On February 17, 1945, two U.S. Army Air Force B-17G Flying Fortresses of the 388th Bomber Group were shot down after leaving Frankfurt airspace and crashed in Hanau, killing seven crew members from one aircraft and nine from the other. Four crew members parachuted out before the crashes. Rear gunner S/Sgt. William A. Pitts landed between Offenbach and Mühlheim, became a prisoner of war, and was the only one to survive the war. T/Sgt. Charles Bernard Goldstein, Sgt. Warren George Hammond, and S/Sgt. Joseph Eugene Prokop were seized by security police after landing in Hanau and were transferred to the Gestapo in this building. After Goldstein's religious affiliation was established, Hanau police director Hermann Fehrle ordered the execution of the three U.S. airmen, who were then killed by single shots to their heads.