The S-Bahn Murderer: A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin

It’s 1940 and there’s a serial killer on the streets of Berlin looking for his next victim.

Elfreda Franka is travelling home on the late train after work. Sitting alone in the dark carriage she stares out of the window as the train pulls into a station.   

Another passenger gets onboard.   

Curious but unable to make out their features, Elfrieda continues to stare out into the pitch black as the train departs. The stranger quietly approaches Elfrieda and before she can sense danger, she feels a cold, hard and heavy object strike her. She was not the first and wouldn’t be the last victim of the S-Bahn murderer. 

This is a true story about the crimes of a mass murderer, who assaulted and fatally attacked women on a killing spree that lasted nine months. In this episode we follow the work the Criminal Politici and their lead investigator Police Commissioner Wilhelm Ludtke, as he and his team of detectives worked tirelessly to track down this illusive killer. 

However, as the body count mounted the detectives not only had to track down this violent phantom but had to do so against the ever-growing interferences and limitations of Nazi High Command. This is the story of a hunt for truth in a political landscape where the “truth” was whatever Hitler deemed it to be.  

Despite a thorough investigation, how did the killer avert the police for so long? Why did Nazi High command want to keep it a secret? And how did they finally catch the illusive killer?  

Cast List:  

• David Thomas 
• The Author of historical crime thrillers such as “Ostland” and an award-winning journalist, with twenty-five years of experience working for Fleet Street newspapers. 
• Roger Moorhouse 
• A historian and author of many books on the second World War, including ‘Killing Hitler’. He is a specialist in modern German history with particular focus on Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. 
• Dr Linda Papadopoulos 
• The Reader in Psychology at London Metropolitan University, with a 17-year career working as a research scientist and practicing psychologist. 
• Dr Jens Dobler 
• The official historian for the Berlin Police Department.

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