In many cases members of the Waffen-SS, whose courage and chivalry had often been acknowledged even by their military opponents, were brutally beaten and murdered after they surrendered their arms to Allied forces. Surrender by individuals or small groups was not nearly as common in the Waffen-SS as in the regular Wehrmacht. Individual SS men surrendered in some numbers early in the Normandy invasion, but this became less common as fear of mistreatment became widespread. Most incidents involving Allied personnel alleged by historians to have been war crimes under the law of war in operation at the time were, for a variety of reasons, not investigated by the Allied powers, or were investigated and a decision was taken not to prosecute. Images: youthful members of the highly motivated and much-feared Waffen-SS captured on the outskirts of Caen by the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division in June 1944. Library and Archives Canada. Both photos in the Public domain.
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ReplyDeleteMy dad did not talk much about ww2, but when he did, he talked about how his unit had executed captured Waffen SS. It was a painful past that he could never erase. He simply said "They were just like you and me".
ReplyDeletePrivate Duxbury, they were not like you and me, they were murderers trying to kill as many American and British soldiers as possible. You cannot compare enemy soldiers on the offensive with our soldiers trying to defend themselves.
ReplyDeleteЗря не расстреливали ваффен сс. Какой вообще смысл был оставлять им жизнь, непонятно. Расстрелы пленных практиковались всеми воюющими сторонами.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle went ashore on D Day. He told me he and a couple of fellow soldiers were detailed to take about a dozen German prisoners back to a holding area. Instead they took the prisoners a couple of dunes over and shot them all. He wasn’t sorry in the least.
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