"Other" war crimes - Commando Order

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"Other" war crimes - Commando Order

#1

Post by David Thompson » 11 Jan 2003, 20:47

Hitler's "commando decree" of 18 Oct 1942 directed German military commanders to turn certain types of POWs over to the Security Service (Sicherheitsdienst - SD) for interrogation and execution. After the end of WWII, allied military tribunals convicted a number of German military officers and officials of the SD of war crimes for complying with this order.

Should compliance with this order have been considered a war crime?

Here is the text of the "commando decree" of 18 Oct 1942 (from "Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression vol. 3, pp. 416-17 and 426-30):
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Kommandobefehl 2.jpg
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Kommandobefehl 1.jpg
Kommandobefehl 1.jpg (83 KiB) Viewed 3649 times
Last edited by David Thompson on 11 Jan 2003, 20:57, edited 1 time in total.

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#2

Post by David Thompson » 11 Jan 2003, 20:53

Here is a supplementary order to the "commando decree," also issued 18 Oct 1942:
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Kommandobefehl 5.jpg
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Kommandobefehl 4.jpg
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Kommandobefehl 3.jpg
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#3

Post by David Thompson » 11 Jan 2003, 20:54

Supplement part 2:
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Kommandobefehl 7.jpg
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Kommandobefehl 6.jpg
Kommandobefehl 6.jpg (139.55 KiB) Viewed 3596 times

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#4

Post by David Thompson » 13 Jan 2003, 03:16

Scott -- In regard to this matter, you wrote: "Executing captured commandos out of uniform is completely justified. You don't waltz into a foreign country with patriotic bullshit on your tongue and mayhem in your mind and expect that there not to be any consequences, even in wartime. When some German spies landed in the USA by U-Boat during the war they were executed, some only teenagers. It is a bit hypocritical to say that the same should not happen to Allied spies and saboteurs."

I was thinking of something different from executing armed marauders who weren't wearing a uniform when they were captured. I don't think those people qualify as prisoners of war. There's certainly a long history of that kind of person being executed by enemy forces.

Instead, I was thinking of the cases in which uniformed troops, like US rangers, British commandos, or uniformed paratroopers are captured behind enemy lines, and then executed.

Here's an example (from Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. 5, pp. 330-332; the case is reported more fully at http://www.ess.uwe.ac.uk/WCC/dostler.htm):
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Dostler 3.jpg
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Dostler 2.jpg
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Dostler 1.jpg
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#5

Post by David Thompson » 16 Jan 2003, 08:14

Here are some additional primary source documents on this subject, from "Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression" vol. 3, pp 430-443:
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Commando NCA 3-432.jpg
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Commando NCA 3-431.jpg
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Commando NCA 3-430.jpg
Commando NCA 3-430.jpg (81.87 KiB) Viewed 3540 times

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#6

Post by David Thompson » 16 Jan 2003, 08:16

Part 2:
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Commando NCA 3-435.jpg
Commando NCA 3-435.jpg (101.8 KiB) Viewed 3534 times
Commando NCA 3-434.jpg
Commando NCA 3-434.jpg (108.73 KiB) Viewed 3533 times
Commando NCA 3-433.jpg
Commando NCA 3-433.jpg (124.21 KiB) Viewed 3535 times

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#7

Post by David Thompson » 16 Jan 2003, 08:23

Part 3:
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Commando NCA 3-438.jpg
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Commando NCA 3-437.jpg
Commando NCA 3-437.jpg (69.5 KiB) Viewed 3531 times
Commando NCA 3-436.jpg
Commando NCA 3-436.jpg (116.07 KiB) Viewed 3534 times

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#8

Post by David Thompson » 16 Jan 2003, 08:25

Part 4:
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Commando NCA 3-441.jpg
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Commando NCA 3-440.jpg
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Commando NCA 3-439.jpg
Commando NCA 3-439.jpg (107.1 KiB) Viewed 3530 times

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#9

Post by David Thompson » 16 Jan 2003, 08:27

Part 5:
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Commando NCA 3-443.jpg
Commando NCA 3-443.jpg (75.92 KiB) Viewed 3527 times
Commando NCA 3-442.jpg
Commando NCA 3-442.jpg (133.73 KiB) Viewed 3527 times

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#10

Post by David Thompson » 16 Jan 2003, 23:58

More documents on this subject, from "Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression" vol. 3, pp. 855-62:
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Commando NCA 3-857.jpg
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Commando NCA 3-856.jpg
Commando NCA 3-856.jpg (99.92 KiB) Viewed 3520 times
Commando NCA 3-855.jpg
Commando NCA 3-855.jpg (40.5 KiB) Viewed 3522 times

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#11

Post by David Thompson » 17 Jan 2003, 00:00

Part 2:
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Commando NCA 3-860.jpg
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Commando NCA 3-859.jpg
Commando NCA 3-859.jpg (100.78 KiB) Viewed 3522 times
Commando NCA 3-858.jpg
Commando NCA 3-858.jpg (121.87 KiB) Viewed 3522 times

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#12

Post by David Thompson » 17 Jan 2003, 00:01

Part 3:
Attachments
Commando NCA 3-862.jpg
Commando NCA 3-862.jpg (82.89 KiB) Viewed 3520 times
Commando NCA 3-861.jpg
Commando NCA 3-861.jpg (96.48 KiB) Viewed 3521 times

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#13

Post by David Thompson » 17 Jan 2003, 03:06

Here are more documents from "Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression" vol. 6, pp. 1011-16:
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Commando NCA 6-1013.jpg
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Commando NCA 6-1012.jpg
Commando NCA 6-1012.jpg (92.34 KiB) Viewed 3515 times
Commando NCA 6-1011.jpg
Commando NCA 6-1011.jpg (53.06 KiB) Viewed 3515 times

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#14

Post by David Thompson » 17 Jan 2003, 03:08

Part 2:
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Commando NCA 6-1016.jpg
Commando NCA 6-1016.jpg (83.04 KiB) Viewed 3513 times
Commando NCA 6-1015.jpg
Commando NCA 6-1015.jpg (116.45 KiB) Viewed 3515 times
Commando NCA 6-1014.jpg
Commando NCA 6-1014.jpg (98.79 KiB) Viewed 3513 times

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#15

Post by David Thompson » 17 Jan 2003, 19:02

Here are some more "Commando order" documents from "Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression" vol. 7, pp. 145-48; p. 164, and pp. 798-99:
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Commando NCA 7-147.jpg
Commando NCA 7-147.jpg (135.59 KiB) Viewed 3508 times
Commando NCA 7-146.jpg
Commando NCA 7-146.jpg (137.3 KiB) Viewed 3509 times
Commando NCA 7-145.jpg
Commando NCA 7-145.jpg (20.12 KiB) Viewed 3507 times

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