BlairWitch749
Banned
Were there any German commanders in the East who were largely innocent of such war crimes?
At army level command... probably not... Raus is probably the only one off the top of my head who there might not be enough evidence against for a capital conviction
Keep in mind that many of these fellows, even if they didn't commit crimes against humanity when they where actual army commanders, had done so in their previous posts (I suggested army level as a reasonable cut off point for the allies to prosecute without the task getting too overwhelming)
Two examples
1. General Wohler of the 17th army. He didn't do much in army command except get ass stomped in the Crimea and the Einsatzgruppen had been withrdrawn by the time he took over that army. However, prior to that, he had been chief of staff to Army Group South under Manstein, and as such he faciliated and laisoned the efforts of Einsatzgruppen D; a crime against humanity which should have been punished with death
2. General Busse of the 4th army... he was fighting on German territory, during the final days before the Russians took Berlin but he allowed illegal executions of German soldiers in his rear areas for intimidation purposes AND he had previously been a staff officer in army group south (chief of operations) and as such had coordinated efforts with Einsatzgruppen D; a crime against humanity which should have been punished with death
I can make an honest case for death against near every single army level and without a doubt every single army group commander PERIOD; Rommel and Speidel included:
Rommel: (had he survived) ordered an illegal prisoner execution during the french campaign in 1940 against a french staff officer who was uncooperative... he also allowed excessive force and indeed executions to take place in his rear areas when his troops disarmed the Italian army during Alaric... this should have been punished with death (to say nothing of his morally questionable oversight of the atlantic wall)
Speidel: Despite his involvement in the July 20th plot....... he was chief of staff to army group south under manstein and as such he facilitated and cooperated with Einsatzgruppen D; a crime against humanity which should have been punished with death... and he got to be a ground forces commander in fucking NATO