Landsberg Prison is remembered mostly in History
for a site where Adolf Hitler was held following his failed attempt to seize control of Munich
and spark revolution in Germany.

It was the place where the future Dictator of Germany
would be held in relative luxury as imprisonments go for 8 months, and here he would write Mein
Kampf with his Nazi party cronies such as Rudolf Hess.

But it was the site after the
Second World War, where hundreds of Nazis and former members of staff inside of concentration
camps would be executed.

The Gallows there would be in use a lot following war crimes
trials, and because of this it became a place where many of the worst monsters of the Third
Reich took their final breathes.

Join us today as we look at ‘The Gallows of Landsberg
Prison.

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Landsberg Prison was built between 1905 and
1908 and was initially established with a capacity of 500 prisoners.

After the First
World War, part of the prison was changed to allow for ‘fortress imprisonment’ which
was considered an honourable type of incarceration in which privileged prisoners could have some
luxuries inside of the castle, and here they would be allowed visitors in a relaxed environment.

It was here where Hitler would spend his time after the Munich Putsch, but after he seized
control of power inside of Germany, and instigated his Nazi regime Landsberg would be a place
where political prisoners would soon be held.

It was a Nazi fortress, and in 1942 four policemen
sentenced in the Guernsey Police Trial were deported briefly to Landsberg Prison before
being sent to other concentration camps.

It was also a place where operations allegedly
were performed, as a prisoner in 1943 named Alfred Baker stated, ‘Firstly, I am scarred
for life, left lower jaw, owing to the fact that I was run down, lost weight to 52 kilos,
& they had to operate on me, that was at Landsberg/Lech Germany, at the foot of some mountains.

The
doctor said to me, “I can’t give you more food as you are my enemy.

” The day after
the operation I had to go straight to work (forced labour).

I also had an abscess in
my ear a little time after the operation.

On entering Buchenwald Horror Camp I was kicked
to hell by a big Nazi.

’ The conditions inside of Landsberg during
the Second World War do differ, as some lived within rather mild conditions and were forced
to work jobs such as a potato peeler in the kitchen.

But from early 1944 until the end
of the war, it’s believed that the conditions deteriorated, and at least 210 people died
there as a result of being executed or being starved to death.

However as the war ended
in Europe, the Prison was designated as War Criminal Prison Number 1 by the American Army
to hold convicted Nazi war criminals.

Inside of here, it was guarded by men from the United
States Army Military Police.

Those who were arrested following the war
of crimes against humanity, and those who had worked inside of concentration camps were
held there.

Many prisoners were made up of former guards, and other members of staff
such as cooks and kapos.

Between 1945 and 1946, Landsberg would hold 110 prisoners convicted
at the Nuremberg Trials, and hundreds more criminals would be held there following the
Dachau Trials, and 18 prisoners from the Shanghai Trials.

However it became more well known
as a site where nearly 300 war criminals would be executed in a period of time lasting 5
and a half years.

In total, there were 259 death sentences carried out by hanging, and
also 29 of them by firing squad inside Landsberg Prison.

Following war crimes trials, the executions
would be carried out, and often there were too many to be hanged on one day, so they
would be carried out over a number.

For example, 28 former SS guards from Dachau were hanged
during 4 days at the prison on the gallows.

Inside of Landsberg, the executions followed
a similar pattern.

The condemned would be held inside of the prison for a period of
time until their scheduled date of execution, and they would be held inside of cells often
with other prisoners in shared facilities.

They were kept under close watch, and then
on the day of execution they would be led out of their cells by the MPs and also a priest
who would accompany them onto the gallows.

They would be led into the courtyard of Landsberg,
where there were two gallows assembled for simultaneous executions so that they could
be carried out quicker when there were more people to be put to death.

Using two gallows
meant that two individuals could be hanged at once, and this would speed up the process.

Whilst inside the courtyard, many guards would be there to witness the proceedings and then
identity would be confirmed for the condemned at the bottom of the stairs.

The war criminal
accompanied by the priest was then taken up the many stairs of the gallows which had a
trapdoor, and then once they had walked up the numerous stairs they were asked for their
final words.

After this they were handed over to the executioner,
who would ensure that the arms and legs were secured before they were shuffled over the
trapdoor.

After this, the executioner placed a black hood over the condemned’s head,
before he then placed the noose over the head.

When the lever was released, the condemned
would plunge through the trapdoor and they were left some time before death was confirmed
and then their body was placed in a coffin.

If bodies were not claimed, they were buried
inside of an unmarked grave in the cemetery next to the chapel.

The prison was also used
as a site of execution for Us soldiers who had been court-martialled and also criminals.

For example, Piotr Chemy, who had survived the concentration camps was executed there
as he had murdered a German couple and their young daughter.

There were many high ranking nazis and former
commandants of concentration camps who were hanged at Landsberg, and it was seen as a
reliable site for the executions to be carried out.

It was alongside other prisons such as
Hamelin which was used by the British to execute Nazi War criminals, and this was where expert
executioner Albert Pierrepoint was based.

Some notable prisoners who were held inside
of the US Army’s prison at Landsberg Prison includes, Karl Brandt, Hitler’s former escort
doctor and medical officer who was involved in the T4 programme and was responsible for
the deaths of thousands.

He was hanged there.

Oswald Pohl the head of the SS Main Economic
Administrative Office and a key administrator of the concentration camps was also hanged
at Landsberg, as was Hermann Sister a commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp.

Others held
at the prison include Joachim Peiper, a tank commander in the Waffen SS who was found guilty
of being involved in the Malmedy massacre.

He was held here for a number of years in
prison, as was Sepp Dietrich an SS commander.

The final executions at Landsberg Prison occurred
on the 7th June 1951, but following this the prisoners began to be seen as political prisoners,
and their releases were asked for.

In May 1958, the US Army relinquished control of
Landsberg Prison and the last four prisoners were released, and these were all former high
ranking SS officers convicted during the Einsatzgruppen Trial.

Today Landsberg is still used as a
prison and as a correctional facility that allows criminals a chance to reform by providing
training and new skills, where they can learn different trades such as plumbing, tailoring,
bricklaying and others.

The executions at Landsberg Prison saw almost
300 nazi war criminals walking to the gallows, or by being tied to a post at the end of a
firing range.

Many of these individuals had been involved in the horrific crimes of the
concentration camps, and also many were of the Einsatzgruppen, those responsible for
massacring innocent people during the war.

The place in which Adolf Hitler was held in
luxury, became the site where some of those who carried out his bidding for his despicable
regime would meet their end at the gallows.

These were convicted war criminals, and some
of the people who caused such suffering during the Second World War to innocent people.

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