Another key figure in the S-Bahn investigation was the forensic pathologist Dr. Waldemar Weimann, who conducted autopsies of the bodies of Ogorzow’s victims. He did a psychological character study of Ogorzow after he was caught, based on his knowledge as a psychiatrist.
Even while he worked with the Berlin police to solve and understand crimes, Dr. Weimann allegedly secretly assisted Reich doctors who euthanized hundreds of sick children. As a book on Nazi medicine explained, “in clear contravention of his professional duties, he would develop an inordinately inconspicuous, painless, and unprovable killing procedure.”16
Despite this, he continued to work at his job in Berlin assisting the police with forensics until he retired in 1958. In 1963, Dr. Weimann cowrote a book on forensic medicine (Atlas of Forensic Medicine) that became a standard work in this field. His memoirs, including his thoughts on the Ogorzow case, were published in 1964 as Diagnose Mord (“Diagnosis Murder”). He died in Berlin on February 14, 1965.
Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Berlin S-Bahn train system came under the ownership of East Germany. The Reichsbahn controlled the trains in East Germany (the German Democratic Republic), while a new train company was formed to run the trains in West Germany (Deutsche Bundesbahn). The Reichsbahn however continued to operate the S-Bahn in Berlin, including in West Berlin. So the East German government controlled the commuter train system in all of Berlin. In August 1961, Berlin was physically divided with the construction of the Berlin Wall. The S-Bahn now served two different groups of passengers, those in West Berlin and those in East Berlin. With the reunification of Germany, the S-Bahn became whole again and passengers could ride it across the entire city.
In later years, the signal tower Ogorzow worked at would become covered in graffiti. In May 1998, it was retired from use. On December 5, 2005, it was destroyed to make way for the construction of a new bridge.17
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to thank my family: my brother Todd (aka “The Selby”); my parents, Richard and Rikki; Maria Olga Vargas and her son Christopher; my girlfriend Mandy Jonusas and her mother, Kerstin Jonusas; my cousins Marc and Mitch Goldstone; and my aunt Marcy Goldstone.
Additional thanks go out to my literary agent, Scott Miller of Trident Media Group. Thanks to everyone at the Berkley imprint of Penguin, including my editor Natalee Rosenstein and Robin Barletta.
To my friends who kindly gave me advice on this project, thank you. They include Jennifer Brody, Laura Dawson, Felize Diaz, Janet Dreyer, Kikki Edman, August Evans, Catherine Culvahouse Fox, Leor Jacobi, Jordan Joliff, Michael Maggiano, Rachel McCullough-Sanden, Gabriel Meister, Annabel Raw, William Salzmann, Jeremy Sirota, Alfred “Dave” Steiner, Ryan Swanson, Nader Vossoughian, and Abigail Wick.
For help with translations: Nader Vossoughian, Ph.D.; Lee-Ellen Reed; Bettina Wirbladh; and Abigail Wick.
For help related to the research for this book: Martin Luchterhandt, Ph. D., of the Landesarchiv Berlin; Kee D. Kim, M.D., associate professor and chief of spinal neurosurgery, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of California Davis School of Medicine; Robin Gottschlag and Historische S-Bahn e.V. (Berlin)—a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the Berlin S-Bahn, www.hisb.de; Professor Patrick Wagner; Frank Pfeiffer; Sven Keßler; Mike Straschewski and Thomas Krickstadt from Geschichte und Geschichten rund um die Berliner S-Bahn (stadtschnellbahn-berlin.de); Roland Anton Laub (photo laub.com); Gabi Schlag, Benno Wenz, and Dörte Wustrack; and others who wished to remain anonymous.
FOR FURTHER READING
Alt, Axel. Der Tod fuhr im Zug, den Akten der kriminalpolizei Nacherzaählt. Berlin-Grunewald: Verlag Hermann Hillger k.-g, 1944.
SHAEF, G-2 (Counter-Intelligence Subdivision, Evaluation and Dissemination Section), The German Police, EDS/G/10, Apr. 1945.
Weimann, Waldemar, and Gerhard Jaeckel. Diagnose: Mord. Die Memoiren eines Gerichtsmediziners. Bayreuth, Germany: Hestia, 1964.
Williamson, Gordon. German Security and Police Soldier, 1939–45. Warrior Series (Book 61). Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing, 2002.
ABBREVIATIONS
GESTAPO Geheime Staatspolizei (Secret State Police)
KRIPO Kriminalpolizei (Criminal Police)
NSDAP Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (Nazi Party)
ORPO Ordnungspolizei (Order Police, generally handled lower-level police matters)
RHSA Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office)
SA Sturmabteilung (Storm Troopers, paramilitary force of the Nazi Party)
S-BAHN Stadtschnellbahn (City Fast Train, a commuter railway in Berlin)
SD Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS (intelligence organization of the SS)
SIPO Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police)
SS Schutzstaffel
U-BAHN Untergrundbahn (Underground Railway, a rapid transit railway in Berlin)
NOTES
EPIGRAPH
1 Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) Evaluation and Dissemination Section, G-2 (Counter Intelligence Sub-Division), compiled by MIRS (London Branch), The German Police, April 1945, E.D.S./G/10, ii.
CHAPTER ONE
1 Dorothy Elkins, T. H. Elkins, and B. Hofmeister, Berlin: The Spatial Structure of a Divided City (New York: Methuen & Co., 1988), 86.
2 Laurenz Demps, quoted in Gabi Schlag and Benno Wenz, Tatort Berlin—Der S-Bahn-Mörder von Rummelsburg, TV documentary program, original airdate November 26, 2012, broadcast in Germany by Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting (rbb).
3 Lothrop Stoddard, “People of Berlin Show Little Interest in War, Says Observer,” Calgary Herald, December 16, 1939, 28.
4 Ellen Pastorino and Susann Doyle-Portillo, What Is Psychology? Essentials (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2011), 87.
5 John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker, The Anatomy of Motive: The FBI’s Legendary Mindhunter Explores the Key to Understanding and Catching Violent Criminals (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999), 39–40.
6 Ibid., 40.
CHAPTER TWO
1 National Archives, Washington, D.C., RC Box #082, Location (RC) 230/86/23/05, “Ludtke Wilhelm,” 9. Note that the file name is missing the umlaut. Lüdtke also mentioned this in his Fragebogen (denazification questionnaire), which is contained in this CIA file.
CHAPTER FOUR
1 The quotes from Paul Ogorzow’s attack on Mrs. Nieswandt are from Special Court of Berlin, judgment against Paul Ogorzow, July 24, 1941. As mentioned in the author’s note at the start of this book, the original documents from the criminal investigation into the S-Bahn murders are at the Landesarchiv Berlin, A.Pr. Br. Rep. 030-03 Tit. 198B Nr. 1782–1789.
CHAPTER SIX
1 As the motive for these crimes had a strong sexual component, the German police wanted to know about the couple’s sex life and interviewed them separately about this detail. Wilhelm Lüdtke and Georg Heuser, “Die Berliner S-Bahn-Morde,” Kriminalistik 16, Issue 5 (May 1942), 68.
2 Phil Chalmers, Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2009), 132–133.
CHAPTER SEVEN
1 William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1st Touchstone edition, 1990), 778.
2 Andrew Roberts, The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War (New York: HarperCollins, 2011), lv.
3 See, e.g., Stephen Frater, Hell Above Earth: The Incredible True Story of an American WWII Bomber Commander and the Copilot Ordered to Kill Him (New York: Macmillan, 2012), 179.
4 Shirer, Rise and Fall, 778.
5 “Appeal of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on Aerial Bombardment of Civilian Populations,” addressed to the Governments of France, Germany, Italy, Poland, and His Britannic Majesty, September 1, 1939, quoted in Frits Kalshoven, Reflections on the Law of War: Collected Essays (Le
iden, Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007), 439, footnote 20.
6 United Press, “Hitler Agrees to FDR’s Plan,” Telegraph-Herald (Dubuque, Iowa), September 3, 1939.
7 Jack Fleischer, United Press, “Vicious Attacks on Channel Ports Aftermath of Berlin Bombing,” Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada), August 26, 1940, 1.
8 “Die Achte Durchführungsverordnung zum Luftschutzgesetz (Verdunklungsverordnung),” Reichsgesetzblatt I (May 23, 1939), 965.
9 Ibid., Section Sixteen, Clause 1.
10 Associated Press, “German Air Raid Maneuvers Staged for Berlin Residents,” Reading Eagle (Reading, PA), July 27, 1939, 24.
11 Lothrop Stoddard, “People of Berlin Show Little Interest in War, Says Observer,” Calgary Herald, December 16, 1939, 28.
12 In German, this poster said: “Der Feind sieht Dein Licht! Verdunkeln!” Author’s collection.
13 In German, this poster said: “Licht. Dein Tod!” Author’s collection.
14 Herbert R. Vogt, My Memories of Berlin: A Young Boy’s Amazing Survival Story (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris Corporation, 2008), 74.
15 In German: “Dieses Haus ist schlecht verdunkelt!” Author’s collection.
16 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Background: Decree Against Public Enemies,” Holocaust Encyclopedia, http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007906, accessed on February 1, 2013.
17 William D. Bayles, “Wartime Germany,” Life, January 8, 1940, 55. The article is broken up into different letters. This quote is from the letter dated October 24.
18 Marianne Zappe, S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, Kundenbetreuung, e-mail to author, February 1, 2013.
CHAPTER EIGHT
1 Thomas Krickstadt, e-mail to author, March 3, 2013.
2 Marianne Zappe, S-Bahn Berlin GmbH, Kundenbetreuung, e-mail to author, February 1, 2013.
3 Dorothy Elkins, T. H. Elkins, and B. Hofmeister, Berlin: The Spatial Structure of a Divided City (New York: Methuen, 1988), 105–106.
4 Thomas Krickstadt and Mike Straschewski, joint e-mail to author, February 20, 2013.
5 The information on the rates for the S-Bahn is from Thomas Krickstadt and Mike Straschewski, joint e-mail to author, February 20, 2013. Note that later on, as the war progressed, this changed to a war ticket tariff system.
6 The information on how tickets were checked is from Thomas Krickstadt and Mike Straschewski, joint e-mail to author, February 25, 2013.
7 Robin Gottschlag, e-mail to author, December 28, 2012.
8 New York Prosecutors Training Institute, Inc., The Continuing Legal Education and Mutual Assistance Division of the New York State District Attorneys Association, “Strangulation in Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault,” from the September 28–30, 1999, conference on Detection and Prosecution of Strangulation in Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Cases.
9 Waldemar Weimann and Gerhard Jaeckel, Diagnose Mord: Die Memoiren eines Gerichtsmediziners (Bayreuth, Germany: Hestia, 1964), 274.
CHAPTER NINE
1 UPI, “Berlin Resident Given Death Penalty for Theft,” Reading Eagle (Reading, PA), January 17, 1941.
2 Thomas Krickstadt and Mike Straschewski, joint e-mail to author, March 15, 2013.
3 William D. Bayles, “Wartime Germany,” Life, January 8, 1940, 54–55.
CHAPTER TEN
1 Alan Gunn, Essential Forensic Biology (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2008), 181.
2 Don Bible, Third Reich Warrant Discs, 1934–1945 (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 2001), 4.
3 Berlin Kripo, Murder Division Ditter document, October 5, 1940.
4 Forensic Institute of the Security Police at the Office of the Reich Criminal Investigations Department, “Examination of a kitchen knife for human blood,” statement sent to the Criminal Investigations Department Headquarters, October 8, 1940.
5 Statement of Gertrud Ditter (born Kerwat), Murder Division Ditter document, October 4, 1940. Note that this is Arthur Ditter’s mother, who spells her first name without an “e” at the end of it, not his murdered wife.
6 Statement of Arthur Ditter, Murder Division Ditter document, October 4, 1940.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 This quote is from the second time the police interviewed Auguste Bohm. The wording is different, but the facts are the same as in her first statement. Statement of Mrs. Auguste Bohm (born Zimmermann), Murder Division Ditter document, October 16, 1940.
10 Statement of Arthur Ditter, Murder Division Ditter document, October 4, 1940.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid. Note that some documents have Mrs. Ditter’s maiden name misspelled as “Bath”—it is correctly spelled in this document as “Barth.”
13 Laurenz Demps, quoted in Gabi Schlag and Benno Wenz, Tatort Berlin—Der S-Bahn-Mörder von Rummelsburg, TV documentary program, original airdate November 26, 2012, broadcast in Germany by Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting (rbb).
14 Berlin Kripo, Ditter Reward Poster, October 7, 1940.
15 Berlin Kripo, Announcement of Ditter Crime, Deutsches Kriminalpolizeiblatt, Berlin, October 7, 1940, volume 13, number 3793, 235.
16 Berlin Kripo, Status Report on Ditter Case, October 10, 1940.
17 Berlin Kripo, Ditter Reward Announcement, October 15, 1940.
18 Berlin Kripo, Notes on Information Provided by Mrs. Helene Schollain, October 11, 1940.
19 Statement of Mrs. Auguste Bohm, October 16, 1940.
20 Steve Hewitt, Snitch!: A History of the Modern Intelligence Informer (New York: Continuum, 2010), 105–106.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
1 Alan Gunn, Essential Forensic Biology (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2008), 184.
2 Lee B. Kennett, For the Duration . . . : The United States Goes to War, Pearl Harbor–1942 (New York: Scribner, 1985), 162, note 23.
3 In German: “Hilf auch Du mit!” Author’s collection.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
1 Waldemar Weimann and Gerhard Jaeckel, Diagnose Mord: Die Memoiren eines Gerichtsmediziners (Bayreuth, Germany: Hestia, 1964), 261.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., 262.
4 Ibid. “Who, When, Where, How and Why” all start with “W” in German—“Wer, Wann, Wo, Wie und Warum.”
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid., 260.
7 Ibid., 262.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
1 Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) Evaluation and Dissemination Section, G-2 (Counter Intelligence Sub-Division), complied by MIRS (London Branch), The German Police, April 1945, E.D.S./G/10, 3.
2 Michael Burleigh, The Third Reich: A New History (New York: Hill and Wang, 2001), 181.
3 SHAEF, The German Police, 47.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Burleigh, The Third Reich, 181.
7 SHAEF, The German Police, 47.
8 Ibid.
9 Dr. Jens Dobler, quoted in Gabi Schlag and Benno Wenz, Tatort Berlin—Der S-Bahn-Mörder von Rummelsburg, TV documentary program, original airdate November 26, 2012, broadcast in Germany by Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting (rbb).
10 Burleigh, The Third Reich, 681.
11 Shareen Blair Brysac, Resisting Hitler: Mildred Harnack and the Red Orchestra (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2000), 330.
12 For more on this issue, see the affidavit by Dr. Walter Zirpins, June 24, 1946, Nuremberg, Germany, contained in Wilhelm Lüdtke’s denazification file.
13 The CIA thoroughly investigated Lüdtke after the war, and the only vices they could find were his moderate drinking and smoking. National Archives, Washington, D.C., RC Box #082, Location (RC) 230/86/23/05, “Ludtke Wilhelm.” Note that the file name is missing the umlaut.
14 The CIA confirmed this information that Wilhelm Lüdtke gave them by looking him up in the 1941 and 1943 Berl
in white pages. Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid.
17 Ingeborg Heidenreich, quoted in Schlag and Wenz, Tatort.
18 Ibid.
19 Gerda Busch, quoted in Schlag and Wenz, Tatort.
20 This is from a once-secret record of the round table meeting Hitler held on August 20, 1942, to appoint a new Reich justice minister and a president of the People’s Court. Lothar Gruchmann, “Hitler über die Justiz. Das Tischgespräch vom 20. August 1942,” Vierteljahrshefte für Zeitgeschichte 12, Jahrg. 1. H. (January 1964), 86–101, 95. Footnote 23 on this page explains that Hitler was referring to Paul Ogorzow.
21 Ibid.
22 Dr. Jens Dobler, quoted in Schlag and Wenz, Tatort.
23 Michael Wildt, An Uncompromising Generation: The Nazi Leadership of the Reich Security Main Office, trans. Tom Lampert (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009), 181 and endnote 48.
24 Dr. Christian Pfeiffer, quoted in Schlag and Wenz, Tatort.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
1 Waldemar Weimann and Gerhard Jaeckel, Diagnose Mord: Die Memoiren eines Gerichtsmediziners (Bayreuth, Germany: Hestia, 1964), 263.
2 Ibid., 263–264.
3 Professor Hans-Ludwig Kröber, quoted in Gabi Schlag and Benno Wenz, Tatort Berlin—Der S-Bahn-Mörder von Rummelsburg, TV documentary program, original airdate November 26, 2012, broadcast in Germany by Berlin-Brandenburg Broadcasting (rbb).
4 Wilhelm Lüdtke and Georg Heuser, “Die Berliner S-Bahn-Morde,” Kriminalistik 16, Issue 5, May 1942, 50.
5 Weimann and Jaeckel, Diagnose Mord, 264.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid., 265.
8 Ibid.
9 Thomas Krickstadt and Mike Straschewski, joint e-mail to author, March 15, 2013.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
1 Diana Schulle, “Forced Labor,” in Jews in Nazi Berlin: From Kristallnacht to Liberation, ed. Beate Meyer, Hermann Simon, and Chana Schütz (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009), 148.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
1 Thomas Krickstadt and Mike Straschewski, joint e-mail to author, March 15, 2013.
A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin Page 23