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History > 20th century > WW2 > USA, World > Photo gallery
warning: graphic / distressing
German Gen. Anton Dostler is tied to a stak before his execution by a firing squad in the Aversa stockade.
The General was convicted and sentenced to death by an American military tribunal. Aversa, Italy. Blomgren, December 1, 1945. 111-SC-225295. Pictures of World War II > Prisoners US National Archives http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/photos/images/ww2-171.jpg http://www.archives.gov/research/ww2/photos/
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Dostler was executed for having ordered the shooting of 15 U.S. soldiers captured behind German lines in March 1944.
The Americans were on a sabotage mission and according to the Hague Convention should have been treated as prisoners of war upon their capture.
Dostler, however, claimed in his defense that he was simply carrying out orders, the so-called "Commando Order," he and other German officers had received directly from Adolf Hitler to execute Allied troops captured in German-occupied territory if they were on intelligence or sabotage missions.
The court martial's denial of Dostler's defense set an important precedent for the trial of Nazi war criminals several months later at Nuremberg because it did not allow the accused to claim in their defense that they were only following orders. https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1069534
Related https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn692693 https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1069534 https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn692695 https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn692696
Related > Anglonautes > History > 20th century > WW2 (1939-1945)
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