At the end of the Second WorldWar, on the 10th May 1945 a number of Germans were lined
up against a wall in Czechoslovakia, and this included at least one woman.
They were then executed by the wall as shots rang out and each person then fell forward
and slumped over a low embankment.
There were some who were injured and were lying on the ground asking for mercy but they
were shown none.
Czechoslovakia would during the Second World War be occupied by the German Army, as Hitler
sought to conquer more land for his empire, and he wanted to move Germans into the lands
to the east.
But the country would see a huge number of people deported to concentration camps, and
in Czech cities there were hundreds who were executed in front of many people.
The Czechs were terrorised into submission to work and ultimately be profitable for the
German war effort, as Hitler would use the factories for his war industry.
But what is the story of those Germans who were shot at the end of the Second World War,
days after the war had come to an end in Europe.
Following the Munich Agreement, Adolf Hitler annexed the Sudetenland part of Czechoslovakia
into his empire, and this weakened the country as a whole and they would lose a lot of their
border fortifications.
But following this, the rest of Czechoslovakia was left weak, and on the 15th March 1939,
Nazi Germany invaded and occupied the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia.
These were annexed into the Third Reich, and a Reich Protector would be placed in charge
of these lands, and eventually the Butcher of Prague Reinhard Heydrich would take this
position.
Czechoslovakia was considered the arsenal of the reich, and they had many different
armaments factories that would create weapons and ammunition for the German Army.
Also they would seize control of the tank factories and these would then use these resources
to build up the army.
It’s believed that Germany gained over 2,000 field cannons, almost 500 tanks, and 500 pieces
and anti aircraft artillery.
They also gained 43,000 machine guns, over a million rifles and over 110,000 pistols.
They also took billions of rounds of ammunition, and the weaponry would be enough to arm half
of the Wehrmacht.
To do this and to keep the Czech population in line, there was a reign of terror established
over the lands.
Some people joined resistance groups such as the Partisans and they would be dealt with
brutally and they would also impose their policies on the people.
There were signs showing which shops were aryan, and swastikas would hang high from
the buildings and SS guards would patrol the streets.
German officers and army soldiers were also seen, and things became brutal.
During 1941, there were over 90,000 Jews living in Bohemia and Moravia, and only around 14,000
survived the war.
Jews were forced to wear stars, and the Germans destroyed sites associated with them, but
they stole property from them also.
Then deportations happened to different concentration and extermination camps, and dozens of thousands
were executed and were slaughtered.
Many were gassed inside of concentration camps, and others fled for their own safety.
The Czechs would walk down the streets each day and see executed people hanging from lamposts,
and torture was also used.
Following the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, a number of villages were liquidated and were
razed to the ground with all the civilian population being killed or sent to concentration
camps.
Women and children were not spared, but at the end of the Second World War they would
forcibly expel thousands of German people who were moved into their lands and homes
during the occupation.
Following the defeat of the Nazis, the Czechs and Soviet Red Army expelled around 3 million
ethnic Germans from the Sudetenland and the rest of Czechoslovakia.
In this movement, around 30,000 people were slaughtered due to acts of revenge.
The Czechs had suffered heavily, and they lived in fear, but only a small number of
these germans who were killed were nazi war criminals.
However they would conduct a number of brutal reprisals.
But the executions that took place on the 10th May 1945 of German civilians and people
took place in the Prague district of Borislavka.
Two days before, VE Day had taken place following the German surrender, but there was a lot
of confusion inside of the Czech lands.
Germans were rounded up into a nearby movie theatre named the Borislavka, and these Germans
had been caught in groups and they were driven out of their homes by the Red Army soldiers
and also Czech militiamen.
In this area, there were around 40 men and at least one woman who were then taken to
the side of the street.
Opposite these men and women were stood many executioners armed with their guns and weapons.
The men then fired and shots rang out and one after the other, a person was executed
and they then fell slumped forward over an embankment.
There was no mercy offered for these German people, as those who were not instantly executed
were left shouting and screaming for mercy.
But then a Red Army truck rolled up, and the vehicle was driven over the dying and the
wounded killing them.
But the executions continued, as later more Germans were seen around the area and they
were forced to dig a mass grave inside of a meadow when they were executed.
This was at the end of the Second World War, the systematic killing of German civilians
in reprisal for the suffering of what had gone before.
It was an eye for an eye.
Images captured the executions, and they were captured on video footage.
More incidents of slaughtering Germans would take place, as many were forced to lie on
the ground in Plzen in early May 1945, and they ere then executed.
The Germans of Borislavka who were executed remain rather nameless to this day.
It’s not for certain known exactly who they were, and no-one knows in particular the name
of the people who carried out the executions.
It’s not known what crimes these executed people were accused of, but it’s most probable
that they were killed by Red Army soldiers, but also by Revolutionary Guards, and members
of the Czech militia.
The shots may have been shot by former Czech collaborators who had worked with the Germans,
but to clear their names and show loyalty to the new order, they shot Germans.
Interesting the footage of the executions of the Germans of Borislavka was kept hidden
for many decades.
Communist police would come searching for the footage, and the man who captured it was
threatened by the police as they wanted it destroying, but this was never handed over
to the authorities.
The camera man wanted one day for the world to learn what had been done to the defenceless
people two days after the war had come to an end in Europe.
It was believed that there would have been a backlash for this, but there are now people
who are calling for searching for the remains of those germans who were executed.
It’s believed that they currently are buried in the meadows nearby.
But the explosions and the slaughter as mentioned would continue.
Sudeten Germans were conscripted into forced labour to rebuild parts of the country which
had been damaged, and plans were drawn up for the expulsion of the Germans.
It’s believed that between 700,000 and 800,000 Germans were affected by wild explosions in
the months after the war came to an end, and these were usually carried out by armed volunteers
along with members of the military.
There were other massacres as between the 18th and 19th June 1945, 265 Germans were
taken out of a train and were forced to dig their own graves when they were then shot.
Germans who were forced to leave Brno for Austria were also victims as there were at
least 800 deaths.
The Czech government would at time consider that this was popular justice, and these crimes
were not entirely well reported around the world.
But on the 10th May 1945, inside the Prague district of Borislavka, there were around
40 people who were rounded up and then forced up against a wall for their executions.
These were men and also at least one woman who had not necessarily committed many crimes
but they had been living inside of lands where Czech people were suffering.
The fact these people were just German was enough for those men who executed them, and
they became victims of executioners who were as ruthless as the Nazis were.
There was a significant amount of reprisal carried out because of the actions of the
NAzis and Germans during the Second World War, and these Germans who were slaughtered
in Borislavka were in the way.
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