International: One for Fifteen

The first Nazi general to be executed for war crimes fell before a U.S. firing squadin Aversa,Italy last week. General Anton Dostler was shot because he had ordered the execution of 15 American soldiers who were captured behind German lines in March 1944 while trying to blow up a railroad tunnel. Dostler’s defense was that he acted on Hitler’s orders. The court held that, even with explicit instructions from above, to shoot uniformed men without trial is against the code of war.

Some senior U.S. Army officers let reporters know that they doubted the verdict’s justice. Professional soldiers were still not converted to the new morality.