The last public execution in France 1939
Eugene Weidmann, a man convicted for six murders, was guillotined on June 17th 1939, outside the prison Saint Pierre at rue Georges Clémenceau in Versailles.
This was the last public execution in France.
The building is still there, but it is not a prison anymore.
This picture was taken on the 29st of June 1938, during the reconstitution of the crime. From left to right, there is Weidmann, the lawyer Moro-Gaffieri, (the one who also defended Landru), and Louis Raymond Gauger.
This reconstitution was at the "Caserne des brigands", in Fontainebleau.
Eugene Weidmann was lead to the guillotine by two assistant executioners (Georges Martin and Henri Sabin wearing the beret). Waiting at the machine were the executioner Henri Desfourneaux and another assistant André Obrecht.
The bascule did not function the right way, so they had to push Weidmann forward off the bascule to get his neck in the right position.
This is how the place looked in 2001 when I visited Versailles.
The guillotine is dismantled after the execution of Weidmann.