Photos of Allied War Crimes????

[Schmauser]

Hi Guys,

Does anyone know Skodzensky's fate after the Dachau Liberation?

~Regards Schmauser

[Peter]

It was suggested that Skodensky was amongst the 43 or 59 shot by Lieutenant Jack Busheyhead.

Having viewed the pictures available to me of the Dachau shootings by the US 157 Infantry Regt, I think that the various figures between 43 and 59 are VERY likely to be accurate. There are the same number of bodies, something like this number, laying in the background in the famous photos and several others also.

No matter how much Colonel Dr.Buechner (US Army Retired) is believed or not as regards the other instances which have been mentioned in the above post, the deaths resulting from Jack Busheyhead's shooting are photographically documented.

Pete

[pyromaniac]

I'll bet that allies killed lots of unarmed Germans. Of course Soviets killed everyone and were barbaric but even the UK and US I am sure were just as murderous as the Fuhrer was.

[Caldric]

I'll bet that allies killed lots of unarmed Germans. Of course Soviets killed everyone and were barbaric but even the UK and US I am sure were just as murderous as the Fuhrer was.

Well I think you are wrong, not only wrong but also horribly mistaken. 50 men or so at Dachau is nothing compared to the 6 years of terror many Europeans faced. At least they were not unarmed civilians and children, no sir you are mistaken in your assurance that UK and the US were as murderous as Hitler, the crimes such as the above do not even compare.

Yes there were other shootings; there were enormous crimes committed against the Germans and other peoples by the Soviet Army, but barbaric? If they are barbaric they were taught to be so by the Barbaric Kings, the German Military and Political apparatus that stormed across the Soviet Union. Would I shoot Germans and pillage and destroy if I liberated my home town to find it burned to the ground, mass graves or not graves people just left to the birds to be ate by wild animal’s, yeah I most likely could shoot Germans by the bushel. Because when every thing is gone and destroyed there is little left but the desire to destroy those who caused it. What did the Soviet Soldiers have to look forward to in going home? Americans well they were untouched, their women and children safe, same goes for the British for the most part, many of the Soviet Soldier did not have these things to look forward to in their return. Am I defending them? I suppose I am in a way, it is more an explanation of how things were, as they say violence breeds violence.

[DSWOFFORD]

Here is why Buechner's retelling of the Dachau war crime is doubted. From what I previouslyt read about his book "Hour of the Avenger" is that he made the following claims:

I STRONGLY recommend that you read "Dachau: The Hour of the Avenger" by Col. Howard A. Buechner Medical Corps A.U.S. Ret. on this topic.

According to that volume, "12 or 15 SS guards ... had been lined up and shot in front of a large machine shop." This account sounds close to the one that you quote above. However, there were numerous additional shootings of Dachau guards. Buechner documents 122 Killed on the spot, 40 Killed by camp inmates, 12 Machine gunned by "Birdeye", 346 Machine-gunned by Lt. Bushyhead. 520 is the total thus executed.

Note that this volume was written as a first hand account. In addition there was a television documentary detailing similar figures presented in this book. I think the suggestion that the German soldiers merely dropped to the ground is both false and naive. There is a later photograph of two inmates preparing to kill a fallen SS guard with a shovel. In the background one can see the rows of machine gunned guards. This is reproduced on p.114 of Buechner's book.


That is what I had read about Buechners claims in his book, and why many doubt it. 520 executed is a greatly exaggerated figure.

If anyone is interested, here is a link to the official U.S. Army investigation into this incident. It is 120 pages.

http://www.boston.com/globe/nation/pack ... ideo.shtml

(Click on the left column "Transcript of Army investigation")

These posts are old and the Boston Globe link is dead...can someone give an updated link and more information. My father Fst Lt Harry Swofford was XO of Company A, 9th Tank Bat. on the night of 28 April, his Company with embedded AI and AA from CCA and under the name TF Strong were on Hwy 8 enroute to Munich. That evening they bivouacked on the highway and were ordered to divert to the NE to Webling. The next morning 29 Apr they did and arrived on the road and hills around Webling at about 9am. They waited for the infantry...the 222nd from the 42nd Rainbow. Dad said they were more like Rangers than infantry and they arrived on 2.5 ton trucks...Before proceeding Dad was advised that the 33rd Cal Scouts had spotted either Artillery spotters or Snipers in the church tower and ordered him to take down the tower on the Webling church...his first shot missed and flew out over KZ Dachau giving the detainees the first notion that the US was on its way. At about 10am, the armor moved out covering the 222nd infantry toward Webling. In the hamlet, there were some civilians who stuck their heads out and were shot but about 50 Waffen SS soldiers were captured...the standard POW procedure was to disarm the enemy combatants and order them to march West to turn themselves into US Military authorities. These men were all in black and their fanaticism was known. The commander of the Infantry ordered the group divided. One group in the court yard another taken into the field to the east. Rather than take a chance and having them march into captivity, they were all summarily shot. The death of a young US soldier entering the hamlet, shot by the SS men, further angered the leaders of the 222nd.
Their bodies were left and the occupants of the hamlet ordered to bury the SS soldiers.
The Tanks then carried the infantry into Dachau town where they found all the bridges over the Istar destroyed. The infantry dismounted and moved across the river on the remains of bridges. It was these men who then proceeded to KZ Dachau and at about 100 and opened the gate for General Leonard CO of 42nd, who managed to get his jeep across a bridge to the south of Dachau.

Can someone refresh the posts so i can see the photos and the report.

thanks.
Don Swofford

[Peter]

Here are 2 of the pictures, the first showing immediately after the machine gunning and the second showing a US Army officer stopping the killings (pgotos US Official, references above).

[Peter]

I believe the man identified as Skodzensky was later identified as SS-Ustuf Heinrich Wicker, he was apparently killed shortly after the photo was taken (Photo apparently US Official).

[Viehmann]

Hello, Peter,
I come from the birthplace Sponheim of SS-Hauptsturmführer und Kreiskriegerführer Kreuznach Carl Riegel, *01.05.1882. Do you have photos, documents, information etc. of Riegel that you can please send me?
Best regards
Michael
...I'm new here at Axis History

[Peter]

Hi Michael
Sorry I have no photos or documents concerning Riegel

[askropp]

If they are barbaric, they were taught to be so by the Barbaric Kings, the German Military and Political apparatus that stormed across the Soviet Union. [...] Violence breeds violence.

Now I wonder how this theory explains the millions of Soviet citizens killed by Stalin's hordes before WW2, and the tens of thousands of Poles, Finns, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians and Romanians killed by the Red Army and the NKVD while Stalin was allied with Hitler?

[Gorque]

These posts are old and the Boston Globe link is dead...

Can someone refresh the posts so i can see the photos and the report.

thanks.
Don Swofford

Hi Dan Swofford:

Welcome to the forum.

Try this link, full 9 page part 5: http://graphics.boston.com/globe/nation ... dex5.shtml

and the full 120 page transcript: http://graphics.boston.com/globe/nation ... ript.shtml

[LittleBirdDriver]

https://villageatmeadowood.com/SecretWa ... dex1.shtml

https://www.scrapbookpages.com/dachau-s ... -killed-2/

https://www.scribd.com/document/2783598 ... dHolocaust

https://www.scribd.com/book/311533802

Appears the picture has been cropped.

[LittleBirdDriver]

The Boston globe link is dead they pulled the pictures. There is a partial link on the Jewish virtual library. I does discuss the topic that charges were filed against numerous then dropped. The key missing file found in the national archives is here.

file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/21/01/6CD9D35C-91D6-4C53-9400-15D4B256DE8F/IMG_3494.PNG.jpeg

https://furtherglory.wordpress.com/tag/ ... -massacre/

[LittleBirdDriver]

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/da ... -reprisals

[LineDoggie]

Thats one of the series Dan, as it turned out the Camp guards had run and the men shot were Waffen SS recruits from the base at Dachau, not the camp.

I have the name of the officer and details somewhere, I'll post them tomorrow.
cheers
Pete

Point of order they might have been assigned late but still were guards since they would not let the inmates go