At present at Bromberg and
The medico-legal experts of the
Military High Command for Bromberg: Dr. Panning, the Senior
Medical Officer and Superintendent of the Medico-Legal Department of the
For Posen: Dr. Hallermann, Assistant
Medical Officer of the Reserve, Lecturer at
R e p o r t
on the results, available up to the
present, of the Investigation of the Medico-Legal Department of the Army
Medical Academy, set up for the purpose of investigating the Polish acts murder
in the Posen and Bromberg districts(1).
I. The task of the
medico-legal experts
By order of the Health Inspection
Department of the Military High Command, Medico-Legal Experts were appointed on
In pursuance of the instructions
received, detailed results of all autopsies were certified in records and filed
for present and future use by the addition of a still increasing collection of
photographic reproductions and preserved specimens. The opportunity was taken
to inspect the proofs available on the spot, at Bromberg and Posen, by several
commissions of medical and army officers, as well as German and foreign
journalists.
II. Scope of
Investigation
The investigations carried out so far
cover 131 autopsies and 11 cases of postmortems in and near Bromberg, and 51
autopsies and 53 post-mortems in Posen and its environments. Therefore, up to
the present, about 250 bodies have been examined by medico-legal experts--this
figure not representing even a mere fraction of the number of murders perpetrated,
which is so great that it is impossible to estimate them from here. It is,
however, impossible to carry out autopsies on all the persons murdered. In
Bromberg alone, for example, the question would have arisen of examining no
less than 1000 bodies. It is to be expected, therefore, that decomposition and
the frozen soil of the graves will shortly terminate all post-mortem
examinations.
(1) All results of autopsies and
postmortem examinations are illustrated photographically; for reasons of space,
only a selection has been reproduced here.
[p. 195]
The results obtained by the
investigations must thus be regarded purely as small random sections taken from
an abundance of material. It has not been attempted to summarise statistically
the data obtained, as no comparative figures could represent a true picture of
the events investigated, in view of the enormous number of cases where it was
not possible to hold a post-mortem examination. Only for a few sections, which
cover a series of murders in which each or certainly almost every case has been
examined by autopsy, will a statistical survey be feasible.
III. Results of
investigations
Difficulties in
analysing the results obtained
Great difficulties were encountered in
judging on merit the data obtained. In view of the large number of bodies
heaped up in a restricted space, a provisional burial of 60 or even more bodies
in one common grave had had to be arranged. The bodies were later exhumed and
examined with the consent and knowledge of their sorely tried relatives, when
transferring them to a place of rest in cemeteries especially designated for
this purpose. It goes without saying that the findings were frequently
influenced by the state of decomposition which, in the meantime, had set in. In
spite of this it was possible by following the exact and scientific methods of
medico-legal examination to arrive at expert conclusions perfectly clear in
their essential parts. It was also obvious that the results of the autopsies
carried out could by no means show up all the injuries which the unfortunate
victims had suffered. Particularly tissue haemorrhages as the result of bodily
maltreatment were frequently almost impossible to trace during the autopsy on
account of the advanced state of decomposition, and obviously various forms of
brutal physical injuries, mutilations, etc., were only apparent by special and
circumstantial evidence.
Injuries caused by
blunt instruments, rifle butts, etc.
It may serve as an example to point out
that blows administered by rifle butts, bludgeons, staves, etc., as witnessed
on innumerable occasions, were naturally only traceable at, an autopsy, when
they were followed by injury to the bone. In this respect some very impressive
and weighty findings were observed in such cases as:
Sect. No. Br. 93,
Albert Heise, aged 21 years--complete crushing of facial portion of skull by
heavy blows of a bludgeon.
Sect. No. Br. 116,
Richard Kutzer, aged 46 years, parson, crushing of inferior maxilla (lower jaw)
without injury to the skin-caused, according to police evidence, by a
blow with a rifle butt.
Sect. No. Br. 115,
Otto Kutzer, 73 years of age--father of the above--multiple fracture of costal
cartilage, weakened by senility,--due to a blow with the butt of a
rifle.
Sect. No. Br. 107,
Hans Schulz, 20 years of age--crushing of skull with rifle butt or other heavy
instrument, as also in a great number of
other cases.
Frequently, as shown in the post-mortem
records, the forcible use of blunt instruments could only be assumed, namely,
in such cases when the victim received the injuries, such as shots, blows or
cuts, while lying down and when it was necessary to explain how he came to be
in a recumbent position.
Mutilations
The findings of the experts were
equally handicapped through post-mortem change in the case of extremely brutal
mutilations of the victims. Whereas in a great many cases it was possible to
obtain definite statements of witnesses--mostly relatives of the murdered
persons--as to the mutilations inflicted upon the deceased, such as castration,
severance of members of the body (ears, nose, etc.) or the piercing of the
orbital cavity--these injuries could not be considered as findings in a strict
medico-legal sense, because all traces had been naturally subject to
decomposition, and destruction by vermin. However, especially in a good many
cases of punctured wounds of the eye, in conjunction with injury to the lids,
it has been possible to establish definite proof of such injuries on bodies
exhumed shortly after burial. This statement is impressively corroborated by
the photograph on page 285 in case Br. 17 of an unknown man, aged about 20, and
murdered in Bromberg-Klein-Bartelsee and also by the photograph on page 286 in
the case of Sect. No. P I. Grieger, Paul, 32 years of age, murdered in Posen. A
case of piercing of the orbital cavity which, owing to destruction of the body
by vermin, could not definitely be ascertained, is depicted on the photograph
on page 288, post-mortem examination No. Br. 4 of an unknown man, aged about
45, and murdered in the woods near Hopfengarten in the Bromberg district.
Furthermore, it has also been proved by photographic records that all cases of
bullet wounds in the eye have been carefully excluded in the findings of punctured
injuries to the orbital cavity.
Similar references can be made to other
forms of mutilation. In certain cases one is forced to accept as evidence the
clear statement of witnesses as to pre-mortem castration or other mutilations
and to assume that objective findings were impossible owing to the advanced
stage of decomposition. The well-known fact should be borne in mind that the
destruction by vermin, or any other post-mortem change, affects in the first
instance and most readily all injured parts of the body. It is consequently not
surprising that in this respect the findings of the experts fall short of the
statements of witnesses.
Punctures
A special group of additional injuries
independent of those of a fatal nature, of a distinctly sadistic nature, were
observed in very many cases, namely punctured wounds, as found by themselves or
in addition to fatal bullet wounds. In the main, this refers to shallow and
flat punctured injuries to the surface or the limbs and members of the body. In
accordance with statements of witnesses, these injuries were frequently
inflicted upon the victims, as it were, "for encouragement" by the
guards or the mob en route to the place of murder. Thus, amongst many
others, the case Sect. No. Br. 56 of Eduard Schulemann, a 72 year-old man, may
be quoted as an example; he was killed by a shot through the skull and a deep
stab of a bayonet from behind in the back. Thrusts of the bayonet to the dying
were inflicted repeatedly, as in the case Sect. No. Br. 27 of an unknown man, aged
30 to 40, with a stab in the abdomen and also Sect. No. Br. 110 Herbert
Zollnik, 38 years of age. A particularly bestial case of the application of a
stabbing weapon and the murder of the wounded man by 33 stabs, inflicted by a
Polish soldier, within a military formation, will be referred to on another
occasion.
Injuries involving
long death agony
The wholly unimaginable brutality of
the perpetrations is evidenced by the consideration of the causes of death and,
consequently the length of the period of pre-lethal agonies. It has been proved
beyond doubt that in numerous cases the injuries inflicted were by no means of
a fatal character, but that the victims succumbed in the course of time from
such uncomplicated injuries, as for example, a bullet wound through the lung.
Similar observations could be made in cases where only injuries to the limbs
with lacerations of more or less insignificant arterial ramifications were
detected. In this connection attention should be drawn to the photographic
reproduction on p. 281. Sect. No.
Further reference will be made in due
course to a group of victims who also were subject to more or less protracted
agonies of death.
Coups de Grâce
In numerous other cases the
perpetrators have fired "shots of mercy", on victims lying on the
ground, as was established by the bullet wound canal rising or falling at a
sharp angle. It was abundantly evident that the coup de grace administered had
nothing whatsoever to do with the traditional meaning of such action, i.e., the
speedy and immediate despatch of the victim as for example in the case of
wounded game. It is, on the contrary, unmistakable that the shots fired on
victims lying on the ground were executed to satisfy sadistic instincts,
inasmuch as they were not directed at the heart or the skull, but
indiscriminately at any part of the body. It is most remarkable that frequently
bullet wounds were found issuing from the gluteal region near the anus
and tearing their way through the body. As one has to assume that the perpetrators
had a certain knowledge of marksmanship and these, in the cases in point, were
Polish soldiers, one is inevitably forced to the conclusion that systematically
the buttocks of the dying "Hitlerites" were aimed at. Two cases in
one group of persons maltreated with this kind of bullet wound injuries, are
recorded on the photograph on page 294 Sect. No. Br. 95, of the gardener, Erich
Schmiede, 43 years of age, and Sect. No. Br. 101, Berthold Rabitsch, aged 64,
and numerous other cases have been certified in the post-mortem examination
records.
Bonds
A significant and frequently applied
form of maltreatment of victims consisted of placing them in bonds, as
witnessed in the case of three persons belonging to a group of seven victims
from the Kutzer Rectory, in the suburb of Bromberg-Jägerhof, photograph on page
279, Sect. No. Br. 115, Richard Kutzer, aged 73; photograph on page 304, Sect.
No. Br. 118, Herbert Schollenberg, aged 14, and Sect. No. Br. 119, Hermann
Tetzlaff, 51 years of age. In the cases referred to, the bonds were made of
thin string, tied in a simple manner into loops and knots. In several other
cases, as in photograph on page 280, Sect. No. Br. 67, Albrecht Schmidt, about
45 years, the bonds were attached to long pieces of rope, used for dragging the
victims along. In the Jesuitersee group of mass murders, to which further
reference will be made, no less than 12 victims were actually tied to one
another with cattle rope and other such material into one long chain.
If the nature of the fetterings just
mentioned, points for the most part to an exceptionally brutal mentality,
particularly when applied to old people and children, the recent case of Sect.
No. Br. 124, Wilhelm Sieg, aged 43, labourer in Feyerland, represents a method
of fettering sadistically designed as an integral part of the actual murder
process. The unfortunate victim was fettered with reins in such a manner that
his hands were tied behind his back and the noose knotted round his neck as
tightly as possible. According to the depositions of the Criminal Police and
medico-legal experts, Sieg was dragged for a considerable distance on the
ground, fettered in such a way and then killed by a shot from a rifle whilst
still in a recumbent position.
Classification of
victim's according to age. Murders of crippled and sick
people
The classification of the victims of
murder in accordance with their age and state of health, requires special
consideration. Post-mortem examinations have definitely established that the
age of the victims varied from infants of 4 months to old men of 82. Although
the compilation of statistical data from the material is, as explained above,
not without its difficulties, it would seem necessary to quote some figures in
connection, so as not to let it be thought that murders of children were
nothing but regrettable and isolated incidents.
Among the autopsies carried out, the
following were on children:
No. sect
No. Name and Age Killed by(1)
1. 27
Br. 129 Egon Berger, 4 months Grenade
2. 25 P. 29 Kurt Schmolke, 15 months Shot, probably rifle
3. 21
Br. 76 Erhard Prochnau, 3
years Pistol shot
4. --
Br. 59 Gisela Renz, 4 years Shot, probably pistol
5. 24
Br. 74 Walter Busse, 7 years - ditto –
6. 22
Br. 60 Günther Renz, 9 years Rifle shot
7. 23
Br. 100 Kurt Beyer, 10 years 1 pistol shot
1
tearing shot
1
rifle shot
8. --
Br. 66 Heidelies Tetzlaff, 11
years 2 shots, probably
pistol
9. --
Br. 94 Else Jannot, 12 years 2 rifle shots
10. --
Br. 70 Gerhard Pijan, 12 years
Rifle shot
11. 26
1
pistol shot
To use a biblical expression in the
extremely brutal sense of the term, "the child in the womb was not
spared", as can be seen from the following cases, amply illustrated by
photographs Sect. No. Br. 112, Frau Sonnenberg, photograph on page S.306, and
also Sect. No. 127, Frau Kempf, photograph on page 308, who were both murdered
in the last stages of pregnancy, the perpetrators in both cases being Polish
soldiers. As far as Sect. No. Br. 127, Frau Kempf, is concerned, there is every
reason to assume that she was in labour when she died.
It can be proved in many cases that
crippled, sick and aged people were not spared by the assassins. In Posen, for
example, among six persons jointly murdered in a marching column of internees
near Rózepole, (the Schmolke family with neighbours: Sect. No. P. 28-33) there
were two men with artificial limbs, the one with a femur prothesis, and the
other with two artificial legs. (Photograph on page 296, Sect. No. P. 32).
Similarly, several persons with amputated legs and some otherwise crippled
victims were murdered in and near Bromberg, such as Sect. No. Br. 85, Gustav
Schubert, 65 years, who was suffering from advanced curvature of the spine;
Sect. No. Br. 104, Paul Piotrowski, 55 years, with a sprung right leg iron;
photograph on page 295, Sect. No. Br. 126, Paul Lepczynski, about 50 years,
with a complete leg prothesis; Sect. No. Br. 110, Wilhelm Gollnik, 38 years,
with severe injuries to the cranium received from Poles in attempted murder 10
years ago; also Sect. Nr. Br. 78, Emanuel Hemmerling, 35 years, suffering from
severe bilateral T.B. of the lungs owing to which he was previously exempted
from auxiliary services by the Poles themselves.
(1) It was not always possible to draw
a clear distinction between rifle and pistol shots, as, up to the present in
civilised countries, no data are available on the effect of military firearms
upon children, particularly on the osseous system. It would appear that certain
deviations of the usual effects could be observed which, on the strength of
this recent and deplorable experience, would require scientific investigation.
[p. 200]
As far as the highest age
classification is concerned, it would appear that the limit of 82 years in the
case of a victim on which a post-mortem was held (Gustav Behnke, Sect. Nr. Br.
65 in the group of persons murdered at Eichdorf-Netzheim) must be considered as
fortuitous: it has become evident that other investigating officers have
established the murder of persons of a still more advanced age.
Weapons used
By far the most important conclusions
to be drawn from the medico-legal investigations appear to be after all not so
much the inhuman mental and physical brutalities, which have been so clearly
established in the post-mortem examinations; the greater significance should be
attributed to the fact that in the overwhelming majority of cases subjected to
an autopsy, the use of military weapons has been proved beyond any doubt. In
most cases rifles were used, occasionally pistols, more rarely hand-grenades.
These facts are clearly corroborated by numerous bullets or splinters, such as
were extracted in about 50 cases.
In particular, the use of military
firearms can, even without the surgical detection of the bullet, be proved by
their highly destructive effect, especially on the osseous system, and in a
remarkable measure by the hydro-dynamic phenomenon of the lifting of the skull
in the case of a bullet tearing right through the brain.
The principal weapon of murder in the
attempt to exterminate the German element in
The medico-legal officer is forced to
draw particular attention to this fact, established by autopsies, as it may
prove to be extremely valuable to the investigating authorities in ascertaining
and proving the existence of organised massacres.
Murders committed with makeshift
weapons, bludgeons or knives appear to be exceptional.
No casual weapons such as pieces of
garden fencing, which might be used by a person overwhelmed by passion, were
employed, but highly efficient firearms.
In regard to the pistols used, it is
not possible to draw in each separate case the same definite conclusions as in
the case of rifles, even when the bullet was detected in the body.
It was however possible to ascertain
through examinations of the peculiar shape of the bullet extracted that in the
following three cases the Nagan revolver was used:
Sect. No. Br. 48,
Fritz Radler,
Sect. No.
The Nagan revolver was, however, a
weapon obtainable in the open market and therefore excludes the assumption of
the existence of a definite group of miscreants or organisers.
One item, however, seems to be of
conspicuous interest: all bullets fired from small-arms retrieved in the large
number of Bromberg cases, altogether 10 in number, were encased, i. e. belong
to modern highly effective small-arms, namely, in three cases, the Nagan
revolver, and in the other cases automatic pistols. Lead bullets as fired from
a revolver are completely absent here. The assumption that all lead bullets
fired from revolvers generally pass through the body is erroneous: experience
proves that such bullets almost invariably become lodged, one is therefore
confronted with the fact that all portable firearms used were of a highly effective
and modern type, and this in a country, the population of which were hardly
familiar with modern appliances in other fields even by name. The conclusions
of these medico-legal investigations should prove to be of importance when
questions of organisation come under review.
Can the killing of
minority Germans be considered as legal executions?
It was of paramount importance in the
medico-legal reports on each individual case, as well as on the various
mass-murders, to ascertain whether it could be assumed that the shooting took
place by the order of a court-martial and consequently took the form of an
execution. It would be fruitless to attempt to consider the character of crimes
punishable by death, supposed to have been committed by thousands of persons,
including 4 months old infants, which were considered to have been sufficient
grounds for execution.
The unbiased examination of the cases
in point forces one to the following conclusions:
It is true that injuries such as may be
expected after an execution, i. e. by shots delivered by a firing-squad at the
victim, and striking the head or body either from the front or the back in a
typical manner, did actually occur. They are, without exception, cases where
individuals or small groups of victims were dragged out of their homes and
"stood against the wall."
Considerable numbers of such instances
were found by the Criminal Police in their intensively conducted investigations
into the mass-murder in the Parish of Eichdorf-Netzheim, where 38 minority Germans
were murdered, on 36 of whom post-mortems were held. Although the bullet wounds
bear a certain resemblance to injuries inflicted during an execution, it is
quite impossible to speak of it as a military execution, if one considers who
the victims of this mass-murder were. Indeed this group comprised no less than
seven children, aged from 3 to 13 years, furthermore 12 women, whose age varied
between 16 and 80 years; and among the men there were only a few of military
age, besides several sick and aged persons.
Another considerable group, victims of
mass-murder, which has also been investigated most thoroughly by the Criminal
Police, is the assassination of 39 minority Germans (38 autopsies) at the
Jesuitersee near Bromberg, which might possibly come under the heading of
"execution by court-martial," if one considers the class of victims
concerned. Only men were included in this group, and as far as it was possible
to identify them, their ages varied between 17 and 58 years. The assumption
that a military execution had taken place might in this case be more readily
entertained, as these people were handed over by civilians and army
representatives to an organised Polish unit who murdered them.
An examination of the corpses, however,
leads us to conclude that no military executions had taken place in this case.
On the contrary, a bestial and indiscriminate slaughter of unarmed victims had
occurred, 12 of whom had been bound together with cattle rope.
Apart from firearms, stabbing instruments
were employed, 4 men actually having been killed by stabbing alone, and 13
others by both firearms and stabbing weapons.
In one particular case, a victim
knocked down by a pistol-shot grazing his head had received 33 thrusts of the
bayonet or stabs with a dagger (photo on p. 278, Sect. No. Br. 23, Willi
Heller, 19 years). In many cases dying victims had been bayonetted, as in Sect.
No. Br. 27, an unknown man, aged about 30, who had received a bullet through
the lung.
The injuries referred to above, namely:
slight or shallow stabs, inflicted as a stimulus, were established in three
cases. Twice, in Sect No. Br. 18, Max Probul, 35 years, and also in the case of
Sect. No. Br. 27, an unknown man, about 35 years of age, the orbital cavities
of the victims had been punctured.
The total number of stabs found on 38
bodies examined was no fewer than 69.
The bullet wounds also require a more
detailed examination. Altogether 98 bullet wounds were found on the 34 victims
remaining after excluding those who had been stabbed to death.
The highest number of direct bullet
wounds in one particular case amounted to five. Furthermore, in a considerable
number of cases, all the bullet wounds were inflicted on the victims whilst
they were in a recumbent position, so that not a moment's consideration can be
given to the thought that one or other shot was meant as a coup de grace. The
statement made above, i. e. that it was not a matter of "finishing
shots" with the intention of terminating sufferings, but tortures which were
inflicted, applies to all those numerous cases in which the victims were hit by
shots whilst either in an upright or recumbent position.
The dastardly practice, to which
attention has already been drawn above, of shooting at the gluteal region of
the dying victim, was practised in the group under consideration no less than
four times.
Particular significance must be
attributed to the fact that frequently injuries from ricochet bullets were
traceable, i.e. injuries caused by splinters of bullets, smashed when
rebounding from an object, often probably from the body of a person in the
immediate vicinity. Wounds caused by splintered bullets were established in 10
cases. One of the murdered men, namely Ernst Kolander (Sect. No. Br. 31), 27
years, was found to have received exclusively such "ricochet"
injuries to 15 different parts of the body, but was not struck once by an aimed
bullet. These injuries bear silent testimony to a wild shooting of victims
herded together. This fact alone would entirely suffice to dismiss the
assumption of a regular execution.
Attention should further be called to
the fact that out of a total number of 98 shots fired, no less than 15 were
fired from a pistol. In point of fact, in other cases of mass-murder, as has
already been mentioned above, pistols had frequently been employed. In the case
under consideration, however, the fact alone that the perpetrators consisted of
an organised Polish unit leads to the indisputable conclusion that officers or
specially appointed persons must have been amongst the murderers, as they alone
were armed with pistols--a fact which should be borne in mind when the question
of organised action is considered.
In order to complete the observations
made, it should be stated that, during the massacre at the Jesuitersee,
injuries inflicted not only by firearms and stabbing weapons were ascertained,
but also such caused by blunt instruments, obviously in the shape of rifle
butts, were found, leading in three cases to fractures of the skull, in one
case to a fracture of the fibs, and in another to a fracture of the humerus.
Truly appalling facts come to light if
one considers in this mass-murder the question of the effect of the injuries
and the duration of the death agonies of the various victims.
Only in 21 cases out of a total of 38
murdered victims were injuries found, such as shots smashing the cranium, shot
or stabs followed by cardiac opening or injury to the main near-cardial
arteries, which lead to the assumption that death was instantaneous. The
remaining 17 cases exhibited shots through the lungs, injuries to the limbs,
shots through the spinal cord or less extensive bullet injuries to the skull,
so that in none of these cases could instantaneous death have occurred, and
indeed in some of them, protracted agonies lasting for hours must be assumed.
In accordance with the findings of the Special Commission of the Criminal
Police, it is probable that the perpetrators threw the victims from the landing
stage into the shallow water and then renewed their fire on those who still
gave signs of life. It is therefore possible that the agonies of one or the
other of that group of unfortunates were terminated by drowning. On the other
hand, this fact must also be considered as far as the question of military
execution is concerned. There is no doubt that neither drowning, thrusts of the
bayonet, nor stabbing can, in any circumstances, possibly be considered as a
means of regular and lawful execution.
A complete statement of the findings of
medico-legal experts on the massacre at the Jesuitersee inevitably leads to the
conclusion that in this case no execution had taken place, nor, according to
the investigations of the Special Commission of the Criminal Police, could
there have been any reason or legal right for such action. In these cases the
murders were committed in the most dastardly manner, with such methods of
extreme brutality as are seldom to be found in the records of ordinary capital
crime.
It would therefore appear that, in
considering the question of organized action, the most important medico-legal
finding is that of the co-operation of the leaders of military
units--abundantly corroborated by the presence of pistol shots--on whom,
consequently, the main responsibility rests.
IV.
Summary
The medico-legal findings in the
post-mortems conducted on about 250 minority Germans, representing only a small
proportion of the victims of the Polish massacre, have established the fact
that persons of every age, from 4 months old infants to 82-year-old victims
were murdered quite indiscriminately and that even women in an advanced stage
of pregnancy were not spared.
It has been demonstrated that the
murders were carried out with the utmost brutality and that in numerous cases
measures with distinctly sadistic tendencies were adopted. Particularly,
punctures of the orbital cavity were found, as well as other mutilations which
must be considered as wholly convincing evidence offered by witnesses.
The planning of the individual murders
often shows a high degree of cunning in the devising of the mental and physical
torture applied to the victims; several cases, especially where the actual
process of killing lasted several hours and where the death agonies of the
victims were deliberately protracted, cannot be sufficiently stressed.
Probably the most important finding is
the proof that only quite exceptionally, were makeshift weapons, such as
bludgeons, knives, etc., used, and that, generally, modern and highly effective
weapons, i. e. military rifles and pistols, were at the disposal of the
murderers. It must be particularly noted that the consideration even of the
smallest details leads to the exclusion of the idea of formal executions of
victims.
Br.
118.(1) Bromberg,
Coffin marked:
Herbert Schollenberg.
Aged 14 years.
A. External
examination
1. Body of boy, height 148 cm., build:
slight.
2. Hands tied behind back with ordinary
double-knotted loop; ordinary string of 0.4 cm. in thickness, somewhat
thickened through damp.
3. Advanced stage of decomposition.
Epidermis decomposed in exposed places except for remains on fingers. Here and
there superficial softening of the corium with uneven basis (probably due to
vermin), likewise in some sections of the scalp, the size of the palm of the
hand, and furthermore over the chin and in places on limbs of body. Otherwise
corium of dirty greyish to greyish-green colour, in parts dried to a brown hue.
4. Hair -- up to 4 cm. -- medium fair.
5. Scalp intact, where examination not
made impossible by the action of vermin; same applies to skin of face and neck.
6. Bulbi oculi sunk deeply back into orbital cavities.
7. On right upper thorax, 124 cm. from
the soles of the feet, 8 cm. from median line directly beneath the inner third
of the collar-bone, a circular aperture of 0.6 cm. in diameter between nipple
and anterior axillary lines. (Phot.)
8. In a perpendicular line under the
abovementioned aperture over 4th rib, 112 cm. from the soles of the feet, 8 cm.
to the right of median line--a similar circular aperture, equally of 0.6 cm. in
diameter. (Phot.)
9. Surface of abdomen intact, also
genitals and limbs, as far as can be ascertained by examination of parts not
affected by vermin.
(1) As an illustration of the
meticulous care taken by the medico-legal experts in making their statements,
the appendix to Sect. Br. 118 (OKW H. S. In.) is here reprinted (vide phot. on
p. 304)
[p. 205]
10. On left dorsal side, over region of
scapular ridge, 117 cm. from the soles of the feet, 7 cm left of median
line--an irregular oval lacuna of soft parts, 3 by 2 cm. in length, the longer
diameter being perpendicular. Lobulated edges; their juncture diminishes the
aperture and divides it more or less to indicate an upper and a lower half.
(Phot.)
11. On the right dorsal side in the
scapular line, over the upper half of the scapula, 120 cm. above the soles of
the feet, 8 cm. to right of median line--an irregular circular aperture of 0.8
cm. in diameter. (Phot.)
B. Internal
examination
I. Cranial cavity
12. Soft and osseous walls intact.
13. Brain softened to pulp of
dirty-greenish colour.
II. Thoracic and
abdominal cavities
14. From the soft aperture under the
right clavicle a tract, the width of a pencil, is ascertainable. and continues
right through the main pectoral muscle and the tissue of the inner sections of
the fight axilla, on to the back towards the sub-scapularis muscle, then
through the scapula with a circular aperture of some 0.8 cm. in diameter, and
finally to the small soft aperture on the right dorsal side.
Axillary vessels intact. From the
scapular aperture which is situated about 1 cm. from the interior edge and 1.5
cm. under the spine of the scapula, several fissures on the right upper and
lower halves; the fragments of bone embraced by these fissures are partly
displaced towards the back. The track forms a straight line when the scapula is
slightly raised and the articular tragus lowered, as the position would have
been when the boy was fettered.
15. A further bullet track, the width
being that of a pencil, can be seen between the lower aperture of the right
anterior thorax and the large aperture on the left dorsal side. It leads
through the anterior soft parts of the thorax and from there into the right
pleural gap, i.e. through the third intercostal space on the mammillar line.
The fourth rib was grazed at its upper edge and shows a mark of about 2 cm. in
length on the posterior side of its upper edge. Then the track follows, again
in the same thickness of a pencil, the right upper lobe of the lung and runs
through the posterior mediastinal tissue towards the vertebral column. In this
section of the track the thoracic artery shows a large tear in its posterior
wall, so that, on a length of more than 4 cm. only a strip 1 cm. wide of the anterior
wall remains. The rim of the torn-out piece is unevenly ragged with numerous
fissures running in zig-zag lines right into the remaining part of the wall.
At the vertebral column, the track,
about two fingers wide, is bifurcated into the left sections of the fifth and
sixth thoracic vertebrae. It is noticeable that the degree of fungoid tissue
destruction is moderate. Furthermore the costal cartilages of the fifth
and sixth ribs the length of 2 cm. had been smashed. The track now leaves the
left pleural gap, through an aperture the size of a florin, and emerges through
the dorsal muscles into the soft parts of the left side of the dorsum. In this latter section of the
track the interior edge of the scapula was struck half way up, forming an
injury 2 cm. in length, in the shape of a circular segment. The edge of the
injury shows an outward slope and fissures radiating into the infra-spinous
parts.
16. Organs of the thoracic and
abdominal cavities not mentioned in this report were found to be intact.
17. Changes of organs due to disease
were not observed; considering the height and lymphatic secretion they were in
fair condition.
18. Determination of age: Symphysis
over 2 mm. wide and well preserved in upper arm. Clear interior and exterior
sutures. Not quite completed permanent teeth. (The two right second molars are
missing).
All indication marks coincide with the
age of 14, as stated.
Coffin marked:
Herbert Schollenberg.
14 years of age.
Preliminary report
I. The post-mortem examination
has established two bullet injuries.
a) Penetrating shot from right
infra-clavicular fossa through tissue of axilla to right side of dorsum, right
through the scapula. Slight smashing effect on osseous parts; slightly
descending track.
b) Penetrating shot from median region
of thorax to left scapula, grazing vertebral column, tearing thoracic artery,
moderately ascending track.
II. The shot through the thorax with
severance of the thoracic artery proved fatal and caused instantaneous death.
III. Judging by its effective power, the shot through the right axillary
scapula was obviously fired from a pistol. As far as the shot through the
thorax from right to left in the back is concerned, its effect points in all
probability to an army rifle. This is particularly indicated by the degree of
severance of the thoracic artery, whereas the effect on the osseous parts
appears to be surprisingly small. In this respect it should be pointed out that
it is only since the Bromberg massacre that experience has been gained as to
the effective power of rifle bullets on the osseous system of children. The
above mentioned differences in the effective powers of these weapons seem to be
typical.
IV. The pistol shot from the right
infra-clavicular fossa to the right dorsal side might have hit the victim
whilst in an upright position, though only in that position, of the shoulder
girdle as indicated and produced by the fettering of the hands behind the back
as found on the body. Unless one assumes that the bullet was fired from a
kneeling position, as shot through the thorax could only have been fired on a
body in a recumbent position, as demonstrated by the slightly ascending
direction of the bullet track, especially so as the spot hit was 112 cm. from
the soles of the feet.
V. Particular attention is drawn to the
bonds of the 14 year old victim, as actually found on the body and also proved
by the direction of the bullet track in I a). Similar bonds were found on two
other persons belonging to the same group of murdered people.
VI. Exhibits:
a) Right fourth rib grazed by bullet.
b) Partly smashing bullet wound grazing
fifth and sixth thoracic vertebrae and the corresponding left ribs,
c) Pistol shot through the right
scapula.
d) Grazing rifle bullet shot through
the left scapula.
e) Severance of thoracic artery, caused
by grazing rifle bullet.
Panning
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