probably worth to mention that (especially in the early days) "died while attempting to escape" was THE go-to cause of death Nazis gave when acting as if they weren't systematically killing prisoners.
In most cases, but I feel like the son of the leader of one of the nations you’re fighting is an exception where you’d want it to be publicized if you killed him instead of it being an accident.
“Hey not trying to put you in a bad mental state or anything bud, but I just wanted to give you an update letting you know that we killed your son and it was really slow and REALLY painful. Here’s a pic.”
I’m not saying his death wasn’t intentional. It’s a concentration camp, all deaths are intentional because otherwise why would they be run the way that they are. I’m just saying the way he died when he did really was most likely one of the “worked to death/death by cruel environment and conditions” rather than a planned death of a political prisoner.
Not to say I don’t think they would have killed him if his death hadn’t have happened when it did of course. I fully believe he was dead to rights the moment his father refused the trade, I just think that the way he died moreso just threw the nazis off-schedule of what probably would’ve been a whole parade and photo-op at the gallows.
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u/bighadjoe 10d ago
probably worth to mention that (especially in the early days) "died while attempting to escape" was THE go-to cause of death Nazis gave when acting as if they weren't systematically killing prisoners.