim
and
al1the tell-tale tracks.
Fate
did
not
favour them, for later at Goetingen railway station
they were seen acting suspiciously
and
promptly
arrested.
The
Kripo
section of the
German
police soon unravel1ed the crime
and
obtained
their confessions. The
Judge
found them
both
"guilty" of a
particularly vicious crime. Having heard all the evidence there was
little
doubt
in anyone's mind
that
the verdict
appeared
the right one.
Both were sentenced to death.
As public safety officer in charge of the case, the
Judge
cal1ed me
into the witness-box
and
appointed me a
mandatory
witness to the
two executions.
It
was a most unenviable situation.
July 1985 203
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