This article recounts the story of Herta Kašparová – one of the most brutal female collaborators of the Gestapo during World War II, who directly participated in the massacre of 33 people in the town of Třešť, Czechoslovakia, in May 1945. The content is for educational and historical documentation only, based on court records, witness testimonies, and historical archives. It does not aim to glorify violence or advocate for any political ideology.
Herta Kašparová: The Dark Reason This Female Traitor Was Hanged on a Pole
Throughout the history of World War II, there were traitors who not only collaborated with the enemy but went far beyond any limit of cruelty. Herta Kašparová was one of them. A young woman of Czech-German descent, she worked for the Gestapo in the final months of the war. On May 7, 1945 – just two days before the war ended – she took up a gun and personally pointed out, even shot dead, her own neighbors and former classmates. The reason? Simply because they had once mocked her for being lame. She was convicted and hanged on a pole on September 13, 1946, in a public execution witnessed by thousands of people. This is the story of the crimes and punishment of Herta Kašparová.
1. Who Was Herta Kašparová? From a Třešť Girl to a Gestapo Tool
Herta Kašparová was born on June 21, 1923, in the town of Třešť, in the Vysočina region of Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). She was of mixed Czech-German heritage – her father was German, her mother Czech. From childhood, Kašparová suffered from a leg disability that caused her to limp for her entire life, and this became the source of her deep-seated hatred.
During the war, Kašparová worked as a secretary and translator for the German Criminal Police in Jihlava and Zlín, before moving to work directly for the Gestapo. Thanks to her fluency in both Czech and German, she became an indispensable tool for the Nazis in terrorizing the local population.
2. The Crime of May 7, 1945: 33 People Killed in a Single Day
On May 5, 1945, news of the Prague Uprising spread throughout Czechoslovakia. The people of Třešť, excited by the prospect of the war ending, rose up against the German occupiers, hung Czechoslovak flags, and established a National Committee. They temporarily took control of the town.
However, their joy was short-lived. On May 7, German reinforcements from Jihlava arrived, including Gestapo and Wehrmacht units. They quickly recaptured the town and began a bloody terror campaign. At that moment, Kašparová – as a Gestapo employee – received a deadly task: to identify the participants in the uprising for execution.
According to historical sources, Kašparová walked along the line of prisoners and used her finger to point out those she wanted to die. In this way, she directly ordered the execution of 33 people.
But even more brutally, Kašparová did not stop at pointing fingers. She demanded to personally execute several victims. She took a gun, aimed directly at the hearts of those she hated – mainly former classmates who had once mocked her limp – and pulled the trigger.
Her victims were not soldiers or fighters. They were ordinary civilians – a gatekeeper, a railway worker, a barber – people who simply wanted freedom for their town.
3. The Dark Motive: Revenge for Being Mocked
What drove a young woman to such brutality? The answer, according to contemporary sources and witness testimonies, lies in her own shame and hatred stemming from her disability.
Kašparová had limped since childhood, and the children in the town – including those who later became her victims – often mocked her. Her physical pain turned into a simmering hatred throughout her childhood and youth. When the Nazis occupied the country, she found an opportunity for revenge.
Another factor is also mentioned: shortly before the massacre, Kašparová’s house had been broken into and looted by a group of rebels. She took this as a personal insult and used her influence with the Gestapo to retaliate. She identified those involved in the break-in and demanded their execution – some of whom had nothing to do with the robbery but were framed by her out of old grudges.
4. Arrest, Trial, and Death Sentence
After the massacre, Kašparová fled Třešť with the retreating Germans as the Czechoslovak Red Army advanced to liberate the town. She escaped to Austria and lived in hiding near the border.
However, justice quickly caught up with her. On February 2, 1946, Kašparová was arrested in Gmünd, Austria, and extradited to Czechoslovakia for trial.
On September 13, 1946, Kašparová was brought before a special People’s Court at the Sokol Sports Hall in Třešť. At the trial, she tried to defend herself by claiming that she “did not know they would be executed” and that she was merely performing her duties as a translator. But given that she had worked for the Gestapo and personally handled a weapon, this defense was regarded as blatant lies.
The court convicted her of collaboration with the Nazis and crimes against the Czech people. The sentence: death by hanging. The sentence was carried out just two hours after it was pronounced.
5. The Last Public Execution of a Woman
On the afternoon of September 13, 1946, in a field behind Třešť Castle known as “Under the Chestnut Trees” (Pod Kaštany), a gallows was erected. Thousands of people from all over the region gathered to witness the event. The crowd was so large that officials had to sell tickets to control the masses.
Kašparová was brought to the gallows at 6:30 p.m. She wore a short, decorative dress and stood under the gallows while the court read the verdict one last time. She was then hanged and pronounced dead. Her body was placed in a coffin already positioned beneath the gallows and transferred to the Central Cemetery in Jihlava to be buried alongside other Germans who had died during and after the war.
The execution of Herta Kašparová was the last public execution of a woman in Czechoslovak history.
Herta Kašparová was not a general or a politician. She was just a young woman wounded by her own disability, but her hatred and cowardice turned her into a monster. She used the power of the Gestapo to take revenge on those who had once mocked her, and she paid for it with her own life.
Her death – hanging on a pole before thousands of people – is a reminder that justice, however delayed, will eventually find traitors. And the story of Herta Kašparová remains – as a warning about the danger of hatred when it is given power.
Primary Sources:
Třešť Museum archives – documentation of the May 7, 1945 massacre
Třešť People’s Court records – trial of Herta Kašparová, September 13, 1946
Czech Wikipedia – Herta Kašparová
Security Magazin – interviews and documentation on the case
Research by Klára Pejřimovská, University of South Bohemia (2016)