Genickschussanlage
Encyclopedia
Genickschussanlage is the official name of a facility used for surprise executions in Nazi Germany
. The victim was placed, under a pretext, in a position where a shot
could be fired into the back of his/her neck from the neighbouring room. For that purpose, the facilities were partly disguised as height measuring devices or medicinal instruments. The facilities are mostly known from concentration camps, where they were not only used to carry out official death sentence
s, but also to carry out inconspicuous murder of larger groups of victims.
, after 1941, the facility was mostly used to murder Soviet
prisoners of war. These prisoners, who were brought to the camp from other concentration camps, were placed in a former horse stable converted to a rudimentary medical examination room under the pretext of a medical examination. They were then placed in front of the measuring device on the wall, and during the "measuring", they were executed by shooting them in the back of the neck through a specially created hole in the wall. Because the prisoners were brought for immediate execution, neither their arrival at the camp nor their death were registered in the camp's listings. The number of victims shot with the help of this device is estimated to be about 8,000. The Kommando 99 was responsible for the device.
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. The victim was placed, under a pretext, in a position where a shot
Gunshot
A gunshot is the discharge of a firearm, producing a mechanical sound effect and a chemical gunshot residue. The term can also refer to a gunshot wound caused by such a discharge. Multiple discharges of a firearm or firearms are referred to as gunfire. The word can connotate either the sound of a...
could be fired into the back of his/her neck from the neighbouring room. For that purpose, the facilities were partly disguised as height measuring devices or medicinal instruments. The facilities are mostly known from concentration camps, where they were not only used to carry out official death sentence
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
s, but also to carry out inconspicuous murder of larger groups of victims.
The device in the Buchenwald concentration camp
In the Buchenwald concentration campBuchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
, after 1941, the facility was mostly used to murder Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
prisoners of war. These prisoners, who were brought to the camp from other concentration camps, were placed in a former horse stable converted to a rudimentary medical examination room under the pretext of a medical examination. They were then placed in front of the measuring device on the wall, and during the "measuring", they were executed by shooting them in the back of the neck through a specially created hole in the wall. Because the prisoners were brought for immediate execution, neither their arrival at the camp nor their death were registered in the camp's listings. The number of victims shot with the help of this device is estimated to be about 8,000. The Kommando 99 was responsible for the device.