RAF POW Letter, murdered in Warsaw

[AB64]

A POW letter from 748272 Geoffrey Patrick Hickman who flew with 609, 152 & 92 Squadrons - on 20/9/41 he was escorting a sweep over Northern France in Spitfire W3179 he was forced to bale out over Abbeville and captured. 11/8/42 Along with 3 others he escaped from Gliewitz and by 17/10/42 he had made it to Warsaw where he remained until picked up 10/12/43, at some point in the next few weeks he was executed (well murdered) in Pawiak Prison. I'm part way through reading Warsaw1944 and came across the passage below which gives passing reference to his murder and identifying his murderer

[Anderson]

What happened to Thomas Wippenbeck after the war?

[Danmark]

What happened to Thomas Wippenbeck after the war?

Consigned to the hottest part of hell I would hope!!

[BlackCat1982]

What happened to Thomas Wippenbeck after the war?

SS Rottenführer Wippenbeck was tried in 1972/1973, convicted of two counts of complicity in the murder, but was acquitted. No further details are known about his life and death. Seems the hangman escaped the gallows.

[Watchdog]

SS Rottenführer Wippenbeck was tried in 1972/1973, convicted of two counts of complicity in the murder, but was acquitted. No further details are known about his life and death. Seems the hangman escaped the gallows.

Does that mean charged and acquitted or found guilty and a light sentence was handed down or was he acquitted on appeal?

Either way in the spirit of fairness (!) I sincerely hope he died a sh***y death alone, cold and in fear but I suspect he died in bed and with family around him

This has spoiled my day

Regards

Mark

[Anderson]

It's the pity the quick justice of post war 1945 didn't last a little longer for these creatures like Wippenbeck. The lawyers got in the way with the big war crimes trials and justice wasn't done in many cases. The Poles and Russians had the right idea in dealing with the SS.

[Watchdog]

It's the pity the quick justice of post war 1945 didn't last a little longer for these creatures like Wippenbeck. The lawyers got in the way with the big war crimes trials and justice wasn't done in many cases. The Poles and Russians had the right idea in dealing with the SS.

I agree although as a counterpoise and somewhat off topic I know;

Sometimes the injustice went the other way.

At the end of the war the German POW in UK were categorised as Black (die-hard Nazi), Grey (unconfirmed but potential nazi associations) or White (no Nazi affiliation) and separated into camps accordingly.
At the time of the Ardennes offensive there was a plot by SS and Fallschirmjaeger in the POW camp at Devizes, Wiltshire to break out, seize weapons and march on London.

The plot was foiled and the perpetrators sent to a "Black" camp (No 21 at Comrie in Scotland). Unfortunately a "White"category prisoner, Feldwebel Wolfgang Rosterg, a known anti-Nazi was included in the group by mistake. At Comrie he was blamed for betraying the plot and hung by the other prisoners.

Certainly not the proper application of justice though it did result in at least four of the perpetrators being executed at HMP Pentonville in London.

Regards

Mark

[Willmore]

SS-Rottenführer Thomas Wippenbeck, notorious guard from Pawiak prison in Warsaw (known as wieszatiel – “the hangman”), during his trial in Hamburg.

File:Thomas Wippenbeck during the Hamburg trial.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

[Willmore]

Born - August 28, 1907 in Gera, Saxony Province, Prussia, German Empire.

At the end of The Second World War, Wippenbeck was arrested by the Allies but soon released. In 1965, he was arrested by West German authorities but released shortly afterwards. In 1972, Wippenbeck and Ludwig Hahn were tried for crimes committed in Pawiak during the war. The charges included murder and torture of prisoners. Wippenbeck was found guilty of two counts of accessory to murder, but was acquitted when the court ruled that he had been coerced into these acts by superiors.

Thomas Wippenbeck – Wikipedia

Here is some information on his co-dendant SS-Standartenführer Dr Ludwig Hahn.

SS-Staf. Dr. Ludwig Hahn - Axis History Forum

A picture of both ‘men’ together.

[BlackCat1982]

Thank you AB64 for posting this poignant relic. Until now I'd not heard of Wippenbeck. It seems incredible in these days that he was acquitted of his monstrous crimes.