War Always Brings Wholesale Murderers

This is the last of three articles discussing the case of Dr. Marcel Petiot, the current Parisian Bluebeard, and similar cases during war periods.

Others

While Dr. Marcel Petiot and Henri Desire Landru leap naturally to mind when modern Bluebeards are mentioned, there are others of their kind who have been overlooked; and these, too, cropped out during war days. Landru killed to accrue the scanty savings of the women he entrapped. Petiot insists that his murders were inspired by pa triotic motives and that he worked undercover against Gestapo, collaborationists and stool pigeons as leader of the "Fly-Tox."

By HARLOWE R. HOYT

Used Small Apartment

Haarmann confined his depreda| and beggars. In this, both he and tions to youthful visitors to HanHaarmann followed the system emover approached at railroad sta-ployed by Cleveland's torso murtions. Most of them were of the derer. They selected individuals lowest class and little better than who were roving the world. scot tramps. This assured him protec-free, without relatives to ask emtion in that relatives were less barrassing questions. Drunkards likely to come poking around. The and prostitutes made up much of ghoul offered them the hospitality Denke's list, although he went of his riverfront home-housing | afield to pick upon middle-aged conditions always are difficult in women whom he knew to be alone wartime and when opportunity and who were not averse to male offered, killed them and dismemprotection. bered the bodies. The clothing he sold to street hawkers. The flesh he removed from the bones, pickled ment in a crowded tenement and The man occupied a small apartsome for his own use and sold the how he managed to cover up his rest through black markets. How actions is still a mystery. But he successful was his method is shown did so, murdered his victims within by the fact that he started in busithe small confines of his home, and More horrible by far were the ness in 1914 and continued until sold their clothing and bodies. activities of two of Germany's mass 1922 before he was run down. War I Denke had no defense. Caught murderers during World After his arrest, the police with the goods, he maintained a who killed to supply the black dragged the River Leine. They stolid silence until imprisoned. market with meat. Cannibalism is brought up 26 perfect skeletons. Then he hanged himself in his ever revolting but never more so once the bones were assembled. ! prison cell. than when human flesh is market-clean as a hound's tooth, every one cd under the guise of that accepted Haarmann had done his for the table and when the purbut it did not save him: chasers become innocent victims of death sentence. the perpetrator of such inhuman practices.

most notorious of

of them. work well from the

Adolf Denke

One of the Adolf Denke-at least that was these was Georg Haarmann of Han| one of the names by which he was over. Haarmann was a homosexual who managed to worm his way into the police department. He started as a stool pigeon, since he had a wide acquaintance with the under| world, and then branched out on his own under the guise of a private detective. This gave him an authority that simplified his activities no end,

į

Every war brings its private mass World War II to plunge an entire murderers. But it remained for nation into wholesale massacres, the like of which never have been endured since the beginning of history. After all, an insane nation is no different than an insane individual. Especially when the urge to kill and torture becomes predominant and is realized to the full.

identified-lived near Breslau in Munsterberg. He was a quiet, inoffensive soul and even his nearest neighbors were free of all suspicion of hìm. Yet in three years, he killed at least 30 persons, sold their flesh and followed Haarmann's example in pickling the rest for, hydrocarbon compound made as a himself and friends. gasoline by-product, is widely used Denke specialized in vagrants for the extraction of soybean oil.

Normal hexane, a

petroleum