Kurt Meyer on Trial

Kurt Meyer on Trial PDF Author: P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780662461692
Category : Canada
Languages : en
Pages : 697

Get Book Here

Book Description
"In late 1945, a Canadian military court sitting in occupied Germany convicted Waffen-SS General Kurt Meyer on charges related to the murder of Canadian prisoners of war in Normandy. It was Canada's first entry into the war crimes field and the trial raised several important operational and legal issues, particularly with regard to command responsibility. Although sentenced to death by firing squad, Meyer was saved by the controversial decision of Canadian military authorities to commute the sentence and was released after less than a decade of imprisonment in New Brunswick and West Germany. Meyer's war crimes trial and the final result caused consternation and outrage among the Canadian public at the time. It remains among the most contentious episodes in Canadian military history. This collection brings together previously unpublished documents related to Canada's prosecution of Kurt Meyer, including the original trial transcript and selected materials to situate the trial in its political, military, diplomatic and legal context" -- p. [4] of Cover.