During Hitler’s time as the dictator of Germany, there were many acts of resistance
against his Nazi Regime. Hitler himself faced many assassination attempts, but to oppose
the regime instilled was incredibly dangerous. Sophie Scholl for example was part of the
White Rose movement, and she was involved in distributing anti-Nazi propaganda. For
this she was sentenced to death alongside her brother when caught, and was guillotined.
There were many other resistance groups that emerged within Germany, but today we look
at one small element of the Edelweiss Pirates. As expected, to defy Hitler was usually met
with brutal reprisals, and the cologne section of the movement was dealt with incredibly
brutally. Today we look at the brutal execution of the Edelweiss Pirates of Cologne. Remember
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The Edelweiss Pirates were an element of German Youth Culture that did not conform to the
ideals of the Nazis. They emerged before the Second World War as a reaction to the Hitler
Youth being used to indoctrinate and brainwash young people. They saw the youth groups for
boys and girls as dangerous, and the Edelweiss Pirates offered youngsters freedom to express
themselves and mix with the opposite sex. This was different to the Nazi youth groups,
which were segregated by gender. The first group was made up of mostly teenagers between
14 and 18, and different elements grew up in different parts of Germany. There were
many subgroups, for example the Navajos in Cologne, or the Kittlebach Pirates of Dusseldorf.
The group were feared by the Nazi local governments, as they also sought to beat up Hitler Youth
patrols, and they got involved in acts of provocations.
The Edelweiss Pirates also distributed anti nazi propaganda, and would meet and take part
in hiking and camping trips. As mentioned their enemies really were the Hitler Youth
and they took great pride in starting fights with them. The Nazis before the war saw them
as irratating as they didn’t abide by the terror established by the police state. But
as the conflict continued, their activities became more extreme and after this, punishments
got more severe. The Gestapo began to keep track on different sections of the groups,
and some were sent to concentration camps, held in prisons and forced to have their heads
shaved. In October 1944, Heinrich Himmler who had enough of there activities announced
a crackdown on the Edelweiss Pirates.
The Ehrenfeld or Steinbruck group, were a youth group of around 100 inside of the Ehrenfeld
district of Cologne. Many were former Edelweiss Pirates. They took their name from Hans Steinbruck,
an escapee from a concentration camp who came to the district. He began to build up weapons
and foodstuff in the cellar of a house, and he fenced stolen goods. He even gave shelter
in his cellar for jews and those who were hunted by the Gestapo. In the summer of 1944,
a number of Edelweiss Pirates began to speak with Steinbruck. He was only 23 himself, and
together they formed the resistance group. Over time the group gained notoriety, stealing
food and also cars and vehicles and contributing to the black market inside cologne.
The group grew in their numbers, as did their ambitions. They carried out a heist stealing
butter, and sold it afterwards on the black market for 12,000 reichsmarks, which was a
colossal sum of money. The average wage at the time was just 50 reichsmarks a week, but
they repeated the heist and then got 123,000 marks for it on the black market. But at some
point the army were informed about the cellar storehouse, and it was searched with weapons
being confiscated. Steinbruck managed to escape, but the authorities then began to round up
members of the group.
Steinbruck together with another man decided to hunt nazis, and they took a number of members
of the group with them. They opened fire injuring a guard, and also later killed a member of
the SA, and also a civilian. They then also whilst waiting by train tracks killed a member
of the Hitler Youth. They then tried to steal some explosives, however this was foiled,
and the Gestapo on the 8th October 1944 began to round up members of the group. They made
63 arrests, and of these 19 were teenagers.
Because of their resistance, 13 German males were condemned to die and were executed without
trial in a mass scale public hanging in front of a huge crowd in Cologne next to Ehrenfeld
Train Station. The plan of the group had been to blow up the Gestapo HQ in Cologne, and
those imprisoned had been tortured for weeks on end. On the 10th November 1944, a public
gallows had been created on a public thoroughfare near to the train station. This was made rather
large to carry out the mass execution. In front of a huge crowd, 13 men were lead out
to the gallows, and were stood under the gallows. Of those who were executed that day, there
were six teenagers, with the youngest being Barthel Schink, Gunther Schwarz and Johann
Muller who were just 16.
The 12 men were stood under the gallows, and were stood on a wooden beam initially. They
were then stood on a stool, and then the noose was placed around their neck after it was
passed over the top of the gallows. The Nazi guards then stood back, and simultaneously
the stools were kicked out from below the condemned, and they were slowly then left
strangling to death. The executions of the group was not instant, and it was rather slow
with struggling whilst the huge crowd looked on. All 13 struggled and took minutes to die,
taking their last gasps. Amongst the dead was Steinbeck, but the Nazis got what they
wanted from the huge public spectacle of the execution.
Today a plaque in Ehrenfeld marks the site of the execution and is dedicated to the memory
of those 13 who suffered the wrath of the Gestapo and Nazis. Over the decades, the reputation
of the Edelweiss Pirates has been rehabilitated and today they’re seen as an important part
of resistance against Hitler and the Nazis. Interestingly, Schink Strasse marks the site
where the executions took place, in memorial to the young man who was part of the dozen
others executed.
Once again thanks for watching.
To support our channel, please make sure to subscribe.
Once again thanks for watching.