German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Objective research on factual information regarding German military related warcrimes.
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panzermahn
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German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by panzermahn »

Hello all,

I remember reading a case where there were two German naval deserters who deserted from Kriegsmarine in early May 1945 and surrendered to the Canadian military authorities. However, Doenitz actually requested the Canadian military authorities (I believed during the week long Flensburg Government) to tried them by a naval kriegsgericht per German military regulations. As a result, both of them were found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentence were carried in the same month by a firing squad composed of Kriegsmarine POW personnel.

(There is a similar fictional scene in the movie Black Book, where SD Haupsturmfuehrer Muntze, who was initially detained by the Canadian military authorities, who was executed by a firing squad of German POWs when the Obergruppenfuehrer Kaurtner demanded the Canadian allow German military regulations to hand Muntze a death sentence)

Does anyone had anymore information of this case? What is the reaction of the Canadian military authorities?

Also, I read elsewhere that the Kriegsmarine naval search parties (consisted of Marinekustenpolizei) earned the sobriquet "Blue SS" for seemingly to shoot real or perceived naval deserters even without a fliegende sondergericht. There is also a case when a group of naval seaman were shot at the bridge of a minesweeper for refusing to obey the orders of the captain who wanted to return to Hela peninsula to rescue several trapped soldiers

Panzermahn
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Richard Schoutissen
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Re: German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by Richard Schoutissen »

Sun May 13, 2007

Further Information

Image

Image
German and Canadian sentries guard the entrance to the IJmuiden (NL) Concentration area.


The Execution of German Deserters by
Surrendered German Troops Under Canadian
Control near Amsterdam, May 1945

Introduction

On the morning of 13 May 1945, five days
after the formal capitulation of Hitler's
Wehrmacht, a German military court delivered
death sentences on two German naval
deserters, Bruno Dorfer and Rainer Beck. The
trial occurred in an abandoned Ford assembly
plant on the outskirts of Amsterdam, a site
used by the Canadian army for the
concentration of German naval personnel. Later
that same day, a German firing squad, supplied
with captured German rifles and a three-ton
truck from the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
and escorted by Canadian Captain Robert K.
Swinton, executed the two German prisoners
of war a short distance outside the enclosure.1
Dorfer and Beck were among the last victims of
a military legal system distorted by the Nazi
state. At the time no one, Canadian or German,
questioned the justice of the event.

Conclusion

The execution of Bruno Dorfer and Rainer
Beck by surrendered German troops in
Canadian custody was a product of many
factors. Under a dubious interpretation of
international law, Canadian military authorities
permitted a continuation of the German military
structure after the demise of the Third Reich.
German assistance was indispensable in the
disarmament, concentration, and evacuation
of the German armed forces within Holland.
Unfortunately, disinterested Canadian military
authorities also left the German military in
control of order and discipline. German
commanders and military judges applied a
military law warped by National Socialism.
The Canadian military, distracted by larger
political and strategic concerns, tardily
instituted restrictions on these proceedings.
Dorfer and Beck, seeking safety and friends,
instead found indifference and enemies. Were
the deaths of Dorfer and Beck avoidable? Yes!
Indeed, it is hard to understand why Canadian
military authorities did not follow, from their
first arrival in Amsterdam, the graduated policy
eventually adopted towards German deserters.
In the case of Dorfer and Beck, only one strong
voice along the Canadian or German military
hierarchies was needed to question the irony of
the situation. Disappointingly, none was
present.
panzermahn
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Re: German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by panzermahn »

Hi Richard

Thanks for the information! This is what I had read before a couple of years ago. Do you know of anymore such cases right after the capitulation of Germany?

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Richard Schoutissen
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Re: German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by Richard Schoutissen »

panzermahn wrote:Hi Richard

Thanks for the information! This is what I had read before a couple of years ago. Do you know of anymore such cases right after the capitulation of Germany?

Panzermahn
Not here in the Netherlands, but in Germany for example there where 5 German soldiers of the 6. Gebirgs-Division who where shot by comrades of the Divisions-Nachrichtenabteilung. These 5 Soldiers where sentenced to death on Mai 10 1944 because they tried to desert to Sweden and killed a Leutnant and there Batteriechef when attempting this.

You will find more via Google I guess . . .
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crolick
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Re: German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by crolick »

Though not after WWII but nevertheless quite interesting:
http://forumarchiv.balsi.de/marine/176069/index.html
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grumblejones
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Re: German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by grumblejones »

Charles Whiting describes the executions of Seaman Glasmacher and Petty Officer Beck in his book, THE END OF THE WAR Europe: April 15-May 23, 1945.
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Re: German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by Björn »

Regarding those from 6 GD, they were executed in Norway, not Germany.
Here is some info: http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 0&t=125014

B.
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Re: German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by alan newark »

Hi guys..

Panzermahn and Richard are clearly discussing the Ph D work, by Canadian Chris Madsen, entitled, briefly, 'Victims of Circumstance'.....I myself have read this paper and have used its well-researched contents in relation to my own researches about the end of WWII in Holland.

Just thought that Chris should get due credit...

Al:->
www.dpcamps.org (1st Vice-President)
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PA. Dutchman
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Re: German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by PA. Dutchman »

You should be able to bring up the entire story as a PDFile at this link,

http://www.wlu.ca/lcmsds/cmh/back%20iss ... ontrol.pdf
Sincerely yours,
PA.Dutchman
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Re: German naval deserters shot by Kriegsmarine after WW2

Post by PA. Dutchman »

Here is the movie that was made a few years ago.

Here is the movie you mentioned.

5th Day of Peace

Dio è con noi(1972) PG

During the days after World War II, two out-of-uniform German soldiers roaming the battle-scarred landscape end up court-martialed for desertion and condemned to die -- despite an Allied decree preventing Germans from holding military tribunals. A Canadian officer (Richard Johnson) in charge of the prisoner-of-war camp must decide whether to let the Germans put the pair to death. Giuliano Montaldo directs this gripping tale based on a true incident.

Genre:
Military & War Dramas, Classic War Stories
This movie is:
Dark
Availability:
DVD
Attachments
499987.jpg
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Sincerely yours,
PA.Dutchman
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