In the #lostwords initiative, we are working alongside the Bavarian State Archives with support from volunteers to search for the families of victims of Nazi persecution who were executed in Stadelheim Prison in Munich. Shortly before they were murdered, the condemned prisoners were allowed to write farewell letters to their relatives. More than fifty of these handwritten letters were never delivered. Over eighty years later, we want these last words to finally reach the descendants of their intended recipients.
About #lostwords
#lostwords commemorates people who were executed by the Nazis in Munich-Stadelheim Prison — often for minor offenses.
Words of farewell – read by the ensemble of the Münchner Kammerspiele theater
In their farewell letters, the condemned prisoners address their parents, spouses, relatives, and friends. They explain what should be done with their personal belongings, and they say goodbye ‒ a few calmly and soberly, many in despair, and some enraged by the great injustice done to them. In six videos, performers from the Münchner Kammerspiele theater read selected passages from the farewell letters.
Stadelheim Prison in Munich was a “central execution site” under the National Socialists. Up until 1945, more than 1,000 condemned prisoners were beheaded there, including 75 women. Most of the prisoners were from Germany, while others came from Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, and other European countries. The youngest victim of execution was 19, the oldest was 81. You can find out more about the victims here.
Since July 2025, with the support of our Europe-wide network of volunteers, we have been searching for relatives and survivors of the victims executed in Munich-Stadelheim. Find out more about how we search and what the project means to relatives and others who are involved.
Join in now and help commemorate the victims of Nazi justice
The crowdsourcing initiative #everynamecounts invites anyone interested to contribute to commemorating the injustices suffered by people during the Nazi era at the hands of the courts and the justice system.
Join in now and help us digitize documents from the German prison in Prague-Pankratz. These original historical sources tell of persecution, repression, and arbitrary violence. They provide impressive insights into the fates of many victims.
Between 1933 and 1945, the judiciary served the Nazi regime and was thus part of its system of injustice. When the Second World War started, Nazi judges imposed harsher punishments on alleged “public enemies.” Death sentences could be handed down even for petty offenses. Alexander Korb talked with us about the death sentences passed in the name of the Nazi judiciary.
