Anton Dostler - who is this man?What trace did he leave in history? Looking a little ahead, it can be said that he was not anything special, for which he could be noted. Unless, of course, do not take into account his ability as a careerist. Nevertheless, he managed to make his dirty contribution to the collection of German "exploits" during the war with the Soviet Union. True, the bill for this was brought to him by the Americans, but first things first.
Life before World War II
Anton Dostler, whose biography is reduced mainly to the description of career growth, was born in 1891 in the capital of Bavaria, the city of Munich. From there began his military career.
In the summer of 1910, Anton Dostler was recruited by a fan-junker (cadet sergeant) to the sixth Bavarian infantry regiment, where, after serving for two years, he was promoted to lieutenant.
December 4, 1915 under his command wasthe first military unit was transferred, and literally in a month it is promoted in rank. Until the autumn of 1918, Anton Dostler, in the rank of lieutenant commander, commanded the third Bavarian army corps, and on October 18, the command promoted him to captain.
After the war ended Germany and herAllies with the Entente (Russia, Great Britain and France), Captain Dostler leaves Bavaria and goes to serve in the Reichswehr, so the German armed forces were called until 1935 (they were later renamed Wehrmacht).
Anton Dostler (his photos are presented in the article)in the fall of 1924, he was transferred to Berlin, where he continued to serve in the Abwehr (a department engaged in military intelligence and counterintelligence as part of the Third Reich). In parallel with the service Dostler studied at the University of Berlin. On April 1, 1932, he was again promoted to the rank of a major.
World War II
Just a week before the start of World War IIThe wars of Anton Dostler are appointed to the position of operational chief at the General Staff of the 7th Wehrmacht Army. He received a major general on September 1, 1941, while serving as chief of staff of the 15th army corps. From June 22, 1943 he had to combine two posts, the commander of the 42nd and 7th army corps. 42nd on a permanent basis, and 7th on a temporary basis.
1943 Anton Dostler already met with the rank of lieutenant general. And exactly one year later he took command of the 75th army corps stationed in Italy.
Failed mission
March 22, 1944 American sabotagea detachment consisting of 13 soldiers and two officers was abandoned to the rear of the German army, 400 km from the front line. The operation with the code name "Ginny" was carried out under the overall leadership of the Office of Strategic Services, later renamed the CIA. The landing force landed 100 km north of the Italian city of La Spezia.
Все 15 человек обладали высокой степенью воинской preparation. In addition, each of them was free to speak fluently in spoken Italian and had a good knowledge of the area, as they were specially selected from among the families of Italian immigrants. The aim of the operation was the destruction of the strategically important railway tunnel between the cities of La Spezia and Genoa and the subsequent provision of assistance to the Italian resistance.
Однако задание выполнить не удалось, так как, for all the secrecy of the mission, the detachment was for some reason dressed in the form of American commandos and did not even try to hide its identity. Two days after the landing, the Americans fell into the hands of Italian soldiers and were transferred to the headquarters of the 135th brigade of the German army, which is part of the 75th army corps, which, as mentioned above, was commanded by General Dostler.
Anton Dostler - the criminal general
After delivery to the headquarters of American saboteursThey were interrogated, and one of the officers in the group gave out all the information required by the Germans. The information received was immediately reported to Dostler, who, in turn, reported everything to Field Marshal Kesselring.
Альберт Кессельринг, на тот момент являвшийся the commander-in-chief of the German army in Italy, without thinking twice, gave the order to shoot the captured Americans. Dostler, carrying out the order of the commander-in-chief, sent a telegram with a similar order to headquarters of the 135th brigade.
Alexander Furst von Dona-Schlobitten
Alexander Schlobitten, while they wereAmericans were captured, he served in the headquarters of Dostler, and it was he who was entrusted by the general to deliver a telegram to the brigade headquarters. However, understanding the crime of the order contained in the message, the officer refused to carry it out.
The fact is that the Americans, after they werediscovered by the Italians, surrendered voluntarily. And besides, the Germans had already received from the prisoners all the information they were interested in (Schlobitten later wrote about this in his memoirs). Therefore, according to the Geneva Convention, concluded in 1929, which stated how to treat prisoners of war, the Americans had to not only survive, but also enjoy certain privileges.
Trying to convey this to Dostler, Schlobitten achieved only that for failing to comply with the order and loyal attitude to the enemies of the Reich was dismissed. And Dostler himself handed the order for the execution.
Imminent reprisal
Commander 135 Brigade, Colonel Almers,after receiving the order, he also tried to influence the verdict, trying to convince the general that the death of the Americans was just unnecessary sacrifices. However, his arguments did not have any effect. As a result, on March 26, 1944 all captured American saboteurs were executed.
Overtaken payback
Retribution overtook Dostler a year afterof crime. A day before the official capitulation of Germany, on May 8, 1945, the general was arrested by the Americans. There, in Italy, in the province of Caserta, a military tribunal was held over him on charges of reprising 15 American commandos.
Trying to save his life, Dostler justifiedhimself by the fact that he only as a junior in rank carried out the order of Hitler, given back in the fall of 1942, which ordered to immediately destroy the detained allies of the USSR. He also laid the main blame for the execution on Kesselring, who ordered the massacre, and Almersa, the direct executor.
Себе же он отводил роль лишь передаточного звена between the general field marshal and the colonel. However, all his arguments were not taken into consideration, despite the fact that in fact he was right. The court handed down a death sentence to General Dostler, which was executed on 1 December 1945.
This sentence is often associated withcalled justice of the winner, that is, the court did not take into account any mitigating factors, punishing both commanders and their subordinates equally hard. Interestingly, Field Marshal Kesselring himself, from whom the criminal order proceeded, managed to avoid execution.
