Death row in wartime: British Pathe releases harrowing
archive footage of executions during conflicts across the world
Executions were sometimes filmed, but not shown to public by
Pathe
The footage went straight to archive as it was deemed too harrowing
By Jill Reilly
Published: 00:04 BST, 27 December 2013 | Updated: 14:13 BST, 27 December 2013
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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.
Death row in war time: A man stands surrounded by a firing squad in a disused quarry.
He was one of several Germans killed by a US military
firing squad just outside the town of Braunschweig, Germany in 1945 because he was deemed a spy
Moments before death: In the same deserted quarry outside Braunschwieg,
a convicted spy has his feet tied to a pole.
Prisoners were generally blindfolded or hooded - British Pathe says many of the spies from this footage
were not, so they may have asked to be allowed to face the firing squad without their eyes covered
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.
Execution: Pietro Caruso was an Italian Fascist and head of the
Italian police during the final part of World War II.
He was the co-organiser of the massacre in Fosse Ardeatine in 1944.
The image shows Caruso secured to a chair whilst a priest administers his last rites.
He is then executed in the courtyard of the Fort
Bravetta in Rome
Blindfolded and killed: Nazi spy, Richard Jarczyk is
prepared for execution by an American soldier of the US Seventh Army.
Jarczyk had confessed to sabotaging equipment and killing American soldiers.
He was killed in the Florian-Geyer athletic ground in Kitzingen,
a town in the German state of Bavaria
Last smoke before death: This image forms part of footage filmed in a
Cuban courtroom in 1959.
The prisoner and his crimes are unknown, but 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
'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.
Led to his death: 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
Public hanging: This shocking sight is from 1911 footage during the Italo-Turkish War.
There is not any information on what crimes these men were supposed to have committed or their identity. Italian authorities adopted many tyrannical methods against the
rebels, such as public hangings as a retaliation for ambushes
Hanged in prison: Kurt Daluege, Nazi General and who became Vice-Proctector of Bohemia
and Moravia during the German occupation was found guilty of war
crimes and he was hanged in 1946 at Pankrac prison in Prague in front
of a crowd of people
The firing squad were volunteers of the Northamptonshire Regiment.
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
Pankrac 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
Ležaky 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.
