managed to draw his Luger and fired a full clip at the assailants. Captain Franz Lenck was shot in the chest and fell dead in front of the entrance. Willig crawled over to Captain Anlauf, who had taken two bullets in the neck. As his life drained away, the Captain gasped, "Wiedersehen... Gruss..." ("So Long... Goodbye...") Meanwhile, Matern, Mielke, Thunert, and Ziemer made their escape. After it was revealed that Sergeant Willig had survived and could identify the assailants, Mielke and Ziemer were smuggled to the Soviet Union. Arrest, trial, and execution In March 1933, lookout Max Thunert was arrested by the Berlin police, he confessed to his involvement in the murders and revealed all he knew. Within days, fifteen suspects, including Matern, were rounded up and imprisoned. On 14 September 1933, Berlin's newspapers announced that all of them had confessed to their roles in the assassinations. Together with two co-defendants, Michael Klause and Friedrich Broede, Max Matern was convicted of murder on 19 June 1934 and sentenced to death. He was guillotined on 22 May 1935. Aftermath In East German historical literature, Matern was made into a martyr for the communist cause. Many streets, schools, and establishments were named after him. His life became the stylized career of an exemplary communist, as seen in the propagandistic version of his biography. Decades later, on 26 October 1993, Erich Mielke (1907–2000), former East German Minister of State Security, was convicted of murdering Captains Anlauf and Lenck in addition to the attempted murder of Sergeant Max Willig. He was sentenced to six years in prison. However, owing to health reasons, he did not serve the full sentence. References Further reading John Koehler, The Stasi: The Untold Story of the East German Secret Police, (1999). 1902 births 1935 deaths Murders of Paul Anlauf and Franz Lenck Moldmakers German people convicted of murdering police officers People convicted of murder by Germany Executed German people People executed for murdering police officers People executed by Germany by decapitation People from Vorpommern-Greifswald People from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania executed by Nazi Germany