Free A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin by Scott Andrew Selby Page A

After having first asked Mr. Ditter about it, and written down his explanation, they confronted him with the actual document. In response, Mr. Ditter told them, “I wrote this note because my wife asked me to after the first time we had sex. My wife dictated the text, but only the beginning, and I wrote the end by myself. The subtitle, ‘If Gerda Barth swears to me that she will no longer lie to me and go out with other men, give out her address, or do any other nonsense’—is so that she wouldn’t go to the movies with Gann anymore and then keep it a secret from me.” 12
    Mr. Ditter’s explanation did not fully clear this matter up. Both the backstory and the note itself were quite odd. However, the police accepted Mr. Ditter’s account of how he came to write this unusual letter given that he had a solid alibi for the night of the murder. This note did suggest, however, that there were issues of fidelity in the Ditters’ marriage and that perhaps Mrs. Ditter had cheated while her husband was away. Unknown to the police at this time, Mrs. Ditter had given out her address to a strange man (Paul Ogorzow) she met while waiting for the S-Bahn, and that was what had led to her death.
    However, there was nothing at the scene or in the investigation thus far to tie this murder to the S-Bahn. While Mrs. Ditter had ridden the train, so did most everyone in Berlin. There was no way for the detectives to know that she had met her assailant there days before.
    The police were aware of other crimes against women that had been committed in this area during the blackout. As Berlin historian Dr. Laurenz Demps later explained, this “brutal murder . . . was something new for them—even though there had been multiple rape attempts and instances of rape in this garden area.” 13
    In addition to investigating suspects with connections to Mrs. Ditter, they also focused on the possibility that the man who killed her was the same one who had been harassing and attacking the women of this garden colony area.
    On October 7, the Berlin Kripo announced a thousand-reichsmark reward for information that led to solving this crime. They posted reward posters with information about this crime as well as questions they hoped the public could help them with:
Warning!!! Do Not Destroy!!! Relay Contents!!!
Woman murdered in “Gutland II” colony
1000 RM reward!
On Friday, October 4th, 1940, Gerda Ditter, a 20-year-old married woman, was found murdered in her garden plot, Berlin-Friedrichsfelde, “Gutland II,” Way 5a, Number 33, with a deep knife cut in the left side of her neck. The woman was additionally strangled. Nothing was stolen.
Mrs. Ditter was seen last on October 3, 1940, at about 5 P.M. near her apartment.
For a long time, in colony “Gutland,” and in the surrounding area, solitary women have been immorally harassed and some have also been wounded with a knife—especially in the dark—by an unknown offender. It is to be assumed that this situation concerns the same offender.
It is the duty of every citizen to actively participate in identifying this demon!
Description of the suspect:
30 to 40 years old, 1.65–1.70 meters tall, bawdy facial expression.
Clothing: mostly blue visor caps, short jacket (leather?), sports-shirt with open collar, long dark pants, often has or is riding a bicycle.
The answers to the following questions are of urgent importance:
     
Who saw or talked to Mrs. Ditter on the night or in the day of the murder; either alone or maybe in the company of a man?
Who can describe her daily activities in more detail?
In which businesses did she often purchase things?
Did someone see Mrs. Ditter somewhere or at some time with the above-described man?
Who can say anything else about the suspect?
Every notification—even things which seem unimportant—is important and will be, by request, handled in a strictly confidential manner.
The Criminal Police Department of Berlin issued the above-mentioned reward for