Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau podcast

The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945 - part 5

Published by carolyn on Mon, 2015-07-20 13:00
 
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July 20, 2015

Carolyn reads chapters 9 and 10. Chapter 9, "The Bureau and War Crimes Trials," describes what went into the decisions to hold trials against prisoners of war in German custody. It's divided into sections for Polish, French, British & American, and Russian POW's.

Chapter 10 discusses reprisal actions by the Wehrmacht troops, many of which were threatened but never carried out. De Zayas continues to show his moderate bias for the Allied side and against Adolf Hitler's N-S regime. 1h3m

Rudolf Lehmann was a respectable German jurist who was Judge Advocate General of the Wehrmacht in WWII. He joined the NSDAP in 1935, was arrested by the Americans in 1945, found guilty of war crimes at the Nuremberg High Command trial in 1947. Sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, he was released in 1950, as was typical.

The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945 - part 4

Published by carolyn on Mon, 2015-07-06 19:58
 
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July 6, 2015

Carolyn reads chapters 7 and 8, having to do with how Bureau investigations were used by the German government and by the Wehrmacht.

Chapt. 7 talks about White Books and White Papers which were put out by the German Foreign Office. One unexpected and disappointing development was that when photographs of the atrocities committed on Germans in Poland were published in the White Books, there was such an outcry over the "horror pictures" that Germany stopped adding those images. Naturally, since the Germans didn't commit mutilations on their enemies, the other side didn't have such pictures to print.

Chapt. 8 is about the use of Bureau investigations for "Diplomatic Protection" for prisoners of war, the wounded, medical personnel, etc. A number of examples of protests are given, on both the West and East Fronts (South too). Something I did not know: "thousands of German POW's had already been liquidated by Soviet forces in the first weeks of fighting." 47m28s

Image: A German White book from the First World War, 1914. I could not find a single image of a WWII White Book. Are they outlawed? Enlarge

The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945 - part 3

Published by carolyn on Mon, 2015-06-29 19:41
 
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June 29, 2015

Carolyn reads chapters 5 and 6. Chapter 5, "The Testimony of Witnesses," looks into how credible witness testimony was obtained by the judges. All witnesses took a "real" oath, and the judges sought verification for all testimony, sometimes going to great length to do so.

Chapter 6, "Expert Medical Opinion" explains how medical officers distinguish the nature of wounds, whether from battle or deliberate mutilation, whether inflicted before or after death. The most common mutilations (which occurred daily on the Eastern Front) were the gouging out of eyes and the cutting off of genitals. Severing feet and hands was also carried out by the savage Soviet troops and Jewish partisans. 1hr12m

Left: Corporal Hans Muth, victim of mutilation: medical examination determined that his eyes had been deliberately put out while he was unconscious.

 

The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945 - part 2

Published by carolyn on Fri, 2015-06-26 20:23
 
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June 26, 2015

Carolyn reads chapters 3 and 4. Chapter three is titled "Related German Agencies" and describes the numerous other official agencies with whom the War Crimes Bureau collaborated, and how cooperation was carried out.

Chapter four, "Methods of Obtaining Evidence" tells us how cases were built and gives some vivid examples of mutilations and other outrages committed against German soldiers on the East, West and South Fronts. The bulk of the testimony (approx. 85%) came from ten's of thousands of sworn witnesses giving depositions to military judges or local courts. 1hr11m

The Wehrmacht War Crimes Bureau, 1939-1945 - 1st Installment

Published by carolyn on Mon, 2015-06-22 19:32
 
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June 22, 2015

In this first installment, Carolyn reads selections from the Introduction by Alfred de Zayas and the full content of chapters one and two. Some highlights:

  • Some history of war crimes investigations from WWI;
  • Learning from that war, the German govt. established a new war crimes bureau on Sept. 4, 1939;
  • Name, history and statements from some of the Wehrmacht judges;
  • The author's negative attitude toward the Third Reich and praise for members of the resistance brings up some issues;
  • Hitler's "Barbarossa Decree" of 13 Sept. 1941 is read in full and discussed. 1h33m

An idealist and United Nations advisor, Alfred de Zayas today still has hope for Democracy and the sovereignty of nations.

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