Today in Labor History June 9, 1944: Johanna Kirchner was beheaded by the Nazis in Berlin. She was a socialist and member of the anti-fascist resistance. After Hitler came to power, she went underground and later fled to France. However, in 1942 the collaborationist Vichy regime handed her over to the Gestapo. She was sentenced to death for "Marxist high-treason propaganda." On the day of her execution, she wrote: "Don't cry for me. I believe in a better future for you."
Also on this date in 1944, the Nazis executed 99 civilians in Tulle, Francein retaliation for an attack by the anti-fascist resistance, which had killed 40 Nazi soldiers. Others were sent to Concentration Camps. The next day, they slaughtered over 640 men, women and children in the neighboring town of Oradour-sur-Glane.
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