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 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: the Tulle murders and the 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]. According to Danny S. Parker, he had already been tried in West Germany, was 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. 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] The French threatened to send in a commando unit to seize him, as the Israelis did in the case of Adolf Eichmann[7] - however before this could occur, Lammerding died in 1971 from cancer.
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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
- ↑ Parker, Danny S. (2014). Hitler's Warrior: The Life and Wars of SS Colonel Jochen Peiper. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0306821547, p. 386.
