Heinz Lammerding
 Heinz Lammerding    (war criminal) | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 August 1905 |
| Died | 13 January 1971 (Age 65) |
German war criminal who had a very smooth ride after WW2 ended. | |
Heinz Lammerding was a German SS officer convicted of war crimes during WW2. He commanded the "SS Panzer Division: Das Reich" that perpetrated the Tulle murders and the Oradour-sur-Glane massacres in occupied France; he was also SS standard leader ("SS-Standartenführer") from 27 April till 15 May 1943.[1] According to Max Hastings, he owed his appointment as division commander to his close personal relationship with Heinrich Himmler, as his military skills were not sufficient for the job.[2]
After the war, Lammerding was convicted in absentia for having ordered the murder of approximately 750 French civilians, but remained protected by Germany after serving a prison sentence there;[3] sometime after that he went into hiding until 1958 when laws in Germany changed in such a way that extradition to France was impossible. He lived as a successful building contractor in Düsseldorf-Unterrath and then enjoyed his retirement in Bavaria. He died of cancer in Tölz hospital in 1971. His funeral in Düsseldorf was attended by 200 former SS comrades.[4]
War-crimes trial
In 1953, Lammerding was tried in France for war crimes, for ordering two massacres in 1944: at Tulle murders and at Oradour-sur-Glane massacre. He was sentenced to death in absentia by the court of Bordeaux, but he was never extradited from West Germany[5] nor was he ever sentenced by a German court. According to Danny S. Parker, Lammerding had already been tried in West Germany, convicted of war crimes and had served a prison sentence. He, therefore, was not subject to extradition under the Bonn constitution, much to the consternation of the French. They threatened to send in a commando unit to seize him, as the Israelis did in the case of Adolf Eichmann. However, before this could occur, Lammerding died in 1971 from cancer.
In 1953, the French High Commissioner André François-Poncet sought extradition from the British High Commission, and the request was the subject of a meeting between Foreign Ministers Georges Bidault and Anthony Eden. Eden showed little understanding and refused, saying that he had never heard of Lammerding.[6]
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References
- ↑ https://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SS-Division_Totenkopf&oldid=249424316
- ↑ Max Hastings, Das Reich. The March of the 2nd SS Panzer Division through France, June 1944. London 1981, S. 36, ISBN 0-330-48389-7
- ↑ https://www.reuters.com/article/world/former-ss-soldier-88-charged-over-1944-village-massacre-in-france-idUSBREA07183/
- ↑ https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinz_Lammerding
- ↑ [http://www.leparisien.fr/home/info/politique/articles.htm?articleid=276175395
- ↑ Claudia Moisel: Frankreich und die deutschen Kriegsverbrecher, Wallstein 2004, S. 190
