Monday, July 12, 2010
Via The Flea, who writes:
The good old days. And not a "human rights" lawyer in sight.
It was possible to stand for some sense of honor at the time, had one had the guts:
The captured U.S. soldiers were interrogated and one of the U.S. officers revealed the story of the mission. This information was then sent to Dostler at the 75th German Army Corps. The following day (March 25), Dostler sent a telegram to the 135th Fortress Brigade ordering that the captured soldiers be executed. Recognizing that the order was harsh [citation needed], officers at the 135th Fortress Brigade contacted Dostler in an attempt to achieve a stay. Dostler then sent another telegram ordering Almers to carry out the execution. Two last attempts were made by the officers at the 135th, including some by telephone. These efforts were unsuccessful and the fifteen Americans were executed on the morning of March 26, 1944. Alexander zu Dohna-Schlobitten, who refused to sign the execution order, was dismissed from Wehrmacht service because of his insubordination.
There is in fact something deeply honorable and sane in this scene, absent any morbid quality whatsoever, absent pettiness, malice, vindictiveness, or anything remotely or the kind; an honorable exercise in simple justice. Yet the would-be, more-righteous-than-thou, myopic "human rights" trumpeters, one can hear their harrumphs even in their silence. Harrumph, harrumph, harrumph ...