Throughout World War 2, there were a number of men and women who were accused of spying
for the enemies of their armies.
If the Germans managed to locate someone who was suspected of spying, then usually they
were dealt with brutally as they would be executed very quickly.
Firing squads were gathered to execute spies, but a group of women who worked alongside
the French Resistance for British spy and intelligence network Special Operations Executive
were brutally killed.
They were taken to a concentration camp and they were then burned alive inside of a crematoria
there, and the prisoners later told the Allies about the screams they heard as each of the
women were forced into the ovens.
But the Gestapo would try to also extract information from suspected spies, as would
the Allies and they would also torture those suspected of espionage to make sure they got
everything they needed from them.
But many who refused to give over information were stated to have been lost causes and for
this they were sentenced to death and were then executed.
But one man who was executed after being condemned for being a spy was Richard Jarczyk, who right
at the end of the Second World War was executed for his actions.
Join us today as we look at his execution and to support our channel please make sure
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During the Second World War, the German Army would lose a significant amount of soldiers
and man power on the Eastern Front.
They would then bring in many different soldiers from other nations that they were occupying
to come to the front lines, and following the turning of Stalingrad, and the heavy losses
that they faced the German Army became fragmented and joined by many different people from other
nations and backgrounds that were forced to join.
Lots did not want to join up and fight, but they were forced to do so with the threat
of violence, execution and also being sent to a concentration camp.
Lots of people were forced to join the very army that had invaded their country and had
caused chaos and brutality in their homelands, and resistance groups became furious at the
fact patriots were being forced to join the army of their enemies.
For example around 90,000 people from Poland were forcible conscripted into the German
Army.
But these conscripts were often forced to conduct different roles as well as serve in
the military, and one of those men from the German Army who was ordered to spy on the
Americans in the final days of the war was Richard Jarczyk.
Jarczyk was part of the Volksgrenadier, which was a division of the German Army formed in
autumn 1944 following the loss of Army Group Centre to there Soviets, and also the Fifth
Panzer Army to the allies in Normandy.
But the Volksgrenadier regiment was supposed to boost morale as they believed that they
were fighting for their nationalistic lives.
There were 78 Volks Grenadier Divisions created, and the loss of manpower meant that new infantry
divisions needed creating, and these were mostly defensive groups that would try to
dig in and hold out.
The units were given sub machine guns and light automatic weapons and they would be
focused in closer combat with the Allies.
They were given weapons such as the StG 44 and the Panzerfaust to take out allied vehicles,
and they were organised around hardened veterans and NCOs and also officers, and then staffed
with anyone that the Replacement Army could get their hands on.
The unemployed were involved, those who were wounded and were recovering, and older men
who were considered too old or unfit to fight were conscripted, and then teenagers and younger
men were brought into the group.
They would fight in manner different battles including in eastern France, and they would
defend during Operation Market Garden and also the Battle of the Bulge.
But they also saw service on the Eastern Front, and in the final battles that the Nazis faced
in Europe.
Some divisions were noted to have performed well, but others it was said were rushed into
battle with little training, and because of this had little impact on the battlefield,
or they were not very effective.
But Richard Jarczyk despite being part of the Volksgrenadier ended up in the Rhineland
region which was then occupied by the Americans in March 1945.
The Americans had fought hard into Germany, and the Germans tried to continue to get the
upper hand over the Allies, and because of this they employed a number of spies to work
behind enemy lines to get intelligence regarding Allied positions and movements.
There were many different spies who would work in the final days of the war as spies
behind allied lines for the Germans.
There was a Polish teenager named Josef Wende who would be caught spying by the Americans
and despite being very young, he was shown no mercy and was executed by a firing squad.
It was very dangerous at this time in the war, and Richard Jarczyk who was at the end
of the day a German soldier as part of the Volksgrenadier was told to work behind enemtylines.
He would be given a strange assignment, and was told to get rid of his uniform.
But he then wearing civilian clothes approached the American army, and he would offer to work
for them almost as an official in helping to establish a civilian government in the
area occupied by the Americans.
He would want to establish some form of council, and the Americans were eager to hear what
he had to say.
Jarczyk was hired by the US, and it was said ‘In the Rhineland, a Polish Volksdeutsch
named Richard Jarczyk infiltrated American lines, where he obtained civilian clothing
from a sympathetic German woman and in March 1945 got himself hired by an American MIlitary
Government detachment at Bruckweiler.
Jarczyk was such a conscientious employee that he was soon considered for an appointment
as the Bürgermeister of a local town, although his suspicious behaviour eventually gave him
away.’
But eventually he was suspected and was then arrested by the American forces.
As he was wearing civilian clothes, he was said to have been in breach of the Geneva
Convention with regards to how prisoners of war should be treated.
He was not in uniform which meant that he would have been considered an enemy spy.
It’s not for certain known how he was caught, but his activities brought him into interrogation
and rather quickly he was then brought to trial.
On the 6th April 1945, Jarczyk was accused of being a spy, and the evidence against him
was put forward and at his trial he would confess that he had been involved in special
training for carrying out sabotage and espionage with regards to enemy positions.
He was also found to have been collecting information about the activity of the American
Army which was then passed on to one of the Werwolf groups who would use this to try and
carry out attacks against the Americans.
Because of this he was sentenced to death, and this was just weeks before the war in
Europe would come to an end.
On the 23rd April 1945, Richard Jarczyk was led out to the firing range and he was accompanied
by many Military policeman.
He was led towards a stake and his arms and legs were secured.
He was wearing civilian clothes and his glasses as well as a large hat on his head, and a
priest remained with him in his final moments before everyone was told to back away.
The firing squad made up of Americans was gathered and they were told to stand ready
with their rifles and they raised them towards Richard Jarczyk, who was tied to the stake.
When the order to fire was given they shot straight into the man condemned to death for
spying, and he was executed just weeks for the war had come to an end in Europe.
There were many spies who worked undercover during the Second World War, but if they were
captured they usually went the same way, execution by firing squad.
Not too much is known about Richard Jarczyk except the fact he was a spy who was involved
in gaining the trust of the Americans and then passing secrets and positions to the
Germans.
He was like many spies executed on a firing range, and he would be instantly killed by
the American firing squad.
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