- Anton Dostler
Anton Dostler (
May 10 1891 -December 1 ,1945 ) was a General of infantry in the regular German army duringWorld War II . In the first allied war trial after the war, Dostler was tried and found guilty ofwar crime s and sentenced to death byfiring squad .Execution of U.S. soldiers
On
March 22 ,1944 , fifteen men of theU.S. Army (including two officers) posing as Italian civilians landed on the Italian coast about 100 kilometres north ofLa Spezia , 250 miles behind the then established front. Their mission was to demolish a railroad tunnel between La Spezia andGenoa . Two days later, the group was captured by a party of Italian Fascist soldiers and members of the German army. They were taken toLa Spezia , where they were confined near the headquarters of the135th Fortress Brigade , which was under the command of German Colonel Almers. The immediately superior headquarters was that of the75th German Army Corps , commanded by Dostler.The captured U.S. soldiers were interrogated and one of the U.S. officers revealed the story of the mission. This information was then sent to Dostler at the 75th German Army Corps. The following day (
March 25 ), Dostler sent a telegram to the 135th Fortress Brigade ordering that the captured soldiers be executed. Recognizing that the order was illegal Fact|date=May 2008, officers at the 135th Fortress Brigade contacted Dostler in an attempt to achieve a stay. Dostler then sent another telegram ordering Almers to carry out the execution. Two last attempts were made by the officers at the 135th, including some by telephone. These efforts were unsuccessful and the fifteen Americans were executed on the morning ofMarch 26 ,1944 .Trial,execution and notority
In the first Allied war trial, Dostler was accused of carrying out an illegal order, while Dostler maintained that he did not issue the order, but only passed along an order to Colonel Almers from supreme command. The trial found German General Anton Dostler guilty of war crimes. He was sentenced to death by
firing squad and executed onDecember 1 ,1945 inAversa . The execution was photographed on black and white still and movie cameras.External links
* [http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/dostler.htm The Dostler Case]
* [http://www.nd.edu/~com_sens/issues/old/v17/v17_n5.html#dostler Dostler's defense] Explained by Kent Emery, Jr., son of one of Dostler's defense attorneys.
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKuyMgX5zi0 Video of General Dostler's last minutes on December 1st, 1945]
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