NationStates

The Dachau liberation reprisals were a series of incidents in which German prisoners of war were killed by American soldiers and concentration camp internees at the Dachau concentration camp on April 29, 1945, during World War II. It is unclear how many SS members were killed in the incident but most estimates place the number killed at around 35–50. In the days before the camp's liberation SS guards at the camp had forced 7,000 inmates on a death march that resulted in the murder of many from exposure and shooting.[1] When Allied soldiers liberated the camp, their reactions varied from being shocked, horrified, disturbed, and angered by the masses of dead they found and the combativeness of some of the remaining German guards who had initially fired on them and had refused to surrender.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_li ... _reprisals

"American soldiers executed dozens of German guards at the Dachau WWII concentration camp after screaming: 'Let's get those Nazi dogs!'

The US troops opened fire on 50 members of the SS and the Wehrmacht with a machine gun after lining them up and saying: 'Take no prisoners!'

One commander shot dead four other Germans and became so hysterical that his own colonel had to hit him with the butt of his gun to stop him battering a fifth."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -book.html

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It's 1945. The war is coming to its end, and American troops stumble upon the Dachau Concentration Camp. What they find leaves them horrified; thousands of corpses littering the camp and thousands more of imprisoned men women and children clinging to life.

Out of utter disgust and anger, the GIs line up the SS guards and begin shooting them. Other Nazis are beaten to a pulp. Even the prisoners jump in and beat their former captives to death.

After the incident, the event was put under investigation as a possible war crime, with court martials being considered for the GIs who took part. Nevertheless, these charges were dropped by General Patton, who burned the papers and believed that the men had done nothing wrong.

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Were the GIs guilty of their crimes, and if so, should they have been punished by the law? Or did the SS prison guards deserve their fate as the staff of a concentration camp and mass murderers?

I personally am under the impression that while technically illegal, what the GIs did was the norm in the Eastern and Pacific theaters, where the Geneva and Hague Conventions meant absolutely nothing to those fighting. In major conflicts, all laws of war go out the window and the war becomes a matter of kill or be killed. In the event of the Dachau massacre, it is impossible to feel sympathy for the SS, and quite frankly, I believe they deserved it. If you are going to act like a savage animal, you will be treated like a savage animal.

Could they have awaited trial and execution later on? Perhaps, though how many would escape, commit suicide, have their charges dropped, or even be given light sentences?

Iirc, Dachau has a lot more SS guards than just the thirty odd killed, and the killings where quickly stopped, which imho was unfortuanate. The SS often didn’t show any mercy, so frankly they shouldnt have been given any.

On a historical interest note, within a few months American GIs would be siding with German civilians and former military members in what amounted to street battles with Displaced Persons (DPs); most were former inmates of the camps. I forget the work, but I seem to recall a study the U.S. Army did in 1946 and found that soldiers in Germany had rapidly went to a Pro-German stance and expressed contempt for the DPs.

The guards at Dachau deserved to have their genitals branded with a cauterizer, but that's unlawful. And it should be. Revenge is not law, law is law. Those guards, however pitiful the bastards they were, should have had the eyes of a tribunal on them. Americans should know justice is about granting the most heinous of criminals full due process. And if they're found guilty?
Then the revenge can be enacted.

The only "crime" was that the GIs stopped shooting.

Oil exporting People wrote:On a historical interest note, within a few months American GIs would be siding with German civilians and former military members in what amounted to street battles with Displaced Persons (DPs); most were former inmates of the camps. I forget the work, but I seem to recall a study the U.S. Army did a study in 1946 and found that soldiers in Germany had rapidly went to a Pro-German stance and expressed contempt for the DPs.

I'd be interested to see the work. But that seems to be the case for any displaced group sadly enough. They become a Problem and that breeds resentment.

Oil exporting People wrote:On a historical interest note, within a few months American GIs would be siding with German civilians and former military members in what amounted to street battles with Displaced Persons (DPs); most were former inmates of the camps. I forget the work, but I seem to recall a study the U.S. Army did a study in 1946 and found that soldiers in Germany had rapidly went to a Pro-German stance and expressed contempt for the DPs.

Not surprising really.

"American soldiers executed dozens of German guards at the Dachau WWII concentration camp after screaming: 'Let's get those Nazi dogs!'

The US troops opened fire on 50 members of the SS and the Wehrmacht with a machine gun after lining them up and saying: 'Take no prisoners!'

One commander shot dead four other Germans and became so hysterical that his own colonel had to hit him with the butt of his gun to stop him battering a fifth."

The colonel should have let him shoot more.

Can’t say I blame them, I might have snapped and done the same thing under the circumstances, but that doesn’t make it right. They shouldn’t have taken the law into their own hands.

Sovaal wrote:

Oil exporting People wrote:On a historical interest note, within a few months American GIs would be siding with German civilians and former military members in what amounted to street battles with Displaced Persons (DPs); most were former inmates of the camps. I forget the work, but I seem to recall a study the U.S. Army did a study in 1946 and found that soldiers in Germany had rapidly went to a Pro-German stance and expressed contempt for the DPs.

Not surprising really.

American soldiers were also responsible for a lot of rape in France post-liberation.. but..

..but.. I tend to find these debates to be 'see, both sides were equal' as a kind of excuse for the Nazis.. the antonym of 'fine gentlemen on both sides' approach.

Can't really blame them tbh. Would have probably gone berserk as well seeing that shit.

Hypocritical and vindictive

Bombadil wrote:

Sovaal wrote:Not surprising really.

American soldiers were also responsible for a lot of rape in France post-liberation.. but..

..but.. I tend to find these debates to be 'see, both sides were equal' as a kind of excuse for the Nazis.. the antonym of 'fine gentlemen on both sides' approach.

I’m saying it’s not surprising because these guys came from a society where white supremacy was alive and well. Just one that wasn’t (actively) commiting vast ethnic cleansings.

Anyway, I’d imagine France and American occupied Germany where absolute vacations compared to Red held territory.

Understandable, but still unlawful.

Khataiy wrote:Hypocritical and vindictive

The SS often executed prisoners. Anyway, the killing was stopped pretty quickly. And honestly it was a far better fate than they deserved.

Sovaal wrote:

Bombadil wrote:
American soldiers were also responsible for a lot of rape in France post-liberation.. but..

..but.. I tend to find these debates to be 'see, both sides were equal' as a kind of excuse for the Nazis.. the antonym of 'fine gentlemen on both sides' approach.

I’m saying it’s not surprising because these guys came from a society where white supremacy was alive and well. Just one that wasn’t (actively) commiting vast ethnic cleansings.

Anyway, I’d imagine France and American occupied Germany where absolute vacations compared to Red held territory.

Yeah, there's a quote in Second Hand Time by Svetlana Alexeivich by a Russian soldier who says something along the lines of 'any baby born in Berlin in 1946 was half Russian'.

Strength and Order wrote:Understandable, but still unlawful.

Your point is? So if it was "lawful" it would be okay because some random intellectual said so?

I find this story plausible, but the Daily Mail is not a reliable source for anything, and especially not this given their Nazi sympathies.

Bombadil wrote:

Sovaal wrote:Not surprising really.

American soldiers were also responsible for a lot of rape in France post-liberation.. but..

..but.. I tend to find these debates to be 'see, both sides were equal' as a kind of excuse for the Nazis.. the antonym of 'fine gentlemen on both sides' approach.

Are you implying that soldiers are people and can be just as morally ambiguous as civilians? Madness.

Khataiy wrote:Hypocritical and vindictive

The prisoners themselves literally swam across the whole entire compound and killed every German SS Soldier that they could get their hands on. A vengeance unfulfilled.

Sovaal wrote:

Khataiy wrote:Hypocritical and vindictive

The SS often executed prisoners. Anyway, the killing was stopped pretty quickly. And honestly it was a far better fate than they deserved.

Yet again vindictive and hypocritical, America should have never gotten involved.

Khataiy wrote:

Strength and Order wrote:Understandable, but still unlawful.

Your point is? So if it was "lawful" it would be okay because some random intellectual said so?

The Laws of War do not change.

Yup. Completely understandable.

Khataiy wrote:

Sovaal wrote:The SS often executed prisoners. Anyway, the killing was stopped pretty quickly. And honestly it was a far better fate than they deserved.

Yet again vindictive and hypocritical, America should have never gotten involved.

For the record, Germany declared war on them.

Uxupox wrote:

Khataiy wrote:Hypocritical and vindictive

The prisoners themselves literally swam across the whole entire compound and killed every German SS Soldier that they could get their hands on. A vengeance unfulfilled.

That's more reasonable than the US soldiers doing it, considering they were actual victims.