Horst Wessel's "Living" Funeral

[Macca47]

Injuries

I still doubt this given the severity of his injuries and where they are located. In Daniel Siemens book on Horst Wessel, which is easily the the most informative work on him, there is no mention of him being displayed in such a way.

Sydney

Wessel survived for a month after being shot, so the injuries cannot have been catastrophic (half his face shot off or similar). One article I have read claimed he actually died of blood poisoning from the bullet fragments. Undertakers are expert at repairing quite gruesome damage to dead humans and the result of a single bullet wound from a pistol would not be challenging. One question for the the more knowledgeable; Does anyone know what weapon was actually used to kill him? I can find no reference to it apart from it being described as a pistol.

[Runic]

ErichS,
I will admit your German is much better than mine.

So, if lying in state can mean an open or closed casket,
The question seems to be:
- would the National Socialists give their first real publicized martyr a lying in state ceremony, with open casket, of the type they gave to the great Hindenburg only a few years later?

I'm betting yes, if only because Goebbels was intent on playing up Horst's martyr role in the Party to the very hilt, hence the Horst Wessel Leid becoming the Party song, the pomp and ceremony of having full coverage of the event in IB, with Goebbels and Goering both in attendance, shedding tears on camera, etc.

Horst Wessel became a huge influence on the future direction of the Party, a great martyr who added cohesion to a Party still struggling for relevance in the Germany of 1930.

IMO, Goebbels, master propagandist that he was, would not flinch at giving Horst a grand lying in state, open casket funeral. The more spectacular the better.

Of course, this is speculation on my part, and doesn't prove anything, one way or the other.
But I must agree with Macca47, that one bullet wound to the face could have been patched up quite easily by the morticians of the day.

R

[starikurac]

Interesting!!

I would also say, regarding the picture and the text, that it is Wessel.

[Runic]

Starikurac, totally agreee.

R

[Runic]

Here it is more convenient, the pictures of Horst, so you don’t have to follow a link. Note: read the original caption that states that this is Horst Wessel lying in state.