The Ernest Hemingway (alleged) murder of German PoWs

[tenoriodj]

Hi all

I have come across snippets about the alleged murder of unarmed german PoWs in France by Ernest hemingway. Then 2 months ago while visiting with Hans Mehrle in Stuttgart (RK April 1944), he reminded me about this. Speaking in passing about a book by hemingway he stopped me and began to explain to us (my gf, his wife and me), how Hemingway is a "murderer" for shooting these soldaten who had surrendered and were under his care in a French village

Hemingway was a war correspondent in 1944 in France and also in and around Jurtgen forest, i understand.

Anyone can shed more light on exactly what happened and if its well documented somewhere?

heres what I managed to find so far:

http://www.archives.gov/publications/pr ... ngway.html
“…Attaching himself to the 22nd Regiment commanded by Col. Charles "Buck" Lanham as it drove toward Paris (whose liberation he would later witness and write about). Before doing so, Hemingway led a controversial effort to gather military intelligence in the village of Rambouillet and, with military authorization, took up arms himself with his small band of irregulars. According to World War II historian Paul Fussell, "Hemingway got into considerable trouble playing infantry captain to a group of Resistance people that he gathered because a correspondent is not supposed to lead troops, even if he does it well."

On June 23, 1951, Hemingway wrote to C. L. Sulzberger of the New York Times with his own explanation: "Certain allegations of fighting and commanding irregular troops were made but I was cleared of these by the Inspector General of the Third Army. . . . For your information, I had an assignment to write only one article a month for Colliers and I wished to make myself useful between those monthly pieces. I had a certain amount of knowledge about guerilla warfare and irregular tactics as well as a grounding in more formal war and I was willing and happy to work for or be of use to anybody who would give me anything to do within my capabilities."

In fact, Hemingway crossed the line from reporter to combatant a number of times. Exactly how many German soldiers he killed is open to debate. William E. Cote, a professor at Michigan State University, completed a detailed study on the subject and came to the conclusion that it was impossible to confirm an accurate body count.

'According to Hemingway himself, he killed either twenty-six or 122 men..'.
-Professor William Cote

"He was a storyteller. He didn't know when the truth and fiction stopped."
- William Walton - friend and fellow war correspondent

[John W. Howard]

Hello Tenoriodj:
I have never heard such an allegation before, but that does not mean it is not true. Please let us know more details, so we might check further. Best wishes.

[tenoriodj]

heres another link with more details

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_q ... 36583/pg_1

[Mansal D]

Saddening.

[Gebirgsjaeger]

What an a**hole....

[Schultz]

the link you have doesn't work for me but i have read on this before and i see no shocking anything as others have, in war people kill people, and from what i have read on the topic he didn't do anything surprising or out of line for the time or situation. So what crime? I dont see one.

Schultz

[sturm und drang]

I have read this notice that shocked me.
I shall avoid to buy books written by Hemingway.
To Schultz: if committed by a German soldier is a CRIME
if committed by an American, Russian, Canadian, ecc. ecc. isn't a crime?

[Gott Mit Uns]

I started this thread, and I am afraid some of what I said was misunderstood. I did NOT say that Ernest Hemingway killed German POW'S. i did say that at various times during the seven months he was traveling as a war correspondent wi6h the 22nd Infantry Regiment he very likely killed a number of German soldiers. To put it concisely, at various times he entered innto combat. This was a violation of the Geneva Converntion. A number of other journalists complained that Hemingway stepping over the line from correspondent to combatant/soldier jeopardised their safety.

I have done considerable research on this subject and have confirmed to my own satisfaction that he took up arms when the 22nd Infantry's command post was attacked by a group of German s0ldiers who had been bypassed in the initial allied push into the Hurtgen Forest, They were trying to break out and attempted to overrun the command post. Was his taking up arms in this situation justified? I weould certainly think so. The Germans sure as hell weren't in the heat of battle going to stop to check Hemingway's credentials as a journalist. He was pretty good with a Thompson submachinegun, and his actions no doupt helped save the day for the 22nd.

He shot and killed a German dispatch rider on a motorcycle near Villabaudon France which is where he got the Gott Mit Uns belt and buckle. And he shot and killed a German soldier on a bicycle on a road near the french Belgian border. The soldier turned out to be a teenager. Hemingway wrote a short story about it BLACK ASS AT THE CROSSROADS which was not published until after Hemingway's death. It is not my intention to praise HeminGway, nor condem him for his actions. It was afterall war..and sometimes it was kill or be killed.

Repeating for the sake of accuracy. in my research I have found nothing that would indicate Hemingwayy killed German pow's.

Tom Sanders

[Gott Mit Uns]

Oh yes...to the gentleman who says he will no longer buy Hemingway's books....In 1936, the Nazi party staged a book burning in Berlin as Goebbels the minister of Propaganda put it, the objective was to cleanse the nation of "un-German" thoughts and influence. Hemingways books were among those thrown into the fire.

[John W. Howard]

Hi Tom:
The allegations that Hemingway killed two unarmed German POW's are new to me; I only heard about the allegations when Tenoriodj made his first post. I too have never come across any info which mentioned such a thing, but I did know that he was alleged to have participated in combat. Hopefully nothing will turn up; Hemingway was a complex man, but I don't think he was a murderer. Keep us posted on anything new you find. Best wishes.