Martial Justice: The Last Mass Execution in the United States (Bluejacket Books) [Paperback]

Richard Whittingham (Author)

Book Description

Series: Bluejacket Books | Publication Date: October 1997

On August 25,1945, seven young German POW submariners were hanged at Fort Leavenworth. It was the largest single execution in the United States in the twentieth century and the country's last mass execution. Their crime was the murder of a fellow German prisoner, a man they called a traitor because he helped interrogate other German prisoners. But why was their execution carried out four months after the end of the war for conduct many Americans would have expected of their own POWs in an enemy camp? And why was this "traitor" sent to the very camp where the men he had interrogated were imprisoned? Why did President Harry S. Truman, who signed the orders of execution, decline to be interviewed by the author, and why did all documents relating to the case vanish from the Truman Library after the author requested a research permit? Richard Whittingham probes the events that led to the murder, its perpetration, the brutal interrogation, the court-martial, and the execution, and he reveals how the seven were used as pawns by the U.S. government for the return of American prisoners in German hands before the war's end - then executed once Germany surrendered. The author also raises questions about military justice and the treatment of prisoners of war that are as controversial today as they were when this book was written more than two decades ago.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 155750945X
• ISBN-13: 978-1557509451
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,542,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A conflict between honor and the fight against tyranny., November 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Martial Justice: The Last Mass Execution in the United States (Bluejacket Books) (Paperback)

Martial Justice: The Last Mass Execution in the United States is a compelling account of a conflict between honor and the fight against tyranny. A historical tragedy of German Submariner POW Werner Drechsler who was willing to sacrifice the bond of comradeship to save his homeland. On the other side, seven fellow German Submariner POWs who see Drechsler as a traitor. The actions taken by the seven leads them down a twisted wartime legal path that ends with their execution after the surrender of Germany. The book examines the strong bonds of loyalty shared amongst these young men. A close-knit fraternity which became stronger through adversity. The many questions left unanswered by history begs the reader to examine the tarnished legacy left behind by the prisoner of war experience in the United States.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing study of a little-known event in American wartime, November 7, 1999

By 

Dave Nelson ([e-mail]) (Minneapolis MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martial Justice: The Last Mass Execution in the United States (Bluejacket Books) (Paperback)

Completely fascinating. Most Americans don't even know we had hundreds of camps all over the U.S. that housed German POWs. We study all the heros and villains of the war in broad terms, and tend to forget that there were thousands of little events that to the people involved were every bit as important as the publicized events. The U.S. Army executed a group of Germans who did what the American Army itself would have expected of its soldiers, and hushed up if American POWs did exactly the same thing. This is a frightening study of how the military bureaucracy is a law unto its own purposes. "The Killing of Corporal Kunz" and "Extreme Justice" are further fascinating looks at the same kind of situation.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addictive!, April 6, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Martial Justice: The Last Mass Execution in the United States (Bluejacket Books) (Paperback)

Captivating, I couldn't put it down. Very well researched and extremely well written and easy to read. Any student of the U-boat was would do well to read this sad chapter in the history of the Ubootwaffe. It really gets into the mindset of the crews. Human nature is a fascinating beast and Martial Justice is a great study in the good and bad in us all.