The Bloody Finale: Germany's Bloodthirsty Acts in Defeat's Shadow
Autumn persists as Germans continue their lethal attacks
Delve deeper Facebook Twitter WhatsApp Email Print Copy Link End-phase atrocities were among the last cruel acts committed by the Nazis near the end of World War II. Perpetrators weren't just soldiers, but also civilians, even teens. One of the darkest examples is the Celle massacre, marking its 80th anniversary. Fleeing concentration camp prisoners met a terrible fate.
World War II was a hellscape filled with brutalities. Europe, along with other regions, suffered for nearly six years from countless massacres, atrocities, and murders, mostly against innocent civilians. Even in the war's final moments, the savagery didn't cease.
In the closing months, weeks, and days before the war's end, and sometimes even after, hundreds of lives were lost in so-called end-phase atrocities. This often involved massacres and murders in Nazi Germany. Victims include prisoners on escapes, concentration camp inmates on death marches, civilians and soldiers labelled as "defeatists" or deserters, among others.
One of the most tragic examples is the Celle massacre on April 8, 1945, a month before the war's end. At least 170 concentration camp prisoners were brutally murdered. They were from the subcamp Salzgitter-Drûtte, bound for the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen by the SS via train, with others from camps like Salzgitter-Bad and Holzen also present. Many were forced laborers. Approximately 4500 men, women, and youth were in the train.
During the afternoon of April 8, the train, disabled due to a technical issue, halted on the goods station in Celle. It was meant to depart that evening, but it didn't. Following an Allied air raid on the city, the train was hit. The number of prisoners killed immediately is unclear, estimates range from hundreds to several thousand victims, half of the inmates. However, many managed to escape from the train.
Insights Voyage of Despair Resilient Spirits Joanna Fryczkowska was one of them. Arrested during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, she and two friends were sent to the concentration camp Ravensbrûck. Shortly afterward, she was transferred to Salzgitter-Bad, working in grenade casing production. "We fought through it together," she said about that time. At a memorial event ten years ago, she spoke about the bombing of the train she was in. The Germans fled after opening the wagon doors, leaving the events "completely incomprehensible," she explained, as the end of the war seemed imminent.
In Celle, as in other end-phase atrocities, the perpetrators were hardline Nazis who clung to their ideology, even as the regime was crumbling. Members of Nazi organizations like the Gestapo and SS, unwilling to turn prisoners over to the enemy, forced them on death marches to evade approaching Allies. Soldiers of the Wehrmacht, members of the Volkssturm, Hitler Youth, and unorganized civilians also participated in the killings.
Politics The Tragedy of Celle Commemorated "Murderers prowled the streets" Celle Citizens' Role As the city's residents were told, these prisoners posed a threat. Those who resisted or attempted to flee were to be executed on sight. That same night, the recaptured prisoners were gathered at a sports field. However, the search turned into a massacre at several locations. Many were murdered or beaten to death, many were executed summarily.
At least 170 people perished in the massacre - estimates range from 200 to 300. More than 1,000 of the escaped prisoners were recaptured. The SS led a part of the survivors on a death march to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, resulting in more fatalities. Out of the original 4,000 prisoners who set out on the transport, only 500 arrived in Bergen-Belsen. The number of survivors remains unknown. Joanna Fryczkowska is one of them.
Only a few perpetrators were brought to trial. Meanwhile, several hundred injured prisoners remained in a Celle barracks. When the British took the city without a fight a few days later, they discovered the neglected, dying, or dead people. No one had taken care of them.
Later, the Celle massacre was trivialized and dismissed as the "Celle rabbit hunt," long after the war. This term referred to witnesses' statements that fleeing prisoners ran in zigzag patterns across fields. Only 14 perpetrators faced trial. In the "Celle Massacre Trial," three defendants were sentenced to death, later commuted to prison terms. Four defendants were sentenced to four to ten years in prison, seven were acquitted. All convicted individuals were released from prison by 1952 at the latest.
A genuine reckoning with the massacre didn't occur for a long time, only beginning in the 1980s. In 1992, a memorial for the victims was erected between the station and the city center. Eighty years after the atrocities, Celle citizens also want to remember: On April 8, two silent marches are planned from the Neustaedter Holz and the goods station from 5 p.m., organized by the "Network South Heath against Right-wing Extremism." The joint meeting point is the memorial at the Trift.
Sources World War II Historical events War Crimes Waffen-SS Adolf Hitler Concentration Camp
- Community policies during WWII were insufficient to prevent or address the extreme violence and atrocities committed by both soldiers and civilians, including the massacre in Celle, as highlighted by the employment policy of the SS in forcefully moving prisoners on death marches to evade approaching Allies.
- In the closing stages of WWII, employment policies and guidelines seemed inadequate to contain or punish the perpetrators of end-phase atrocities, such as the Celle massacre, as evident from the lenient sentencing and early release of defendants in the "Celle Massacre Trial."
- The Celle massacre, one of numerous end-phase atrocities, was indicative of both the failure of employment policies in addressing the actions of hardline Nazis and the willingness of soldiers, members of the Wehrmacht, Volkssturm, Hitler Youth, and unorganized civilians to participate in the killings, as well as the initial dismissal and trivialization of such acts by the community.
