He was 27 years old and was highly recognised as one of the greatest German talents when he was murdered by hanging from a meat hook, 80 years ago, on 7 September 1943 in Berlin-Plötzensee: the pianist Karlrobert Kreiten.

He was denounced to the Gestapo by one of his mother’s friends for making negative comments about Hitler, the Nazis and the war. He was condemned to death on 3 September 1943 by Roland Freisler in front of the so-called people’s court.

Werner Höfer, who later became a well-known television journalist, publicly praised the ‘severe punishment of a dishonourable artist’ on 20 September 1943 in the Berlin newspaper Das 12 Uhr Blatt.