There was once a man, Franz Tham called the butcher of Krakow. A figure who blended into the crowd, yet his deeds would chill you to the bone. He was not an infamous figure you’d find in movies or books, like Hannibal Lecter from „Silence of the Lambs”. This guy was real and his story was much scarier. Tham lived in Krakow, Poland during the tumultuous time of World War II. He was a butcher, but unlike any other, he had a gruesome tally of 32 human lives on his account.
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He did not just end their lives. He dismembered their bodies and sold their flesh. And if you believe it, he even mixed it in with cold cuts that he shipped off to the Reich, and to the elites of the Krakow SS. The life of Tham reads like a dark novel. A German national, he was a manager of a significant car garage at Zwierzyniecka Street in Krakow. Tham, 53 at the time, was a member of the NSDAP, and he moved to Krakow in December 1942.
Franz Tham’s Life in Krakow
If you were to visit, you’d find that he maintained residences at Floriańska and Kielecka. And it’s worth mentioning that it was to the latter that he brought his unfortunate victims. By the time Tham was apprehended by the German police in August 1943, he had already committed 32 murders. As I mentioned earlier, Franz didn’t stop at murder. He also butchered the bodies and sold their flesh, even using them in the sausages he sent back to the Reich.
While the German accomplices in these horrifying acts were never caught, Polish prostitute Anna Motak was known to be involved in the case. I am convinced that during World War II, occupied Krakow was a place of peculiar events, even amidst the chaos of the war. Reports started surfacing of young Polish women disappearing without a trace. At first, it was assumed to be the work of German security services, but as the mystery deepened, it became apparent that something else was amiss.
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The Mysterious Disappearances of Krakow
The people of Krakow started whispering rumors about human meat and sausages made from it being sold at the „Tandet„, the largest market in the city. If you want to imagine the atmosphere, picture the fear in the eyes of the locals as they heard and passed on these stories. However, after some time, the whispers died down, and the disappearances seemed to stop. It was only when Janina Latosińska, a friend of Tham’s mistress, Maria Motak, discovered a burnt woman’s head in her friend’s stove that the horrifying truth came to light.
The Urban Legend of „The Butcher from Krakow„
The tale of the 'Butcher from Krakow’ has been told and retold, largely perpetuated by post-war media, painting it as an urban legend. But how did it all really unfold? In 1943, an unease swept through the city of Krakow. But it wasn’t just due to the presence of the German occupiers. Word spread that human meat was being sold in one of the city’s markets. Everyone was shakwn up by this ghastly rumor. They didn’t know who was responsible, but one thing was clear: something horrifying was unfolding in the city.
An Unsettling Discovery
Janina Latosińska, a local, rushed to the shop of her friends, the Szostak couple. There, she met another local, Klemens Bogdanowicz. Distraught and crying, she shared a chilling story: a German living in Krakow was a brutal killer, preying on young girls. People quickly linked Janina’s tale with the cannibal rumors that had been circulating around the city.
Now, these four Poles were faced with a conundrum. Should they keep quiet or report it to the police? The risk was significant. In June 1943, Krakow was the capital of the General Government. The criminals were Germans or German subordinates. The man Latosińska and Bogdanowicz wanted to report was a member of the Nazi Party. It was highly probable the German police would believe their fellow countryman over these Polish locals.
Bogdanowicz, during the 1945 investigation, said,
„I warned Latosińska to tell me everything, because if the Germans found out about it, they were ready to shoot her to cover their tracks.”
Yet, despite their fear, they decided to tell the German police everything.
The Elusive Evidence
To understand how difficult their decision was, you have to delve into the documented testimonies of Janina Latosińska. These testimonies were taken during an investigation by the Polish authorities after the war, two years after their discussion in the Szostak shop. Interestingly, there was no mention of a human head that Janina supposedly found in the stove of a house at 8 Kielecka Street (or Osiedle Oficerskie as it was then). This suggests they likely didn’t have any hard evidence against the NSDAP member.
According to the post-war testimonies, Janina learned about „The Butcher’s” crimes from Maria Motak, who, during a moment of emotional vulnerability, confessed everything to her. As the chilling narrative unraveled, it appeared the German would strangle his victims, indulge in cannibalistic acts, and keep horrifying trophies.
Janina initially dismissed Maria’s confessions as attention-seeking
fantasies. That is, until a peculiar incident involving a yellow hat.
The Yellow Hat Incident
One day, Janina noticed Maria wearing a yellow hat with a veil. When she inquired about its origins, Maria shared that her lover, Franz Tham, had brought it home from a girl he met on the train. Given Maria’s previous confessions, Janina realized the chilling truth behind the hat’s former owner. When she confronted Maria about the girl’s fate, Maria tried to explain it away by saying the girl had sold her hat due to lack of funds for a return ticket. This explanation didn’t convince Janina. Sensing danger as Maria left the room under the pretext of fetching something – the room where she knew Tham kept a gun – Janina made her quick escape through a window.
It is worth to say, this was how the horrifying saga of the 'Butcher from Krakow’ began to unravel, leading to the unmasking of a monstrous urban legend. The question remains: How much truth was there in the rumors? That is a story for another day.
Doubts and Confirmation
Repeating the confession of a woman regarded as neurotic, especially a Polish woman, alongside a dubious story about a hat possibly belonging to a murder victim, might not have persuaded the German police. Indeed, initially, Latosińska’s and Bogdanowicz’s testimonies fell on deaf ears. They were dismissed as possibly mentally ill or overly influenced by crime novels.
However, when Latosińska was taken to the police station and confronted with Motak, she recalled a previous confession from her friend. Motak had mentioned one of her last victims had fought back more fiercely than expected, leaving a tooth mark on her hand. This mark was still faintly visible and proved to be pivotal in lending credence to their testimonies. This evidence seemed to tip the scale, and despite initial resistance, the German authorities pursued the case.
However, the German police seemed reluctant to publicize the horrific details of the case. Bogdanowicz was warned sternly to keep quiet. Any hint of gossip or leaked information would be met with severe punishment.
The Trial
When the police searched Franz Tham’s apartment, the precise details of what they discovered remain unclear. However, in the Kraków Forensic Medicine Department, they keep an ax, which Tham allegedly used, and a jar of ash retrieved from his furnace. Inside the jar, white bone fragments can be found, and it’s labeled – „A Case of Necrophilia and Necrophagia.”
Necrophilia refers to a disorder of sexual preference where only a dead body can provide sexual arousal. Necrophagia refers to the act of consuming human corpses.
Tham’s trial concluded on August 2, 1943. Both Tham and Motak were sentenced to death by firing squad. The specifics of the trial and the number of victims are unclear since the documents were likely destroyed in the Reich.
Rumors and Speculations
After Tham and Motak’s deaths, rumors and myths continued to circulate, intensifying the horror of the case. The couple’s names were often confused in retellings, the number of victims inflated from two to over thirty, and tales of Tham transporting victims’ bodies in his car fleet to the Sudetes were rampant. Further, it was suggested that Tham and Motak weren’t the only ones involved in these gruesome murders.
A group of Germans residing at Św. Thomas were rumored to have been accomplices. Tham was said to have been friendly towards Poles, frequently hosting them at his apartments and throwing lavish parties. Yet, aside from Tham and Motak, no other individuals were ever charged in this case. The most enduring part of the legend, however, was the account of Tham’s cannibalistic habits.
The „Dziennik” newspaper published an article in May 1945 linking Tham’s case to rumors of human meat being sold at the Tandet market. It reported Tham’s heinous acts of strangulation, violation, mutilation, and cannibalism of his victims. The story of the 'Butcher from Krakow’ persisted, wrapping the city in a shroud of macabre fascination. The truth, obscured by rumors and half-truths, remains as elusive as the figure of Tham himself.
The number of his victims and the extent of his monstrosities may
forever be enshrined in urban legend.
A Tale Too Horrific to be True?
Doubt has been cast over the veracity of Tham’s ghastly confessions. Could the tales of human flesh peddled in the market actually hold water? Dr. Tomasz Konopka from the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Jagiellonian University suggests that these stories may be mere fabrications.
According to Konopka, Werner Beck, the administrator of the Medycyna Sądowej at the time, was inspired by another infamous case – Karl Denke, the „Vampire of Ziębice.” Denke was a serial killer who allegedly turned his victims into canned food. Beck, in a bid to elevate his career with a scandalous case, postulated that Tham acted in a similar manner.
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The preserved evidence and investigation materials from 1943 remain chilling, despite the limited amount. Konopka reports that Tham was convicted of murdering two Polish prostitutes, with whom he performed sexual acts before dismembering their bodies and incinerating them in a furnace. Yet, the rumor of Tham selling human meat was never corroborated by Janina Latosińska’s testimonies.
Echoes of Karl Denke
The specter of Karl Denke lingers over Tham’s case. Both the „Vampire of Ziębice” and „The Butcher from Krakow” were seen as upstanding citizens, their guilt initially doubted by German authorities. Their homes served as their crime scenes, and their victims were unsuspecting passersby. Yet, the evidence found in Denke’s home far outshone what was discovered at Tham’s.
Human meat, bones, teeth, and even accessories made of human skin were among Denke’s possessions. These artifacts are still kept in the Wrocław Department of Forensic Medicine. In contrast, Tham’s case is comparatively sparse in evidence. Hence, it’s plausible that the earlier case of Denke, revealed in 1924, colored the narrative around Tham and boosted his status as an urban legend.
Investigation Aftermath
Post-war, a Polish investigation provided most of the information about the 1943 events, but its focus was not directly on Tham and Motak’s crimes. Investigators suspected Tadeusz, Motak’s brother, and Janina Latosińska of trafficking the belongings of the duo’s victims. Latosińska testified that she was invited by Maria Motak to sell some goods for a profuit, a proposition she accepted out of necessity.
She claimed ignorance about the origins of these goods, which may have belonged to Tham’s victims. The charges against Latosińska were dropped due to lack of evidence. Tadeusz Motak, meanwhile, was never questioned, having supposedly fled „to the West”. A search of his family home turned up no evidence of the alleged trafficking of victims’ possessions. Thus, the case was eventually closed, leaving behind a wake of half-truths, rumors, and spine-chilling accounts of two of history’s most gruesome killers.
Franz Tham’s Dark Secrets
Have you ever wondered what the police might have discovered when they investigated Franz Tham’s apartment? Unfortunately, the full details remain a mystery. But here’s what we know: they found an axe, Tham’s tool of horror, and samples of ash from his furnace. These chilling remnants still reside in the Krakow Forensic Medicine Department, labeled under „A case of necrophilia and necrophagia”.
Can you believe it? I can tell you, the case of the Krakow cannibal
was a fascinating one, handled by a German special court. Sadly, the
trial files vanished at the end of the war, taking with them many
details we may never uncover.
Tham’s Trial – The Unveiling of a Cannibal
Yet, from the testimonies of the accused, witnesses, and the evidence collected, we know that on August 2, 1943, Franz Tham and his accomplice Anna Motak were sentenced to death. Just two days later, these murderers faced their end at the Saint Michael prison on Senacka Street. It is worth saying that Tham, displaying his psychopathic nature till the very end, reportedly requested a change of sentence from shooting to hanging. He allegedly wanted to „experience the pleasure”.
The court denied his twisted request, and the duo met their fate in the prison courtyard.
The Historian’s Investigation
Wojciech Konigsberg, a historian specializing in the Home Army’s history, unearthed the chilling tale of a German man who turned Polish women into sausages. While reviewing telegrams sent to the Polish government-in-exile in London, Konigsberg stumbled upon a message from August 20, 1943. It reported the discovery of a human flesh slaughterhouse at Kielecka 8 in Krakow.
This revelation, shared with „Dziennik Polski” in a 2014 interview, surely sent chills down the spines of many. According to the telegram, which now resides in the Polish Institute and Museum of General Sikorski in London, the investigation revealed 38 murders. Tham was noted to have made sausages from his victims and sent them off to the Reich.
The German special court swiftly sentenced him to death on July 2. Konigsberg also found two articles in „Dziennik Polski” from 1945, detailing the gruesome crimes committed by Tham and his mistress. If you need to imagine the audacity of this man, one article noted how Tham arrogantly described his crimes’ details at his trial and his perverse request for death by strangulation.
The second article further elaborated on the dreadful scene at Kielecka street. As per the text, Janina Latosińska revealed a chilling incident where, upon attempting to light Maria Motak’s stove, she was pushed away. She found a package with burnt paper inside, later admitting it to be the head of one of Tham’s victims.
A Dark Chapter in History
This story, I believe, stands as one of the darkest chapters in Krakow’s history. A true tale of horror that blends the worst of human nature and the chaos of war. It’s a stark reminder to us all that even in the most ordinary places, extraordinary, and sometimes chilling, histories can hide.
References:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8D0VESZLOg
- https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/krakow/niemiecki-rzeznik-mordowal-w-krakowie-mlode-polki-i-sprzedawal-ich-mieso-6126020401043073a
