Convictions were in the news.
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German U-boat commander Heinz-Wilhelm Eck, age 29, German U-boat , was executed as a war criminal for ordering his crew to shoot the survivors of the Greek merchant ship Peleus in March 1944.
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German civilians were executed for killing downed airmen.
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Recorded on this day in 1945:
The Sheridan Press reported on wolves and war brides.
While it was headline news, the post war investigation of Pearl Harbor was still getting a lot of press as well.
We don't think much about the post war finger pointing now.
Today In Wyoming's History: November 20: 1945 Mindful of an industry that had become significant in the state even well before World War One, Gov. Lester Hunt urged western governors to cooperate in selling the West to tourists who would follow the end of World War Two. Attribution. Wyoming History Calendar.
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The Japanese Supreme War Council agreed to accept the Potsdam Declaration contingent upon the preservation of the Japanese Monarchy.
The Soviet Union declared war on Japan, making the declaration proactive as to midnight, August 9.
The declaration stated:
On Aug. 8, People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the U.S.S.R. Molotoff received the Japanese Ambassador, Mr. Sato, and gave him, on behalf of the Soviet Government, the following for transmission to the Japanese Government:
After the defeat and capitulation of Hitlerite Germany, Japan became the only great power that sill stood for the continuation of the war.
The demand of the three powers, the United States, Great Britain and China, on July 26 for the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces was rejected by Japan, and thus the proposal of the Japanese Government to the Soviet Union on mediation in the war in the Far East loses all basis.
Taking into consideration the refusal of Japan to capitulate, the Allies submitted to the Soviet Government a proposal to join the war against Japanese aggression and thus shorten the duration of the war, reduce the number of victims and facilitate the speedy restoration of universal peace.
Loyal to its Allied duty, the Soviet Government has accepted the proposals of the Allies and has joined in the declaration of the Allied powers of July 26.
The Soviet Government considers that this policy is the only means able to bring peace nearer, free the people from further sacrifice and suffering and give the Japanese people the possibility of avoiding the dangers and destruction suffered by Germany after her refusal to capitulate unconditionally.
In view of the above, the Soviet Government declares that from tomorrow, that is from Aug. 9, the Soviet Government will consider itself to be at war with Japan.
Following the war American critics often viewed this as the USSR rushing in to grab the spoils, something the Soviets were certainly not against, but in fact the Western Allies had been asking for the Soviets to declare war on Japan for some time, and had confirmed this intent as recently as Potsdam. The timing of it, moreover, is not something the USSR could have rushed, due to the necessity to stage troops in Asia for Operation August Storm, it's invasion of Manchuria.
A war with the USSR was one of Japan's single biggest fears during the Second World War. For that matter, a Japanese attack on the Soviet Union was one that the USSR had initially dreaded, but which it new it was safe from due to the intelligence activities of Richard Sorge.
Radio Tokyo gave a full report on the bombing of Hiroshima, accusing the United States of barbarism, stating that the US had used methods that; "have surpassed in hideous cruelty those of Genghis Khan."
It's an interesting analogy in that Japan was never invaded by the Mongols, a point of pride and myth in Japan.
Truman issued a radio broadcast threatening to destroy Japan with atomic bombs. At the time, the US had exactly one atomic bomb left, and one under production, both of the "Fat Man" type.
The Nuremberg Charter was issued establishing the laws and procedures by which the Nuremberg Trials.
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The German government, in anticipation of invading the Soviet Union, issued a regulation concerning the conduct of German soldiers in the East. This document is known as the "Barbarossa Decree". It was issued by Wilhelm Keitel.
It's text reads:
Fuehrer Decree, 13 May 1941, on Regulation of Conduct of
Troops in District "Barbarossa" and Handling of Opposition.SECRET
The Fuehrer and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces
Enclosure to 32/ 41 g. Kdos.Chefs. WR.
1st copy.Fuehrer headquarters, 13 May 1941
[Initialed] "J 10/ 5"TOP SECRET
Decree for the conduct of courts-martial in the district "BARBAROSSA" and for special measures of the troop [written in ink]
The armed forces court-martial serves primarily the purpose of maintaining discipline.
The great expanse of the Eastern theatre of operations, the kind of warfare necessitated on that account, and the peculiarity of the opponent present tasks to the armed forces courts-martial which they can accomplish during the course of the war and until the first pacification of the conquered territory-being short staffed-only if the court-martial is limited to its main task.
This is only possible if the troop itself defends itself ruthlessly against any threat by the enemy civil population.
Accordingly, the following is decreed for the territory "Barbarossa" (theater of operation, rear army area and area of the political administration):
Treatment of punishable offenses of enemy civilians
1. Punishable offenses committed by enemy civilians do not, until further notice, come any more under the jurisdiction of the courts-martial and the summary courts-martial.
2. Guerillas are to be killed ruthlessly by the troops in battle or during pursuit.
3. Also all other attacks of enemy civilians against the Wehrmacht, its members and employees are to be fought by the troops at the place of the attack with the most extreme means until annihilation of the attacker.
4. In cases where measures of this kind were neglected or not immediately possible, elements suspected of offense will be brought at once before an officer. He decides whether they are to be shot.
Against villages from which the Wehrmacht was insidiously and maliciously attacked, collective punitive measures by force will be carried out immediately under command of an officer with the rank of at least a battalion commander, if the circumstances do not permit an immediate identification of individual perpetrators.
5. It is expressly prohibited to hold suspected perpetrators in order to transfer them to the courts upon reinstitution of their jurisdiction over civilians.
6. The commanders in chief of the army groups can, in conjunction with the competent commanders of the air force and the navy, restore the Wehrmacht jurisdiction over civilians in districts which are sufficiently pacified.
For the area of the political administration this decree is issued through the chief of the high command of the Wehrmacht [marginal ink correction inked out: C-n-C of army in agreement with C-i-C of other branches.]
II
Treatment of punishable offenses of members of the Wehrmacht and its employees against the native population
1. For offenses committed by members of the Wehrmacht and its employees against enemy civilians, prosecution is not compulsory, not even if the offense is at the same time a military crime or violation.
2. While judging offenses of this kind, it should be considered in every case, that the breakdown in 1918, the time of suffering of the German people after that, and the numerous blood sacrifices of the movement in the battle against national socialism were decidedly due to the Bolshevist influence, and that no German has forgotten this.
3. The judge examines therefore whether in such cases disciplinary action is justified or whether it is necessary to take legal steps. The judge orders the prosecution of offenses against civilians through court-martial only if it is considered necessary for the maintenance of discipline or the security of the troops. This applies, for instance, to cases of serious offenses which are based on sexual acts without restraint, which derive from a criminal tendency, or which are a sign that the troop threatens to mutiny. The punishable offenses of destroying senselessly quarters as well as supplies or other captured goods to the disadvantage of the own troop should, as a rule, be judged as more leniently.
The order of the inquiry proceedings requires in every individual case the signature of the judge.
Extreme care must be exercised when judging the authenticity of the statements of enemy civilians.
III
Responsibility of the troop commanders
The troop commanders are, within the sphere of their competence, personally responsible for the following :
1. that all officers of the units subordinated to them are very thoroughly and promptly instructed about the fundamentals of I,
2. that their legal advisors be promptly informed about these instructions and about the verbal statements with which the political intentions of the leadership had been explained to the commanders-in-chief,
3. that only such sentences will be confirmed which are in accord with the political intentions of the leadership.
IV
Protection of secret
After end of camouflage the decree is to be considered only as secret.
For the chief of the high command of the Wehrmacht-
Signed : KEITEL
Note [in pencil] : This should, if possible, not be passed on 1 June 41.
Certified
The decree essentially licensed German brutality directed at civilians.
The nature of the decree leaves very little excuse for the "good German army" myth that some latter day apologist continue to maintain about the German army during the war. It's now well established that the Heer was fully complicit in atrocities and that regular German soldiers participated in them. The decree shows that these acts were anticipated, and even encouraged, right from the onset. The war against the Soviet Union was intended to be genocidal by its very nature.
Keitel would pay for his complicity in such matters with his life. He was tried in the Nuremberg trials and received the death sentence.
On the same day, the RAF bombed Heligoland, an island of the northern coast of Germany.
Senta Berger, the Austrian actress known to American audiences for her role in Major Dundee, was born. Berger fit into the "bombshell" category of actresses who were highly popular during the 1950s and 1960s, quite a few of which were European. Berger retired early from acting.
