US Military Executions of German Nationals after WW2

War brings terrible things, even after it is over. Almost forgotten in history is the outrage that US soldiers must have felt as they liberated the concentration camps of Nazi Germany in 1945. Of course, we have all heard of the Nuremburg trials for the Nazi leaders to pay for their crimes.

However less known is that the US Military executed many German nationals after the war both in Europe and here is the United States (usually at Ft. Leavenworth) Most were executed for crimes against humanity, or murdering US POWS. Some were condemned because they would hunt downed pilots and kill them before they could be captured by German authorities. Some were executed because of their part in the concentration camps. Here is a clip of one of these incidents. It is graphic.

http://www.military.com/video/opera...-military-police-execute-spies/1445432073001/

Also, as a side note the US Army executed 160 US soldiers during WW2, usually for rape or murder, but a few for desertion or spying.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_by_the_United_States_military

 

News is in the eye of the beholder. It is news because I never heard of it before. I knew of the Nuremburg trials, but was unaware of all the local executions by the US Army. I am not defending it, but what would you think if you had just liberated one of the concentration camps and found warehouses full of rotting corpses, gas chambers, labs that experimented on humans, and the ones that were alive looking like skeletons. I am sure the ones executed got a hearing. I am not defending their actions, but I can understand a situation like that demanding swift and sure justice.

 

If the military executed the truly guilty yes. In isolated areas, and emotions running high, there is no way to know how thorough the hearings were. It is certainly not a well known fact in history.