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A Day's
Torture
The following is
a report on the torturing of a woman accused of witchcraft in Germany in
1629.
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The hangman
bound her hands, cut her hair and placed her on the ladder. He threw
alcohol over her head and set fire to it so as to burn her hair.
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He tied her
hands behind her back and pulled her up to the ceiling.
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He left her
hanging there for three to four hours, while the torturer went to
breakfast.
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On his
return he attached very heavy weights on her body and drew her up
again to the ceiling.
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Then he
squeezed her thumbs and big toes in the vise, and he trussed her arms
with a stick, and in this position kept her hanging about a quarter of
an hour.
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Then he
whipped her with a rawhide whip.
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Once again
he placed her thumbs and big toes in the vise and left her in this
agony on the torture stool from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., while the
hangman and the court officials went out to get a bite to eat.
In the afternoon a functionary came who disapproved this pitiless
procedure. But then they whipped her again in a frightful manner. This
concluded the first day of torture.
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