Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-09-13
Out of the Night

cheered merrily. Prosecuting
Attorney Jauch beamed amidst
a group Of reporters. The
stoker Alfred 'Wehrenberg
climbed on a bench.
Farewell, comrAdesw he
cried.
He was among the nine
whose heads would fall under
the ak. Young Arthur
Schmidt, also condemened to
death. raised his right fist.
I'VE shall be avenged" he
shouted hoarsely. "Our chill
dren will play under red ban
ners while Hitler will rot to
feed tho worms. Red Front!
Red Front! Red"
The first Of a Death Head
guard smashed squarely into
comrade Schmidt's face.
OMNIBUS ORDER
A few days after the ter
mination OF the trial. which
went down In history as the
Rote Marine Process or the
Process Adler Hotel 1.-THE name
Of one of the scenes OF ter
rorist assaults). I was awak-
ened by a guard at dawn. II
was the nineteenth Of May.
1884. the day preceding Whit
sunday. I was led into the
yard.
whats up:" I asked the
guard.
Don't ask question:" he
retorted.
I marched through the yard
to a fairly broad alley which
ran between the outer wall
and the prison hospital.
There, lined UP against the
wall, I saw about 40 Of my
comrades who had been con-
victed in the trial of the Red
Marines. Their faces were
stony, their eyes wide open
. and staring. They stood
motionless. under heavy guard.
"Stand In this llne," / was
ordered. land don't move"
1 stood in line. My eyes
wandered. I was trying to
find reason for this early
morning excursion.
A HORRIBLE SIGHT
Suddenly my eyes struck
something that made me
freeze with horror.
Halfway down the alley
stood a low scaffold. It was
painted a light green. Beside
the scaffold stood four long
baskets the size of collins,
and a large bin filled with
sawdust. A thick layer of
sawdust was d istr b u t e d
around the scaffold.
/ knew then that this was
execution day.
The air was clear and the
sky was clear. Birds twit-
tered in the fresh green of the
trees outside the walls. The
first rays Of the rising sun
sparkled on the roofs of the
prison buildings. From the
top Of the highest tower
floated a great swastika flag.
We stood in silence.
Death Head guards came
and went. Minutes passed.
and to me each minute was
an hour. The countenances of
my fellow-prisoners. which
had seemed at first devoid of
all expression. now expressed
disbelief, stifled rage, anxiety
and gnawing fear.
GRUESOME HOLIDAY
A mass of people tramped
through the yard. There were
the judges of the Special
Tribunal and Prose cut o T
Jauch, all wearing getaways
and top hats. There was In
Spector Radam. grinning ner-
vously and chatting with
colleagues from the Gestapo.
They were followed by a
long train Of storm troop
officers and Elite Guards. The
youngsters were plainly con-
cerned with giving their faces
a martial cast; but appre-
hension and curiosity showed
through their grim masks.
Then another struggling
group crossed the yard-the
fathers and brothers of storm
troopers who had fallen in
the skirmishes for power. All
these people took up positions
in the alley. on both sides of
the light green scaffold.
Last to come was the heads
man, a chunky individual with
big-boned face and dull
brown eyes. He showed COM
plete emotional indifference TO
the task ahead of him. He.
too. wore a stiff white shirt.
striped trousers, a cutaway
and top hat.
In barely audible voice he
issued orders TO his four
assistants. One of them
darted into side door of the
prison hospital. Several Sec
onds later he emerged with
the AK.
NO GUILLOTINE
Formerly a guillotine had
been used TO chop off heads,