Pole hanging was an execution method used in Czechoslovakia and Hungary during and at the end of World War II. The practice had historical roots in the age of empires, but it was often carried out poorly, producing drawn-out deaths and more suffering than necessary.
It was used against former German army soldiers and officers, Nazi politicians and officials, and men and women who had collaborated with the Germans and betrayed their countries. Those executed included women who served the regime and helped hand people over to persecution, as well as prime ministers who played central roles in sending thousands to their deaths in concentration camps.
Executioners who carried out pole hangings often claimed the method was more effective than a traditional gallows. In practice, it frequently failed and was rarely performed successfully. The sight of the bodies of war criminals fixed to a pole and covered with a white sheet before being lowered was horrifying.
So why was pole hanging, one of the execution methods of World War II, so gruesome? To carry out a pole hanging successfully, the executioner and an assistant had to follow a set of specific steps.
The first step was to bring the condemned war criminal to a pole about three meters high, usually located inside a city square or a prison courtyard. The hanging was meant to be a public event, and thousands of people would attend to watch the proceedings.
The executioner and his assistant then began their work. They tied a rope around the condemned person's feet and passed it through a pulley at the bottom of the pole. The condemned person was then raised into the air and held in place with a strap under the arms, which was released later.
Next, a narrow noose was wrapped around the condemned person's neck and fixed to a hook at the top of the pole. When everything was ready, the executioner released the rope, and the strap came loose.
The condemned person fell from a short height. The executioner's assistant tried to guide the fall while the executioner tried to push the head to one side to break the neck manually. As noted, all of this took place in front of thousands of people, and many were invited to watch these procedures at the end of the war. Some people even brought their children and families to witness the scenes.
Execution poles were usually placed in specific locations where spectators could gather around them. Pankrac Prison in Prague was used at the end of World War II, as was an area in Budapest near the Academy of Music.
After the execution, crowds were allowed to come notably close to the bodies. All the bodies were wrapped and covered with a white cloth, which created a strange sense of awe.
Although the majority of pole hangings were carried out against convicted Nazis and their collaborators, there was a young woman from Yugoslavia who suffered this fate. She was arrested while carrying a weapon, and it was said she was a member of a resistance group.
Lili Borm was a member of the Young Guard in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia, and was alleged to have taken part in sabotage operations. After being arrested on charges of possessing a weapon, Hungarian soldiers executed her by pole hanging in front of their military barracks. Lili was not old when she was executed this way, and photographs taken moments after the execution show this. Hungarian soldiers guarded her body, and some people even took pictures of her while she was still hanging on the pole.
Lili Borm was different from others executed by pole hanging. She was a member of the resistance who opposed the regimes that occupied her land and did not collaborate with them or work on their behalf.
Now let us look at very different examples of pole hanging, and specifically at why it was so brutal. In March 1946, in Budapest, the city that features prominently in this part of the account, a woman named Mariann was convicted after being tried before a people's court. Her crimes were not specifically known, but it was said she was known for torturing oppressed young women, so she was likely a guard in a women's concentration camp.
Inside the city, and in front of thousands, she was led to the execution platform and hanged. Beside her, the body of another person who met the same fate was placed. Despite her relatively calm appearance as she was paraded through the city, her hands were tied in front of her, and she had no way to escape.
Maria Nagy looked very thin at the time of execution, and the sight of her being treated harshly on the platform was painful for many, but people still witnessed the execution.
Herta Kasparova was also sentenced to death after the war for being a prominent Nazi collaborator. She worked for the Gestapo in the city of Trieste and was a translator for them. Her work contributed to many resistance members being sentenced to death, and she was specifically involved in the killing of a number of young men who were alleged to have mocked her because of her limp when she was young at school. Kasparova falsely told the Gestapo men that these men were members of the resistance, and they were immediately executed by firing squad even though this was untrue.
On September 13, 1946, at exactly 6:38 p.m., and in front of a huge crowd of thousands, she was executed on a pole three meters high. Her behavior that day increased the suffering of the witnesses.
When she was led toward the pole, Kasparova could not walk and fell to her knees, and they had to carry her. She screamed and kept crying. She was extremely terrified and in great pain as she was shown the pole, and she resisted strongly while the executioner and his assistants tightened the ropes around her.
While she was fixed to the pole, she kept screaming until the rope was released. The executioner then tried to break her neck, but her body kept convulsing on the pole after the rope was released, indicating that her death was not immediate. Her coffin was also brought to her and placed beside it, and after her death was confirmed, her body was lowered.
Strangely, Herta Kasparova's last request was for her brother to see her one last time. He approached her body and then wept as he sat beside her coffin.
Kurt Daluege was also sentenced to death by hanging at the end of World War II inside Pankrac Prison. Daluege was a chief of police and was responsible for many Nazi police forces during the war. He was a prominent member of Hitler's and Heinrich Himmler's police state and wielded great influence.
Daluege was also responsible for committing many crimes in Prague, where he replaced Reinhard Heydrich as deputy protector of Bohemia and Moravia and organized widespread massacres. At the end of the war, the Allies referred Daluege to trial for his crimes.
He was sentenced to death and taken to the execution platform on October 24, 1946. The crowd was allowed into the court square to watch the execution ceremony, and they saw one of their former masters tied to the execution platform. He appeared very weak compared with his former appearance, due to recovering from a severe heart attack he had suffered years earlier.
Nevertheless, he was raised to the execution pole. His fall distance was no more than about one meter, meaning there was no noticeable drop. But the executioners who carried out the task were highly skilled. As soon as the platform was released, his arms went limp at his sides, indicating the hanging was successful, as his neck was broken, confirming that this execution method was carried out with precision and speed. Afterward, his body was lowered, placed in a coffin, and buried in a nearby cemetery.
Karl Hermann Frank was a deputy to the governor inside Prague, the man who inflicted heavy losses on Prague during the war. He was an experienced Nazi administrator who contributed to the extermination of the Czech people. Frank was executed in 1946 at the same site as Daluege.
In the same way, a huge crowd gathered, including a number of women who wanted to watch the execution of a man who had caused great suffering. Frank was raised to the top of the pole and fell from a greater height than Daluege, and the executioner fixed the noose around his neck while he was at the top of the pole. His execution was photographed and was very successful; as soon as he fell, his body dropped to the ground.
In Budapest, on September 19, 1945, a Catholic priest was executed by pole hanging by the Arrow Cross because of his actions during World War II. But this was not an ordinary priest. Kun was a commander of an execution squad whose forces swept through the city. He was responsible for the killing of hundreds, if not thousands, and his forces carried out massacres everywhere while Kun led them wearing priest's clothing.
He claimed he did this out of a desire to ease human suffering, but his forces committed massacres inside hospitals and then shot people on the banks of the Danube. He was arrested at the end of the war and executed inside the city of Budapest in front of a large crowd.
He was convicted alongside a number of collaborators and traitors, and many former members of the Arrow Cross Party who had caused this suffering. More Arrow Cross politicians were also executed collectively inside Budapest after the war. This included former Prime Minister Ferenc Szalasi, who was executed in front of thousands. Some people even leaned out of windows to watch his execution in the courtyard of the Academy of Music. He was even allowed to kiss a cross before the executioner tightened the noose and dropped him.
One by one, prominent members of the resistance movement and politicians who had collaborated with the Nazis were executed by hanging on poles. Pole hanging was an execution style used during World War II to abruptly end the lives of prominent Nazis and their collaborators. It was also used during the conflict to condemn members of resistance groups, whose bodies were left on display for a period of time to send a clear message to others not to engage in resistance.
But the pole hanging method often backfired and could result in a slow death.