Skip to main content

Death row in wartime: British Pathe releases harrowing archive footage of executions during conflicts across the world

Death row in wartime: British Pathe releases harrowing archive footage of executions during conflicts across the world




With his sweaty hands bound behind his back and his face covered with a blindfold, the man's body convulsed as bullets riddled his torso.

He was one of several Germans killed by a US military firing squad just outside the town of Braunschweig, Germany in 1945 because he deemed a spy.

However two of the spies lined up in the disused quarry were in fact simply members of the Hitler youth, aged just 16 and 17 years old

They were gunned down and then dragged into the coffins which were in the ground nearby.

The harrowing scene is just one of several images of death row in war time released by British Pathe.




The film archive states: 'While Pathe didn’t shy away from screening very real and very harrowing footage of say the Holocaust; films showing someone’s life end by execution were not generally shown to the public.

However, on occasion these events were filmed but went straight to archive.

'Capital punishment has been carried out in almost all societies and although these films of execution may make for shocking viewing, they still provide a raw, unedited account of events from a certain time.'

Another scene shows British officers and soldiers escorting General Shampei of the Japanese Army to his execution post.

Shampei was charged with crimes of murdering Australian prisoners of war.

The firing squad were volunteers of the Northamptonshire Regiment.

British Pathe
The prisoner and his crimes are unknown but whatever they were, he was found guilty. The camera rejoined the prisoner and a firing squad in a wooded area where the prisoner was allowed to smoke his last cigarette before being shot dead

In their archives another historical clip shows the hanging of  the Nazi General Kurt Daluege

He was found guilty of war crimes and he was hanged in 1946 at Pankrác prison in Prague in front of a crowd of people.

Daluege became Vice-Proctector of Bohemia and Moravia during the German occupation

He was responsible for carrying out the orders of razing the village of Lidice to the ground, plus having all the adults in the village of Ležáky murdered.

Many of the women and children were deported to Nazi concentration camps.

One of the most graphic scenes is from 1911 footage during the Italo–Turkish War which shows 12 lifeless bodies hanging from the gallows in a mass execution.

There is not any information on what crimes these men were supposed to have committed or their identity, but the Italian authorities adopted many tyrannical methods against the rebels, such as public hangings as a retaliation for ambushes.

you can click here to watch the video

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Naama Levy was described by the Gazan terrorists as 'Sabaya' - meaning sex slave in the Arabic language when used by ISIS-types - before this video was taken

Naama Levy was described by the Gazan terrorists as 'Sabaya' - meaning sex slave in the Arabic language when used by ISIS-types - before this video was taken. Now you know the full context for her bloody pants. She has been their 'sabaya' for 228 days Naama Levy. is a symbol of what has happened to many Israelis after October 7 and will never be the same.  Naama, was a peace activist before she went to the IDF as an observer- a non combatant unarmed position.  Today, another video from her kidnapping was published  Naama was a peaceful loving person.      This is her beautiful face before October 7.  Before the army Naama was a part of “hands of peace” - an activist for peace in an organization with Americans, Israelis and Gazans. She wanted “to hear the other side”  Most of us remember Naama from this horrific video of her, almost unrecognizable, paraded in the streets of Gaza like a product. Today, another video was released  This is w...

This is the kind of treatment Prisoners of War or POW get under captivity

The first hours and days of your captivity will be the worst. There are numerous accounts of Croatian and Bosnian soldiers being taken Prisoners of War (POW) by the Serbs and there is also Andy McNab’s famous story how his Special Air Service (SAS) patrol fared in Iraqi captivity during the First Gulf War. Regarding how POWs were treated, all these stories have many things in common: After you are captured, you will be severely beaten up. Say farewell to your teeth! Most modern POWs return without a complete set of them. You will be spit at, insulted and most probably paraded in front of the enemy’s civilian population. If you are lucky, your captors will protect you from getting killed by the mob. After everyone has satisfied their curiosity and got their opportunity to beat, insult or spit at you, you will be handed over to the Military Police or a similar organisation. This is a moment where you can congratulate yourself! Your chances to survive have increased dramatically. Still, y...

Popular posts from this blog

How common were instances of sexual abuse in Nazi concentration camps

How common were instances of sexual abuse in Nazi concentration camps. The accounts that rap£ or prostitution was common, Were the guards were given "free reign" over the prisoners given view of them as subhuman The Nazis sort of developed a network of state-controlled brothels during the war. This included both the civilian and military brothels. The Nazis even set up brothels for the forced labor inmates that helped with the German war effort as incentives for higher production from prisoners in camps. Back then these brothels were suppose to serving several needs. For the soldiers that were far away from home, the Nazis thought that having these brothels would reduce the possibility of rape in occupied lands and reducing the sexual relations with impure local women or forced laborer's, as well. Heck, the Nazis tried to use these brothel women to cure homosexuality as a treatment with male prisoners that were gay. Regular German women were exempt from serving in these b...

The prisoners in concentration camps have sex with each other

 The prisoners in concentration camps have sex with each other Steady on. Nearly all concentration camps were single-sex, and at those that held both men and women the sexes were usually kept separate, though at Auschwitz III (Monowitz) and possibly also some other sub-camps they worked together. At extermination camps (where the sexes were not separated) most of the prisoners were killed within 24 hours of arrival. Prisoners did not have privacy. Remember that at the time most people had a horror of same-sex relations, especially between men. However, some Kapos and even guards forced prisoners to have sex with them. In Night Elie Wiesel relates how he found his Kapo having sex with a female prisoner, and he (Wiesel) was given 25 lashes for finding them having sex.* In the Women’s Camp at least one guard forced another woman to have sex with her, and at many camps there was a piepel (camp bum boy). *He also describes the hanging of the piepel of a Blockältester ( ‘block senior’). ...