Bruno Lüdke

Arrest

Lüdke, who had a mild intellectual disability and worked as a coachman, was known to local police as a petty thief and peeping tom. After a woman was found strangled near Köpenick in January 1943, police questioned Lüdke in March. He confessed to that murder and others, showing signs of physical abuse, and stated he confessed because "they would kill me if I didn't confess". Declared insane, he was sent to an SS-run institute in Vienna, where medical experiments were performed on him until his death in 1944.

Controversy and question of innocence

The crime scenes lacked similarities in method, signature, or motive, and no fingerprints or evidence against Lüdke were produced. Former Dutch police chief Jan Blaauw found original reports inconclusive and argued a semi-illiterate man could not have evaded authorities for nearly two decades. Most historians now believe Lüdke was framed by ambitious police and the Nazi government, which viewed people with intellectual disabilities as inferior and sought scapegoats.

Memorial

In 2021, a Stolperstein was placed at Lüdke's former home, commemorating him as a victim of the Nazi regime. The initiative was led by actor Mario Adorf, who had portrayed Lüdke in a film and later regretted the role after Lüdke's likely innocence became known. The inscription notes his forced sterilization in 1940, arrest in 1943, transfer to Vienna, and death in 1944.

Did You Know?

• Bruno Lüdke could not tell interrogators how many minutes there were in an hour due to his mild intellectual disability.
• He once got caught stealing a chicken, which former Dutch police chief Jan Blaauw cited as evidence he could not have evaded authorities for nearly 20 years.
• Lüdke was forcibly sterilized in 1940, three years before his arrest.
• The 1957 film 'The Devil Strikes at Night' (Nachts, wenn der Teufel kam) portrayed Lüdke as one of Germany's worst serial killers and was nominated for an Academy Award.