All the Frequent Troubles of Our Days: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler

by Rebecca Donner

Beheadings are carried out at a prison in Berlin called Plötzensee. The executioner there is Karl Gröpler, a sixty-five-year-old man who makes a modest living as the owner of a laundry. Gröpler’s contract with the Reich Ministry of Justice states that he is responsible for bringing his own chopping block, bench, and ax to the beheadings, all of which he carries out with theatrical precision in the prison courtyard. Usually in attendance are several court officials, a representative from the state attorney’s office, a member of the clergy, a physician, an official from Plötzensee, and a cluster of witnesses, who all watch Gröpler stride into a bright spotlight wearing a black top hat, a black tailcoat, and spotless white gloves. Three young men—Gröpler’s assistants—lead the prisoner to the bench and position the chopping block under the prisoner’s head. The state prosecutor reads aloud the death sentence and a court official gives the directive: “Executioner, do your duty.” Gröpler raises his ax and brings it down.