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

information from the public which leads to the identification and seizure of the offender. This reward is not meant for officials whose occupational obligation it is to track offenses or crimes. The disbursement of the reward will follow upon closure of the legal process. Every member of the police department is capable of taking in updates, especially the homicide division “Ditter,” police headquarters of Berlin, Alexanderplatz, entrance Dircksenstraße, number 13/14, floor IV, room number 902, extensions 699 and 738.
Berlin, October 7, 1940.
Homicide Division “Ditter” 14
    This reward poster was put up in and around the garden area where Ogorzow preyed on women. While the poster did reveal that a murder had been committed in the area and that women had been harassed there, it played down the level of such attacks. It did not spell out that there had been actual rapes, instead using the euphemism “immorally harassed.”
    Also on October 7, the Kripo published a detailed announcement of this crime in the Reich Criminal Investigation Department newspaper ( Deutsches Kriminalpolizeiblatt ). This was a newspaper that was not intended for the general public; instead it was meant to be read by law enforcement personnel. This way they could share information on cases so that if any police officers knew something related to a given case, or saw a connection to another case, they could get in touch with the detectives involved.
    This announcement included the material contained in the reward poster as well as additional information intended only for law enforcement. It was more blunt about the activities of the suspect in this area: “The criminal should be searched for in circles of sexual-offenders. Since 1938, a sexual-offender has been making trouble in the area. He attacks solitary women in the late hours of the evening or at night; mostly from behind. He chokes them and then abuses them sexually.” 15
    The police looked at where Mrs. Ditter shopped, in the hopes it would lead them to a suspect, or at least give them additional insight into this victim. This was a time long before supermarkets were the norm, and the police knew that the local shops were a good source of gossip.
    On October 10, they wrote, “The findings have shown that Mrs. Ditter almost only bought goods from the grocery store of Frenzel, Berlin-Friedrichsfelde, Triftweg 9, and the dairy man Hampe, Berlin-Friedrichsfelde, Volkradstraße 10. The findings in both businesses have shown that there is no evidence that Ditter associated with other men. In general, people speak well of her there.” 16 So this was another dead end for the police.
    On October 15, the Kripo sent out a local news release related to this crime. Just as with the original reward poster and the announcement in the police newspaper, no connection was made between this crime and the attacks on women on the S-Bahn. This was not because the police were covering up this connection. It was because they were unaware that any such connection existed. They did however view this murder as possibly related to the sexual assaults and harassments in the garden area. As for the arrests the news release mentioned, these referred to people who were temporarily detained by the police for questioning such as relatives and neighbors, before being cleared.
    This release read as follows:
Berlin, October 15th, 1940
1,000 RM Reward. Lichtenberg woman—murder still unsolved
A couple [implying a man/woman in a relationship]
is being searched for as witnesses!
Despite intense investigation towards solving the murder of the 20-year-old married woman Gerda Ditter, who, as reported, was found murdered on the fourth, Friday, midday, in her garden colony home in Colony Gutland II in Berlin Lichtenberg-Friedrichsfelde, the [Kripo] have not been able to trace the criminal. Mrs. Ditter was killed by being strangled and stabbed in her neck. The crime most likely happened during the night.
With reference to the