Anton Dostler - who is this man? What trace did he leave in history? Running a little ahead, we can say that nothing particularly outstanding, for which it could be noted, he was not. Unless, of course, take into account his careerist ability. Nevertheless, he managed to make his dirty contribution to the collection of German “feats” during the war with the Soviet Union. True, the Americans presented the bill for this, but first things first.
Life before the Second World War
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, his military career began.
In the summer of 1910, Anton Dostler was enlisted as a fan cadet (cadet sergeant) in the sixth Bavarian Infantry Regiment, where, after serving two years, he received the rank of lieutenant.
On December 4, 1915, the first military unit was transferred under his command, and literally a month later he was promoted. Until the fall of 1918, Anton Dostler, in the rank of senior lieutenant, commanded the third Bavarian army corps, and on October 18, the command promoted him to captain.
After the war between Germany and its allies with the Entente (Russia, Great Britain and France) ended, Captain Dostler leaves Bavaria and goes to serve in the Reichswehr, as the German armed forces were called until 1935 (they were later renamed the Wehrmacht).
Anton Dostler (his photos are presented in the article) was transferred to Berlin in the autumn of 1924, where he continued to serve in Abwehr (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, elevating to the rank of major.
WWII
Just a week before the outbreak of World War II, Anton Dostler was appointed to the post of chief of operations at the General Staff of the 7th Wehrmacht Army. He received the Major General on September 1, 1941, while in the position of chief of staff of 15 army corps. Since June 22, 1943 he had to combine two positions, the commander of the 42nd and 7th army corps. 42nd on a permanent basis, and 7th on a temporary basis.
1943 Anton Dostler met already with the rank of lieutenant general. And exactly one year later, he takes command of the 75th army corps stationed in Italy.
Failed mission
March 22, 1944, an American sabotage detachment, consisting of 13 soldiers and two officers, was abandoned in the rear of the German army, 400 km to the front line. The operation, code-named “Ginny,” was carried out under the general direction of the Office of Strategic Services, later renamed the CIA. The landing party landed 100 km north of the Italian city of La Spezia.
All 15 people had a high degree of military training. In addition, each of them could speak fluent Italian and had a good knowledge of the area, as they were specially selected from among the families of Italian immigrants. The purpose of the operation was the destruction of the strategically important railway tunnel between the cities of La Spezia and Genoa and the subsequent assistance to the Italian resistance.
However, the task could not be completed, because, despite all the secrecy of the mission, the detachment for some reason was 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 135 brigades of the German army, which is part of the 75 army corps, which, as mentioned above, was commanded by General Dostler.
Anton Dostler - criminal general
After being delivered to the headquarters, American saboteurs were questioned, and one of the officers, who was part of the group, completely gave out all the information requested by the Germans. The information received was immediately reported to Dostler, who, in turn, reported everything to Field Marshal Kesselring.
Albert Kesselring, who at that time was the commander in chief of the German army in Italy, without hesitation gave the order to shoot the captured Americans. Dostler, following the order of the commander in chief, sent a telegram with a similar order to the headquarters of the 135th brigade.
Alexander Fürst von Dona-Schlobitten
Alexander Schlobitten, while the Americans were captured, served in the headquarters of Dostler, and it was he who was instructed by the general to deliver a telegram to the headquarters of the brigade. However, realizing the criminality of the order contained in the message, the officer refused to fulfill it.
The fact is that the Americans, after being discovered by Italians, surrendered voluntarily. And besides, the Germans have already received from the prisoners all the information they are interested in (Schlobitten later wrote about this in his memoirs). Therefore, according to the Geneva Convention, concluded in 1929, which indicated 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 he was fired for not following the order and loyal attitude towards the enemies of the Reich. And Dostler personally passed the order for the execution.
Imminent violence
The 135 brigade commander, Colonel Almers, having received an order, also tried to influence the verdict, trying to convince the general that the death of the Americans was just superfluous, useless victims. However, his arguments had no effect. As a result, on March 26, 1944, all captured American saboteurs were executed.
Overtake
Retribution overtook Dostler a year after the crime. The day before the official surrender of Germany, 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 reprisal against 15 American commandos.
Trying to save his life, Dostler justified himself by the fact that he, as the youngest in rank, was following Hitler’s order, issued back in the autumn of 1942, which ordered the immediate destruction of the detained USSR allies. He also laid the blame for the shooting on Kesselring, who ordered the massacre, and Almers, the direct executor.
To himself, he assigned the role of only a transmission link between Field Marshal and Colonel. However, all his arguments were not accepted for consideration, despite the fact that in fact he was right. The court passed a death sentence to General Dostler, which was executed on December 1, 1945.
This sentence is often associated with the so-called justice of the winner, that is, the court did not take into account any mitigating factors, equally severely punishing both the commanders and their subordinates. Interestingly, Field Marshal Kesselring himself, from whom the criminal order came, managed to avoid execution.