These photographs of a public execution in Kyiv are mixed with a pile of various nonsense such as "The execution of the first European integrators of Ukraine." The people on the Internet are mostly propaganda-savvy, but historically semi-literate, so I’ll tell you how it was.
Well, I’ll show a piece of Soviet newsreel of a public execution in Kyiv on January 29, 1946, which few people have seen.
70 years ago, a never-before-seen popular pastime swept across Soviet cities - public executions of German prisoners of war. They were carried out in accordance with the decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of November 21, 1945. under the heading "Top Secret", which prescribed " During December 1945-January 1946, hold open trials of cases of ex-servicemen of the German army and German punitive bodies convicted of atrocities against Soviet citizens in the cities of Leningrad, Smolensk, Bryansk, Velikie Luki, Kyiv, Nikolaev, Minsk and Riga»
All those processes were orchestrated according to one scenario: in Moscow, something like a preliminary investigation was carried out for a month. After that, 5-15 accused German prisoners of war were sent for an open military tribunal in each of the eight cities indicated.
Court sessions of the Military Tribunals were held quickly - in 5-11 days and with the obligatory involvement of Soviet lawyers, as if for judicial protection and observance of socialist legality. And it should be noted that not all defendants were sentenced to death, and in almost every trial one of the Germans received hard labor instead of a noose around his neck.
But the rest, yes, they were executed, and also according to a single scenario: the execution took place in public, and the local authorities had to provide extras for it. In the center of the city a gallows was built, consisting of sections, with two loops in each. Trucks were driven under the scaffold in which the condemned were lying with their hands tied behind their backs and the guards sitting on them. The Germans were lifted up, nooses were thrown around their necks, the sentence was read out, the cars drove off, and alles kaput ...
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In total, in December 1945 - January 1946, in pursuance of the decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of November 21, 1945. eight public executions were carried out:
Of the ten defendants of the Smolensk trial (December 15-19, 1945), three were sentenced to hard labor, the remaining seven were publicly executed on December 20, 1945 on Zadneprovskaya Square in Smolensk.
Of the four defendants in the Bryansk Trial (December 25-29, 1945), one was sentenced to hard labor, the remaining three were publicly executed on December 30, 1945 at the Theater Square in Bryansk.
Of the eleven defendants of the Leningrad trial (December 28, 1945 - January 4, 1946), three were sentenced to hard labor, the remaining eight were publicly executed on January 5, 1946 on Kalinin Square in Leningrad.
Of the nine defendants in the Nikolaev trial (January 10-17, 1946), two were sentenced to hard labor, the remaining seven were publicly executed on January 17, 1946, on the Market Square in Nikolaev.
Of the eighteen defendants of the Minsk trial (January 15-29, 1946), four were sentenced to hard labor, the remaining fourteen were publicly executed on January 30, 1946 at the hippodrome in Minsk.
Of the eleven defendants of the Velikie Luki trial (January 24-31, 1945), three were sentenced to hard labor, the remaining eight were publicly executed on February 1, 1946 on the Market Square in Velikie Luki.
Of the seven defendants of the Riga Trial (January 26 - February 2, 1946), all seven were publicly executed on February 3, 1946 on Uzvaras (Victory) Square in Riga.
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The Kyiv trial took place from 17 to 28 January 1946 on the street. Kirov (now Grushevsky) in the House of the Red Army and Navy (now there is the Military History Museum of Ukraine), and was very representative - 15 defendants, of which three were generals. According to tradition, the three defendants were pardoned, sentenced to hard labor, and twelve convicted German generals, officers and non-commissioned officers ascended the scaffold.
This execution took place 70 years ago, on January 29, 1946, in the center of Kyiv on Kalinin Square (former Dumskaya Square, now Maidan) in front of the building of the former Noble Assembly (in Soviet times, the Teacher's House). This building was demolished in 1976, and an ugly House of Trade Unions was built in its place.
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The scaffold stood approximately where a concert venue was usually built later during mass festivities on the Maidan, and the gallows was “typical” - six sections with two loops in each. Everything went according to plan, except for the 55-year-old lieutenant colonel Georg Trukkenbrod, the former military commandant of the cities of Pervomaisk, Korostyshev, Korosten, whose rope broke after hanging. They found a new one, again drove the car under the gallows, lifted the half-corpse of the lieutenant colonel, and hung it a second time.
If anyone is interested in knowing the details of that process and execution, find the book by Doctor of Historical Sciences A.S. Tchaikovsky “Captivity: for others and their sins. Prisoners of war and internees in Ukraine 1939-1953”, where this action is described in detail.
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There were a lot of spectators at this execution, and there are also many memories of it, and most remember that the spectators rejoiced and hooted during the execution, and then, breaking through the cordon, rushed to the corpses of the hanged Germans, which the disabled began to beat with their crutches. And the boys, having jumped, hung on their feet near the corpses and swayed like on a swing: back and forth, back and forth ...
The memoirs of a witness of that execution, the future Soviet composer Vladimir Shainsky (he is still alive, now lives in America), and then a 20-year-old student who passed by the gallows at two in the morning, and in the absence of a cordon, did the same: “ Well, here I decided to keep up with those boys. Why am I worse!.. It was already cold, and the corpses were frozen. I swayed first on the general. He had very good boots on...».
All these executions were photographed and filmed, but in Soviet times they were embarrassed to show them, and little of these materials has survived. Which does not apply to very high-quality pictures of the TASS correspondent in Ukraine Georgy Ugrinovich, and part of the newsreel of the Kyiv execution.
The Kyiv process, and a piece of the execution - it was considered indecent to show it to Soviet viewers
Given that after the war only German prisoners of war in Soviet captivity were from 2.38 million (Soviet data) to 3.15 million (German data), then the Germans would be enough for a public execution in every Soviet village and aul. But neither before nor after that, the executions of the victors over the vanquished were not of such a massive character in the Soviet Union. Actually, these executions in December 1945 - January 1946 were the last public executions in the USSR, and in the spring of 1947 the death penalty was abolished in the Union.
Why did the leader of the peoples need to arrange this show? And in November 1945 - October 1946, the International Military Tribunal was held in Nuremberg, and the devil knows what cockroaches were running in Stalin's head then and what they were whispering to him.
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But one thing I know for sure - arrange a public death penalty today in any city of the former Soviet Union, as there will immediately be a huge number of hanged men who want to swing on their feet, whoever they are, and whoever hangs them ...
Leningrad, USSR
On January 5, 1946, a public execution took place in Leningrad. The only one on the Neva banks for the entire XX century. On the current Kalinin Square, not far from the place where the Gigant cinema stood, and now the Giant Hall concert hall is located, eight German war criminals were hanged, who committed their atrocities mainly on the territory of the Pskov region.
On the morning of that day, almost the entire square was filled with people. Here is how one of the eyewitnesses describes what he saw: “The cars, in the backs of which the Germans were standing, drove in reverse under the gallows. Our escort soldiers deftly, but without haste, put nooses around their necks. The cars moved slowly forward. The Nazis swayed in the air. The people began to disperse, and a sentry was placed at the gallows.
The newspapers did not write about where and when the execution would take place, and they did not talk about it on the radio, ”recalled People’s Artist of Russia Ivan Krasko in a conversation with Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondents. - But thanks to rumors, Leningraders knew everything. I was then fifteen or twenty years old, and this sight attracted me. They brought the criminals, the people who had gathered on the square shouted curses at them - the Nazis killed their loved ones for many of them. I was amazed that the Germans held out courageously. Only one before the execution began to scream heart-rendingly. Another tried to calm him down, and the third looked at them with undisguised contempt.
But when the support was knocked out from under the feet of the executed, the mood of the crowd changed, - continues Ivan Ivanovich. - Someone seemed to be numb, someone lowered his head, some fainted. I also felt unwell, I quickly left the square and went home. What I saw then, I remember for the rest of my life. And even now, when an execution is shown in some movie, I turn off the TV.
And here is what the blockade survivor Nina Yarovtseva, who in 1946 lived near Kalinin Square, recalls:
On the day this happened, my mother had a shift at the factory. But Aunt Tanya, our neighbor, went to watch the execution and took me with her. I was then eleven years old. We arrived early, but there were a lot of people. I remember the crowd making a strange noise, as if everyone was agitated for some reason. When the truck with the gallows drove off, the Germans hung and fluttered, for some reason I suddenly got scared and hid behind Aunt Tanya. Although she hated the Nazis terribly and wanted them all to be killed throughout the war. Having found out where we were, my mother attacked Aunt Tanya: “Why did you drag the child there ?! You like it - see for yourself! Then for several nights in a row I hardly slept: I had nightmares, I woke up. A few years later, my mother admitted that in the evenings she dripped valerian into my tea.
An interesting detail. According to one of the eyewitnesses, when the sentry was removed from the square, unknown persons removed the boots from the hanged men.
Hanged List:
1. Major General Heinrich Remlinger, born in 1882 in Poppenweiler. Commandant of the city of Pskov in 1943-1944.
2. Captain Shtrüfing Karl, born in 1912 in the city of Rostock, commander of the 2nd company of the 2nd “special purpose” battalion of the 21st airfield division.
3. Oberfeldwebel Engel Fritz was born in 1915 in the city of Gera, a platoon commander of the 2nd company of the 2nd “special purpose” battalion of the 21st airfield division.
4. Oberfeldwebel Bem Ernst was born in 1911 in the town of Oschweileben, commander of a platoon of the 1st "special purpose" battalion of the 21st airfield division.
5. Lieutenant Eduard Sonnenfeld was born in 1911 in Hannover, a sapper, commander of a special engineering group of the 322nd infantry regiment.
6. Soldier Janike Gergard was born in 1921 in the town of Kappe, 2 companies of the 2nd battalion of "special purpose" of the 21st airfield division.
7. Soldier Gerer Erwin Ernst was born in 1912, 2nd company of the 2nd battalion of "special purpose" of the 21st airfield division.
8. Oberefreytor Skotki Erwin was born in 1919, 2nd company of the 2nd "special purpose" battalion of the 21st airfield division.
On April 19, 1943, when a turning point was outlined during the Great Patriotic War, a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR appeared with the long title “On punishment measures for the Nazi villains guilty of killing and torturing the Soviet civilian population and captured Red Army soldiers, for spies, traitors from among Soviet citizens and for their accomplices. According to the decree, "fascist villains convicted of murdering and torturing the civilian population and captured Red Army soldiers, as well as spies and traitors to the motherland from among Soviet citizens are punishable by death by hanging." And further: “The execution of sentences should be carried out publicly, in front of the people, and the bodies of the hanged should be left on the gallows for several days, so that everyone knows how they are punished and what retribution will befall anyone who commits violence and reprisals against the civilian population and who betrays his homeland. ".
The essence of the decree is to treat the fascists the way they treat our people, - says Viktor Ivanov, professor at the Institute of History of St. Petersburg State University. - It was reminiscent of revenge, but in the harsh conditions of wartime, such a position of the Soviet authorities was completely justified.
Although there are some nuances here. According to the professor, the German invaders publicly executed the partisans and those who helped them. However, from the point of view of international law, partisans, in modern terms, are illegal armed formations. As for the captured Red Army soldiers, they were usually not killed, although many died of starvation, disease, and unbearable working conditions. The German command believed that they did not exist, because, unlike Germany, the Soviet Union did not sign the Geneva Convention of 1929, which regulates how prisoners of war should be treated. Joseph Stalin is credited with the following phrase: "We have no prisoners, but there are traitors and traitors to the motherland." Therefore, the Nazis treated the captured British, Americans and French more humanely than with Soviet citizens.
Understanding all this, the Soviet authorities sought to ensure that people who did not commit serious crimes did not fall under the decree: enemy soldiers and officers who only performed military duty, says Viktor Ivanov. - Investigators, prosecutors, judges were instructed to prepare these trials very carefully.
After the decree was issued, Smersh investigators began to work in the liberated territories. They tried to identify the perpetrators of terrible crimes. Then this information came to the camps where the German prisoners of war were. The suspects were detained.
During the preparation of the Leningrad trial, more than a hundred witnesses from among Soviet citizens were interrogated, but only eighteen were called to court, the professor emphasizes. - Only those whose testimony did not raise any doubts.
And why did the process take place in Leningrad, although from a legal point of view it should have been held in Pskov? Indeed, on the territory of this region, the defendants mostly committed their atrocities.
Apparently, the goal was to show the people of Leningrad who was the cause of their incredible suffering during the years of the blockade, - Viktor Ivanov believes.
Among the defendants was Major General
Petersburgers are well acquainted with the Vyborg Palace of Culture, located not far from the Finland Station, where, in particular, performances are shown by theater troupes touring our city. This building was built in 1927, on the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. It was here at the end of December 1945 that the trial of eleven German war criminals began.
The process was widely covered in the newspapers. For example, in Leningradskaya Pravda every day, including January 1, large articles appeared. There was an interpreter in the hall, a German by nationality. He gave a receipt that he would translate very accurately from Russian into German and vice versa.
The most notable figure among them was Major General Heinrich Remlinger, who was 63 at the time of his execution. His military career began in 1902. He was the military commandant of Pskov and at the same time supervised the district commandant's offices subordinate to him, as well as "special purpose units." In February 1945 he was taken prisoner.
The materials of the trial proved that Remlinger organized fourteen punitive expeditions, during which several villages and villages were burned, about eight thousand people were destroyed, mostly women and children, says Nikita Lomagin, Doctor of Historical Sciences.
During the court hearings, the major general tried to justify himself by saying that he was only following the orders of his superiors.
Among the defendants was 26-year-old Corporal Erwin Skotki. A native of the city of Koenigsberg, now Kaliningrad, the son of a policeman, since 1935 a member of the Hitler Youth Union.
At the initial stage of the Great Patriotic War, Skotki was engaged in issuing uniforms to servicemen of one of the Wehrmacht units, - says Viktor Ivanov. - However, he was not satisfied with the small salary: not everyone knows this, but during the war, German soldiers received salaries in their hands. And then he was offered a promotion in rank and a higher monetary allowance, but in a punitive detachment. Scotty agreed without hesitation. At the trial, he pretended to be a fool: they say, he did not know that he would have to burn villages and shoot people. Allegedly, he thought that he would only protect cargo and prisoners of war. Skotki identified several witnesses at once.
Note that the three defendants managed to escape the gallows. Their guilt was not so great, and therefore they received various terms of hard labor.
The death penalty has been abolished
In 1945-1946, the trials of war criminals with subsequent public executions took place in various regions of the country - in the Crimea, Krasnodar Territory, Ukraine, Belarus. 88 people were hanged, eighteen of them were generals. Work to identify such criminals continued in the future, but the execution of the convicts soon ceased.
The fact is that in May 1947 a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On the abolition of the death penalty” was published. Paragraph 2 read: "for crimes punishable by the death penalty under current laws, apply in peacetime imprisonment in labor camps for a period of 25 years."
An interesting fact: after the end of the Great Patriotic War, there were 66,000 German prisoners of war on the territory of our city and region. Almost 59 thousand of them subsequently returned to their homeland.
In addition to the fascist invaders, the terrible atrocities in the Leningrad region were perpetrated by traitors who had gone over to their side. In the 1940s, 1950s, and even 1960s, trials of these people took place in various cities of the region. As a rule, they were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. There were no cases of public executions.
In June 1970, in Leningrad, if not the very first, then one of the first attempts to hijack an aircraft abroad was made. She was not successful. One of those convicted in this case, Eduard Kuznetsov, subsequently wrote the book Step to the Left, Step to the Right. The author recalls that in the camps he met people who were serving sentences for collaborating with the invaders. According to Kuznetsov, they all unanimously denied that they had participated in terrible actions against the civilian population.
5. And now let's look at Krasnodar. In fact, the executions took place in different cities, but the documents are often not published, and it is not easy to find a video of those events in a digitized version.
11 arrested German accomplices were accused of committing war crimes, in particular, the destruction of Soviet citizens:
1. Tishchenko Vasily Petrovich, born in 1914, a native of the Krasnodar Territory. In August 1942, he voluntarily joined the Krasnodar occupation police, and subsequently, for excellent service, he was promoted to the position of foreman of the SS-10-A Sonderkommando. Subsequently, he became an investigator for the Gestapo, while simultaneously performing the duties of a secret agent. Together with German officers of the Gestapo, Tishchenko took part in raids, arrests, torture and executions of Soviet citizens. The Gestapo investigations conducted by Tishchenko ended with a death sentence or being sent to concentration camps for their defendants. Tishchenko also took part in the massacres of Soviet citizens in gas chambers.
2. Nikolay Semenovich Pushkarev, born in 1915, native of Dnepropetrovsk. He volunteered to serve in the Krasnodar police in August 1942, then was promoted to the position of squad leader in the Sonderkommando. He took part in searches, arrests, protection, torture and executions of partisans, Soviet activists and civilians. Pushkarev also took part in the massacres of Soviet citizens in gas chambers. In early February 1943, during the retreat of German troops from Krasnodar, he participated in blowing up the building of the city Gestapo, in which the arrested were located, which led to the death of the latter.
3. Rechkalov Ivan Anisimovich, born in 1911, a native of the Chelyabinsk region, was twice sentenced to imprisonment for theft. In August 1942, having evaded mobilization in the Red Army, Rechkalov defected to the Germans, joined the police, and a few days later was transferred to the SS-10-A Sonderkommando. Participated in the identification of partisans and activists, arrests, protection and murder of Soviet citizens. Rechkalov also took part in the massacres of Soviet citizens in gas chambers.
4. Misan Grigory Nikitich, born in 1916, a native of the Krasnodar Territory. In August 1942, he voluntarily joined the police, and was soon transferred to the Sonderkommando. Participated in the arrests, protection, torture, executions of Soviet citizens. Misan also took part in the massacres of Soviet citizens in gas chambers.
5. Kotomtsev Ivan Fedorovich, born in 1918, a native of the Kirov region, was previously convicted of hooliganism. In September 1942, he voluntarily joined the police, in November he was transferred to the Sonderkommando. Participated in the arrests, protection, torture, executions of Soviet citizens.
6. Naptsok Yunus Mitsukhovich, born in 1914, a native of the Krasnodar Territory. Voluntarily went to serve in the Sonderkommando, participated in the arrests, guards, torture, and executions of Soviet citizens.
7. Ignatiy Fedorovich Kladov, born in 1911, native of the Sverdlovsk region. Voluntarily went to serve in the Sonderkommando, participated in the arrests, protection, torture, executions of Soviet citizens, and also served as a secret agent of the Gestapo.
8. Lastovina Mikhail Pavlovich, born in 1883, a native of the Krasnodar Territory. In 1932, being a "fist", he escaped repression, came and got a job as a hospital orderly in Krasnodar. In December 1942, he assisted the German troops in the massacre of sixty patients of this hospital.
9. Tuchkov Grigory Petrovich, born in 1909, a native of the Krasnodar Territory. He volunteered to serve in the police, then was transferred to the Sonderkommando. Participated in raids and arrests of anti-German Soviet citizens.
10. Pavlov Vasily Stepanovich, born in 1914, a native of Tashkent. He volunteered to serve in the Sonderkommando. Participated in raids and arrests of anti-German Soviet citizens.
11. Paramonov Ivan Ivanovich, born in 1923, a native of Rostov-on-Don. He volunteered to serve in the Sonderkommando. Participated in raids and arrests of anti-German Soviet citizens.
Tishchenko, Rechkalov, Lastovina and Pushkarev were charged under Art. 58-1 "a" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, the rest - under Art. 58-1 "b" of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.
On the basis of Articles 319 and 320 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the RSFSR, and also guided by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 19, 1943, on July 17, 1943, a military tribunal sentenced Tishchenko, Rechkalov, Pushkarev, Naptsok, Misan, Kotomtsev, Kladov and Lastovina to capital punishment - death penalty by hanging. Paramonov, Tuchkov and Pavlov were sentenced to 20 years hard labor. The verdict was met with thunderous applause from those present in the hall.
The sentence was carried out on July 18, 1943 at 13:00 on the central square of Krasnodar. About 50,000 people attended the square.
A friend from offline shared four photos.
The pictures were taken in Leningrad on the square in front of the Giant cinema, January 5, 1946.
This is the only public execution on the banks of the Neva in the entire 20th century.
On the current Kalinin Square, not far from the place where the Gigant cinema stood, and now the Giant Hall concert hall is located, eight German war criminals were hanged, who committed their atrocities mainly on the territory of the Pskov region.
At nikoberg there is a detailed description of how this execution took place.
Here is a list of those who were hanged and a short list of what they did.
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1. Major General Remlinger - organized 14 punitive expeditions during which several hundred settlements in the Pskov region were burned.
About 8,000 people were killed - mostly women and children, and his personal responsibility was confirmed by documents and testimonies of witnesses.
This means that he personally gave the appropriate orders for the destruction of settlements and the population.
For example, 239 people were shot in Karamyshevo, another 229 were herded and burned in wooden buildings, 250 people were shot in Utorgosh, 150 people were shot on the Slavkovichi-Ostrov road, and 180 residents were driven into houses and then burned.
2. Captain Shtrüfing Karl - 20-21.07.44 25 people were shot in the Ostrov region.
He ordered his subordinates to shoot boys aged 10 and 13.
In February 44 - Zamoshki - 24 people were shot from a machine gun.
During the retreat, for fun, he shot Russians who came across on the road from a carbine.
Personally killed about 200 people. 
Under the cut of the photo 18+
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3. Oberfeldwebel Engel Fritz - with his platoon burned 7 settlements, and 80 people were shot and approximately 100 were burned in houses and barns, personal destruction of 11 women and children was proved.
4. Oberfeldwebel Bem Ernst - in February 44 burned Dedovichi, burned Krivets, Olkhovka, and several other villages - 10 in total.
About 60 people were shot, 6 personally by him.. 
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5. Lieutenant Eduard Sonnenfeld - from December 1943 to February 1944 burned the village of Strashevo in the Plyussky district, 40 people were killed, vil. Zapolye - about 40 people were killed, the population of the village. Seglitsy, evicted to dugouts, were thrown with grenades in dugouts, then finished off - about 50 people, vil. Maslino, Nikolaevo - about 50 people were killed, vil. Rows - about 70 people were killed, vil. Bor, Skoritsy. District, Ostrov and others.
The lieutenant took a personal part in all the executions, in total he killed about 200 people.
6. Soldier Janike Gergard - in the village of Malye Luzi, 88 residents (mostly residents) were herded into 2 baths and a barn and burned.
He personally killed over 300 people. 
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7. Soldier Gerer Erwin Ernst - participation in the liquidation of 23 villages - Volkovo, Martyshevo, Detkovo, Selishche.
He personally killed more than 100 people - mostly women and children.
8. Oberefreytor Skotka Ervin - participation in the execution of 150 people in Luga, burned 50 houses there. Participated in the burning of the villages of Bukino, Borki, Troshkino, Housewarming, Podborovye, Milyutino. Personally burned 200 houses. Participated in the liquidation of the villages of Rostkovo, Moromerka, the Andromer state farm.
