Feldgrau.net

Greetings, all. I'm writing a paper for my ethics class, and I'm wondering if any of you know a Luftwaffe person who was found guilty of war crimes for (and only for) bombing cities.

Definition, according to the Charter that set up the trials:
War Crimes: namely, violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall include, but not be limited to, murder, ill-treatment or deportation to slave labor or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by military necessity;

Goering was found guilty of war crimes, but I kinda have the feeling that it was more for the slave labor than for bombing British cities. According to http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/project ... rials.html that link, there wasn't one; still, someone here might know.

Ogiwan, I'm moving this into the War Crimes Section, where it will be very carefully Moderated...

On that list - Note that Erhard Milch was a Generalfeldmarschall of the Luftwaffe and Air Inspector General...but although sentenced to life imprisonment in Landsberg Prison on two counts...

War crimes by participating in the ill-treatment and use for forced labor of prisoners of war and the deportation of civilians to the same ends;

Crimes against humanity by participating in the murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, imprisonment, torture, and use for slave labor of civilians who came under German control, German nationals, and prisoners of war.

...neither of thse relate to LW bombing of civilian targets.

phylo_roadking wrote:Ogiwan, I'm moving this into the War Crimes Section, where it will be very carefully Moderated...

Ooo, sorry, I didn't even know this section existed.

Phylo, thank you. Was that in the "ministries" trial?

No, 2# - the "Milch Trial"

Erhard Milch is the only onw who have been conicted for War Crimes in the Luftwaffe? I am sure they must have been other.

Regards

I've been through the Premier List, the "Subsequent" List linked to above, the Dachau Trials, the Auschwitz trial, the Belsen Trial, the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials, the Mauthausen-Gusen camp trials, and the Ravensbrück Trial...haven't found anything yet. If anyone has a list of German-run war crimes trials after the IMT ones...?

Just as Donitz was acquited for having violated the laws regarding submarine warfare due to similar allied violation of the same laws, so was Göring and his cohorts not put on trial at Nüremberg for targetting civilians in aerial bombardment. The double standards in such cases would undermine any legal credibility the IMT tried to maintain.

On 8th and 9th of September Luftwaffe was - officialy (according to official German sources) - ordered to bomb an important Polish military target - Koszary (military barracks) near the town of Garwolin:



During two days of German bombings (8th and 9th of September), military barracks near Garwolin did not suffer any damage.

Military barracks near Garwolin were located around 1,000 metres from the town - the bridge was the border of the town:



As the result of the two-days long German bombings of military barracks near Garwolin, military barracks near Garwolin did not suffer any damage, but almost the whole development of the center of the town Garwolin was destroyed by German bombs - almost every civilian building was hit by bombs:









Koszary remained untouched by bombs, the town was destroyed:



What happened there?

Was it a terrible, two-days long, completely discreditable and embarrassing inaccuracy?

Cheers,

Domen

There is also the Bombing of the Polish town Wielun on september 1 1939, It is widely acknowledged that there were no military or industrial targets in the area, and killed approximately 1,200 civilians, about 8% of the town's population of 15,000. Approximately 75% of all the buildings in Wieluń were destroyed. Among the first targets bombed by the Germans was the hospital . Some eyewitnesses claimed that the German planes strafed civilians who were fleeing through the streets.

I think it is a Luftwaffe War crimes.

Regards

Hi Benoit Douville!,

There is also the Bombing of the Polish town Wielun on september 1 1939, It is widely acknowledged that there were no military or industrial targets in the area, and killed approximately 1,200 civilians, about 8% of the town's population of 15,000. Approximately 75% of all the buildings in Wieluń were destroyed. Among the first targets bombed by the Germans was the hospital . Some eyewitnesses claimed that the German planes strafed civilians who were fleeing through the streets.

I think it is a Luftwaffe War crimes.

Regards

But the bombing of Wielun is denied by Marius Emmerling.

I don't know what does he think about the bombing of Garwolin - so I asked him about it (he is registered on our Polish forum):

http://www.dws.org.pl/viewtopic.php?f=5 ... &start=800

Best regards,
Domen

Dzien Dobry,

Who is Marius Emmerling? A historian?

Regards

Yes, from Silesia (so he speaks well both Polish and German). Author of the series of books "Luftwaffe over Poland 1939" ("Luftwaffe nad Polską 1939"):

http://www.gandalf.com.pl/b/luftwaffe-n ... 1939-cz-3/

But the bombing of Wielun is denied by Marius Emmerling.

The claim of a"terror bombing" on Wielun was denied by leading german air war expert, Dr.Horst Boog, too

Jan-Hendrik

I believed a Luftwaffe Fallschirmjaeger unit were involved in the sooting of Cretan civillians at Kondomari as well as the destruction of the village of Kandanos in reprisal of savagely murdered and mutilated German fallschirmjaegers.

I believed one of the officers involved was Horst Trebes.

Field Marshal Kesselring was indicted for for the massacre at Via Rasella after a treacherous attack by the Italian bolshevik partisans