On the 25th November 1941, a young lady
was brought to her execution inside of a town in Yugoslavia.

She was to
be executed not on the gallows, but by what was known as pole hanging.

This
method utilised a post to condemn someone on, and it was a rather shocking execution method
but the crowds still came in their huge numbers to witness the method being carried out.

Lili Bohm was one of a number of young women who during the Second World War were thrust
into the heart of the conflict and she paid the ultimate price for this as she was executed by her
enemies.

But what is her story, and what happened with her execution? Welcome to theuntoldpast, to
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There were many countries that fell under
German occupation and axis influence during the Second World War and collaborated
with the Nazis.

On the 25th March 1941, Yugosvlia joined the Axis alliance and
allowed the Germans to travel through the land to Greece.

But the Axis powers
later partitioned Yugoslavia, and inside of the different territories there was a huge
amount of terror carried out.

Different groups such as the Ustase militia instigated a reign of
brutality upon people and civilians, and there were widespread executions and deportations
to concentration and extermination camps.

Lili Bohm was just 20 years old when she was
executed, and very little is actually known about her life.

She during the Second World War joined
a Jewish youth organisation known as The Young Guard in her local town of Novi Sad.

But during
the conflict, her part of the country was invaded by the Hungarian military and army who were in
collusion with the Nazis.

There were many people who resisted and often resistance was met with the
most brutal of reprisals and people suspected of subverting occupying forces could be tortured,
sometimes to death.

Lili Bohm got involved in the organisation of resistance activities against
the Hungarians and she also took part in groups who sabotaged Hungarian forces.

This was a crime
that carried the death sentence and Lili Bohm knew how dangerous it was for her to resist.

Being a
woman too she knew that she could be subjected to other horrors if she was caught also.

But it was
not long before she fell into the enemies hands.

On the 20th September 1941, Lili Bohm was
caught by the Hungarian Gendarmerie and the occupying police forces.

Specifically on her
person she was carrying a weapon and further investigations turned up that she was part
of resistance cells and that she was either harbouring and hiding weapons for resistors
or that she intended to use the weapon against Hungarian occupation forces.

It’s not known
specifically what her intention was that day, but the crime of carrying a weapon was enough
for her to be sentenced to death.

It’s assumed she had a rough ordeal in prison locked up too,
and the military court confirmed her execution.

For a couple of months, Lili Bohm was
left inside of a Hungarian occupied prison in Ujvidek and she was held
alongside other suspected resistors, but she was to be executed by pole hanging.

On
the 25th November 1941, Lili Bohm was led out of the prison to her execution and she was
accompanied by a number of guards.

Some of them walked her to the execution post, and she
was greeted by the executioner who would take her life on this post.

There was a large crowd
gathered by the occupying forces to witness her execution and the soldiers hoped that seeing
this 20 year old woman be executed in front of them would be enough to put people off committing
serious offences and joining resistance cells.

With regards to Lili Bohm’s execution method of
pole hanging, it was a variation of the short drop execution method and it was used inside of
different lands and countries such as Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

It used a pole or post for the
gallows, and there were many different steps for it to be carried out.

It was referred to as the
Wurgegalgen, which translates as the Strangling Gallows and it appeared to crowds a rather brutal
execution method.

There were a number of steps, and the condemned was brought to the post
or pillar which was usually 3 metres tall, and then ropes were attached to the condemned.

A rope was attached around their feet, and then it was secured through a pulley
system at the bottom and base of the post, and then the condemned were held in the air by
a chest sling which was passed over their body and under their arms.

This held
them still before the drop, and then the noose was secured around
the neck of the victim, and the noose was secured to a hook at the top of the pole,
and then the death sentence was usually read.

Next the chest sling was released, and
the victim then jerked downwards and the assistant executioner used a foot rope
to guide the fall, and the executioner was usually more senior and experienced and he
would be stood on a platform behind the post.

It was his job to place the heel of his hand under
the jaw of the condemned and this increased the force on the neck greater at the end of the drop
and the executioner it was said would manually dislocate the neck of the condemned by thrusting
and forcing their head to once side.

Pole Hanging was considered by some to have been a more humane
and quicker execution method by using the gallows, and it took roughly around a minute for
someone to die when performed successfully.

It was this fate that Lili Bohm suffered.

She
was led up to the post and was held on it by a chest sling, and the executioner then secured the
ropes around the pulley system and her body and then the noose was secured around her neck.

Her
post was not too tall and it was certainly not 3 metres tall and the executioner and his assistant
then worked together to bring her life to an end.

She was wearing a dark dress, and she had her
arms secured on the post too and had no chance of escaping her fate on the execution post as
she was surrounded by many different Hungarian guards.

These showed their collaboration
to the Axis alliance as they are wearing the classic German Stahlhelm, and to prevent
people saving the young 20 year old Lili Bohm, two guards stood directly next to
her body and they guarded over it.

Lili Bohm was not the only woman who was subjected
to a fate like this during the Second World War.

There were many young women who were arrested and
seized for allegedly being involved in resistance against the Germans or the Axis forces.

It was a
very dangerous time, and Lili Bohm lets remember was a Jewish woman who knew the persecution that
was coming if she did not join the resistance and she fought the occupation that she was forced to
live under.

She was executed for rather flimsy reasons, carrying a weapon in public which during
a time of conflict and war was not necessarily a huge shock.

She may have had this on her person
for personal protection, but as she was discovered to have been a part of the resistance group The
Young Guard, this was enough to send her to her execution.

She likely had a rough interrogation
ordeal before she was sentenced to death, and her body was left on the post for a while
so that a clear message could be sent to those in the local area.

This was done to deter other
people of joining the resistance and it was done to make people fall into line and not take up
arms against the German enemy or the Axis enemy.

One of the greatest fears of the Axis forces
who rolled into many different countries during the Second World War was resistance and
to many everyone was a suspect.

Lili Bohm was just a young 20 year old woman when she was
dragged to her execution on the post in front of a large crowd.

There were teenagers who were
executed by occupying forces during World War 2, with some hanged from trees for their
suspected or confirmed resistance and Lili Bohm’s story is one which is not
the most well known and she deserves to be remembered for her actions in standing
up to the enemy inside of her homelands.

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