Quote:
Originally Posted by Stapo
Eye witnesses? None. (Sorry for questioning the value of the memories of a back then 15 year old, non German speaking) Written orders? None. Convesion of doing it ? None
Apart from that, nowadays it would be a war crime, back then it was normal conduct of war.
Due to the German lack of airpower, soldiers like him had to do it, with the allies you had massive, indifferent airstrikes against civilian/military targets as soon as a thinny bit of restistance was recieved or Russian rape/plunder squads running amok.
By the way in another thread goober repeated the claim that US airstrikes were allowed to be ordered as long as no more than 29 civilians were harmed in Iraq /Afghanistan (have no idea whether it's true), just saying. Scheungraber probably would have prefered to serve in such an enviorment as well.
WW2 was different and can't be judged by nowadays standards. There are real cases (guys involved in the holocaust or higher ups ordering retaliation) and there are phantom cases, like this.
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Well, I donīt know for sure which testimonies were used in the trial except the then fifteen year old who survived, but some things seem to be clear :
1. It was a specific german unit who did this.
2. Scheungraber was the commanding officer in the village of Falzano di Cortona, where the massacre took place.
2. The victims were civilians and clearly neither partisans nor terrorists, aged between 15 and 74.
3. German soldiers at that time were disciplined enough to wait for a commanders order to engage in such acts. That they would have committed the killing without Scheungarber knowing and ordering them is rather unlikely.
4. Scheungraber has been talking proudly about his involvement to friends already decades ago.
And lastly I am happy this has NOT been tried by WW II standards. At least this asshole will die in prison.