67 years ago on this day (1 December 1945), a
German General by the name of Anton Dostler was executed by firing squad in
Aversa, Italy. I got the information about him from Wikipedia and there is a
video of his execution.
Anton Dostler (Munich, May 10, 1891 – Aversa,
December 1, 1945) was a General of the Infantry in the regular German army
during World War II. In the first allied war trial after the war, Dostler was tried
and found guilty of war crimes and sentenced to death by firing squad.
Military
career:
Anton Dostler joined the German Army in 1910
and served as a junior officer during World War I. From the start of World War
II to 1940, he served as Chief of Staff of the 7th Army. Subsequently, he
commanded the 57th Infantry Division (1941–1942), the 163rd Infantry Division
(1942) and the 42nd Army Corps (1943–1944) in Italy. He was appointed to
command the 75th Army Corps in January 1944.
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German General Anton Dostler is tied to a
stake 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., 12/01/1945
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Execution
of U.S. soldiers:
On March 22, 1944, fifteen soldiers of the
U.S. Army dressed as Italian civilians, including two officers, landed on the
Italian coast about 15 kilometres north of La Spezia, 400 km (250 miles) behind
the then established front. The mission was an OSS operation codenamed Ginny
II. Their objective was to demolish a tunnel at Framura on the important
railroad line between La Spezia and Genoa. Two days later, the group was
captured by a party of Italian Fascist soldiers and members of the German
Wehrmacht. They were taken to La Spezia, where they were confined near the
headquarters of the 135th Fortress Brigade, which was under the command of
German Colonel Almers. The immediate, superior command was that of the 75th
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. The information,
including that it was a commando raid, was then sent to Dostler at the 75th
Army Corps. The following day (March 25), Dostler sent a telegram to the 135th
Fortress Brigade ordering that the captured soldiers be executed. This order
was an implementation of Hitler's secret Commando Order of 1941 which required
the immediate execution without trial of commandos and saboteurs. Officers at
the 135th Fortress Brigade contacted Dostler in an attempt to achieve a stay of
execution. 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 of March 26, 1944, at Punta Bianca south of La
Spezia, in the municipality of Ameglia. Their bodies were buried in a mass
grave that was then camouflaged. Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten, a member of
Dostler's staff who was unaware of the secret Commando Order and who had
refused to sign the execution order, was dismissed from the Wehrmacht for insubordination.
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German General Anton
Dostler's body slumps toward the ground after being executed by a firing squad
at Aversa, Italy. The hands still grip a rosary. The general was convicted and
sentenced to death by an American Military Tribunal.
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Trial,
execution and notoriety:
Dostler became a prisoner of the Americans on
8 May 1945 and was put before a military tribunal at the seat of the Supreme
Allied Commander, the Royal Palace in Caserta. In the first Allied war trial,
he was accused of carrying out an illegal order. In his defense, he maintained
that he had not issued the order, but had only passed along an order to Colonel
Almers from supreme command. The trial found General Dostler guilty of war
crimes, rejecting the defense of Superior Orders.
He was sentenced to death and shot by a
firing squad on December 1, 1945 in Aversa. The execution was photographed on
black and white still and movie cameras.
Check this video to see his execution:
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