VERSAILLES, ÎLE-DE-FRANCE, FRANCE – JUNE 17, 1939 Eugen Weidmann was a German criminal and serial killer who became the last person publicly executed by guillotine in France. His execution took place in front of Saint-Pierre Prison in Versailles and remains one of the most famous executions in modern European history.
Eugen Weidmann
Weidmann was born on February 5, 1908, in Frankfurt am Main. Already in his youth, he committed thefts and later spent several years in prison for property-related crimes. After moving to France, he became involved in a series of violent crimes together with several accomplices.
Between July and November 1937, Weidmann and his associates kidnapped and murdered six people, mostly for money. The victims included, for example, tourists, a driver, a nurse, and a real estate agent. The investigation led to his arrest in December 1937 and a subsequent trial that attracted significant attention from the French public.
The court found him guilty of six murders and sentenced him to death. After all appeals had been exhausted, the sentence was carried out in Versailles. The execution itself was conducted by France’s chief executioner, Jules-Henri Desfourneaux, who used the guillotine – a device that had been used in France for centuries to carry out death sentences.
The execution attracted thousands of spectators and turned into a chaotic public spectacle. The behavior of some onlookers, who viewed the event more as entertainment than as an act of justice, sparked strong criticism in France. Shortly afterward, the government decided that future executions would no longer take place in public.
Weidmann’s execution was therefore not the last guillotine execution in France in general – the guillotine continued to be used until 1977 – but it became the last public execution of this kind in the country.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugen_Weidmann
