WW2. The first impression that comes to our minds is of brave American soldiers fighting and defeating the 'bad' German soldiers......May be it is the power of American propaganda.... But sadly the truth is never so black and white. American soldiers too acted bestially against captured German soldiers, especially those from the Waffen SS....
Long before the Nuremberg Trials even began, the allies looked upon the Waffen SS as a criminal organization. They also happened to be the most determined adversaries of the allied forces, and offered the most resistance.
Allied casualties were generally much higher whenever they were thrown into combat opposite seasoned SS troops. Consequently the SS were both feared and admired for their military prowess. The allies feared that the SS would continue to offer armed underground resistance to the occupational authorities, therefore they determined to thoroughly disband and discredit this able military force before the eyes of not only the world, but of the German people as well. Consequently, the members of the SS received the most brutal treatment at the hands of the allied forces. Often accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, the allies sought to expunge the very memory of this elite Nazi formation. The truth of the matter is that the Waffen SS was no more criminal than any other fighting unit, allied OR axis, and the treatment it’s members received at the hands of the allies was unjust and often criminal. Since SS members were stationed at concentration camps as guards, the allies took advantage of this fact and used it to condemn the members of the SS as a whole. Of course it should go without saying that simply because someone was a guard at a camp does not mean he or she was a criminal.
Source
Source For the Following Text
Extract From "Alliierte Kreigsverbrechen und Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit"(Allied war crimes and crimes against humanity: compiled in 1946 and witnessed by internees of the camp 91 Darmstadt)
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