The Stein Prison massacre and the subsequent Krems 'hare hunt' (collectively referred to as the Krems prisoner murders)Reder, p. 496. were crimes committed in Nazi Austria in and around Krems an der Donau, in which between 400 and 500 inmates (many of them political prisoners) of Stein Prison, as well as several judicial officers and civilians, were summarily executed or disappeared between 6 April 1945 and the following days.Reder, p. 433. At the direction of Nazi Party officials, the murders were primarily carried-out by Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS troops, assisted by prison guards, police personnel and militiamen of the Volkssturm.
In the post-war period, the Austrian and West German judicial systems categorized criminal acts committed during the final stages of the Second World War as 'end-phase crimes' (Endphaseverbrechen), a classification that was frequently regarded as a mitigating factor in legal proceedings. Fifteen individuals were ultimately criminally charged concerning the massacre; Five were sentenced to death, five were sentenced to life imprisonment, one was sentenced to a three-year prison sentence, and four were acquitted. Several others evaded criminal charges by committing suicide.
Background Stein Prison is located in Stein an der Donau about 80 km west of Vienna. After the Anschluss (Nazi German annexation of Austria) in 1938, the correctional facility which had existed since 1851, was given the designation of a Zuchthaus by the Reich Ministry of Justice.Reder, p. 57.There is no exact English term, some sources propose 'penitentiary' others ‘prison’. The article uses the term prison. Serving a sentence in a Zuchthaus was the strictest form of penal system in the German Reich in terms of prison conditions, compulsory labour and the rights of the inmates.Reder, p. 70.
Stein Prison, which had a capacity of around 1000 inmates, was for men only. In addition to Stein Prison, the city of Krems an der Donau had another prison, the Krems Prison, with a capacity of around 200 male and female inmates. In 1945, the Krems Prison maintained two small outlets in the villages of Hörfarth and Oberfucha.Reder, p. 86. Today, Hörfarth is a part of the municipality of Paudorf, approx. 10 km south of Krems an der Donau. Oberfucha belongs to the municipality of Furth bei Göttweig.
At the time, the inmate population of Stein Prison comprised individuals convicted of a wide range of criminal and political offences. Among the criminal categories, property-related crimes such as theft, burglary and the handling of stolen goods accounted for the largest share. These were followed by military offences, including desertion and breaches of guard duty, as well as violent offences such as murder, manslaughter, robbery and rape. Economic crimes, particularly infractions against wartime price control regulations, were also represented. Approximately 20 percent of the inmate population had been imprisoned for acts of civil or political resistance, frequently prosecuted under charges of high treason. These acts included the dissemination of anti-regime leaflets and the collection of donations for the imprisoned individuals. Additional detainees had been convicted for resistance activities against German occupation in Wehrmacht-controlled territories. Roughly ten percent of prisoners had been sentenced for offences such as undermining military morale (Wehrkraftzersetzung), sabotage, listening to foreign radio broadcasts or making politically subversive statements (Heimtücke). The political prisoner cohort included opponents of National Socialism from a variety of ideological backgrounds, notably communists, social democrats, and Christian socialists.Reder, p. 116f.
+ Proportion of prisoners per offence categoryReder, p. 116. The cited proportions relate to the number of prisoners at the beginning of April 1945. Property offence 31.9% High treason 19.6% Military offence 10.5% Violent offence 7.3% Resistance to German occupation 6.6% Economic crime 5.5% Unauthorised possession of weapons 4.6% "Undermining the war effort" 4.2% Sabotage 3.0% Homosexuality 2.7% Radio-based crime 2.4% Other offence(s) 1.5% Malice 0.3% Of the 1,849 prisoners detained in Stein at the beginning of April 1945, the majority came from the territory of present-day Austria (723 men), from Germany (105), Greece (350), Yugoslavia (274), the Czech Republic (189), Italy (93) and France (49). Other nations account for the remaining 66 individuals.Reder, p. 109,
In the final months of 1944, as Allied forces advanced from both the eastern and western fronts, the Reich Ministry of Justice in Berlin initiated deliberations concerning the handling of inmates in National Socialist penal institutions 'in the event of enemy approach.' These considerations culminated in the issuance of a directive in February 1945, which was disseminated to all prison directors. The directive was marked by considerable vagueness and lack of specificity. It stipulated that only inmates serving short-term sentences were to be released, while foreign nationals and individuals classified as 'asocial' or 'politically dangerous' were to be transferred under armed guard away from the frontline. In cases where evacuation proved unfeasible, prisoners were to be handed over to the police 'for elimination' or otherwise 'rendered harmless' through execution by prison personnel. However, at Stein Prison, no evacuation order was received from Berlin despite the imminent threat posed by the advancing Red Army, which was already nearing Vienna by early April 1945.Jagschitz, p. 22 ff and Reder, p. 234f.
As a result of the onset of the Vienna offensive and the consequent requisitioning of all available rail and river transport capacities by both military and civilian authorities, all own attempts of the director of Stein Prison, Franz Kodré, to evacuate the approximately 1,800 to 2,000 inmates westward proved unsuccessful.Franz Kodré was the uncle of the high-ranking officer of the German Wehrmacht, Heinrich Kodré, one of the personalities behind Operation Valkyrie. Compounding the situation was the imminent depletion of food supplies within the facility. In order to avoid the prospect of being compelled to execute the prisoners and in a notably broad interpretation of directives issued from Berlin and the regional administration of Niederdonau, Kodré initially ordered the release of approximately 80 to 100 inmates convicted of non-political offences on 5 April. This was followed, on the morning of 6 April, by the release of all remaining prisoners, including the political detainees. Simultaneously, the director of the Krems Prison ordered the release of inmates from the main detention centre in Krems as well as its satellite facilities in Hörfarth and Oberfucha.Reder, p. 255.
In light of the presence of Soviet forces operating directly south of Vienna, the evacuation of the Vienna-Josefstadt Prison commenced concurrently on 6 April 1945. As part of this process, political prisoners were released, among them Leopold Figl, who would later serve as Federal Chancellor of Austria.
The events at Stein Prison On the morning of 6 April, the inmates of Stein Prison were removed from their cells and informed of their impending release. This announcement created an atmosphere of optimism and relief among the prisoners. However, resistance to the release emerged from among the National Socialist loyalists within the prison staff. Some guards, opposed to the prison director's decision, engaged in passive resistance and failed to maintain order during the distribution of inmates' personal belongings, which led to chaotic conditions.Reder, p. 260f.
In an effort to restore order and ensure the safety of the release process, Johann Lang, inspector of judicial administration, authorized the arming of trusted prisoners with rifles.This measure proved effective and the release proceeded in an orderly manner. No acts of violence were reported against either inmates or guards. As the morning progressed, hundreds of former prisoners departed the facility on foot, although most lacked formal release documentation.Reder, p. 265f.
In the late morning, Nazi-affiliated prison personnel contacted Anton Wilthum,/https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Wilthum, the NSDAP Kreisleiter (District Leader) of Krems, to report what they described as a 'prison uprising'. Gauleiter (Regional Leader) Hugo Jury, who was present in Krems at the time, was also informed. In response, emergency units of the Schutzpolizei (Nazi German state security police), the local Volkssturm (lit. 'People's Storm,' often translated as Home Guard or 'People's Militia'), the Wehrmacht garrisonReder, p. 242. Members of the Pionier-Ersatz-Abteilung 86. and the Waffen-SS were dispatched to Stein.Towards the end of the war, the Gauleiter, in their role as Reichsverteidigungskommissar, had been given command authority over local military units. Upon arrival, these forces encountered no signs of an uprising, but their presence created considerable anxiety among the remaining inmates. The Volkssturm contingent was under the command of Kreisstabsführer des Kremser Volkssturms (District Chief of Staff of the Krems Militia) and SA-Standartenführer (Colonel of the Sturmabteilung) Leo Pilz, while the Wehrmacht detachment—composed of German Army combat engineers—was led by Major Werner Pribil. Pribil was accompanied by Oberleutnant (First Lieutenant) Lorenz Sonderer, a Gebirgsjäger (mountain infantry) officer and committed National Socialist, who had just arrived in Krems. Sonderer had been appointed as a 'special representative' for Heeresgruppe Süd (Army Group South), charged with maintaining order and discipline 'by all necessary means.'
Despite explanations from the prison officials Kodré and Lang—who argued that the release had been authorized by both the judicial administration and NSDAP Regierungspräsident (Regional President) of Niederdonau and SS-Brigadeführer (Brigadier General of the Schutzstaffel) Erich Gruber—the military units proceeded to cordon off the area and force the remaining inmates back into the prison compound. Kodré, Lang and their loyal colleagues Johann Bölz and Heinrich Lassky were arrested. The makeshift inmate security units were disarmed. Meanwhile, Deputy Director Alois Baumgartner withheld a letter from Regional President Gruber that could have confirmed the legitimacy of the release order.Reder, p. 274.
As panic spread among the prisoners, many sought refuge in the courtyards, locking gates behind them. Pilz, accompanied by certain guards, entered the prison interior and deployed hand grenades among the inmates, opening the gates to military units. The Waffen-SS and Wehrmacht forces immediately commenced indiscriminate gunfire using rifles, pistols and machine guns. Dozens of unarmed prisoners were killed in the courtyards. Armed units then conducted sweeps through the prison wings, executing inmates found in hiding. Wounded prisoners were forcibly removed from the infirmary and summarily executed outdoors. Only those who had been returned to their cells by courageous guards, thereby creating the appearance that they had never been part of the release, were spared.Reder, p. 272f.
District Leader Wilthum, upon arriving at the scene, ordered the execution of Kodré, Lang, Bölz and Lassky, allegedly on the direct instruction of Gauleiter Jury. The four were accused of dereliction of duty and of enabling the supposed uprising. They were executed without trial by firing squad against the prison wall, with the personal participation of the mayor of Krems, Franz Retter.Jagschitz, p. 110. A summary court martial was fabricated post facto as a pretext for the killings.