Werner Drechsler
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Werner Drechsler (born January 17, 1923, in Mühlberg, Germany - died March 12, 1944 in Papago Park, Arizona) was a German U-boat crewman during World War II. He was stationed on U-118 which was sunk off the Azores in 1943. When he was taken prisoner he enthusiastically cooperated with his captors due to the fact that his father had spent time in one of Hitler's Concentration Camps as a political prisoner.
Eventually, U.S. Navy intelligence officers convinced Drechsler to become an informer and placed him in a POW camp near Fort Meade, Maryland with other U-Boat sailors, where he discussed their submarines with them and presumably collected information for his interrogators.
On March 12, 1944 Drechsler was transferred to a camp in Arizona which was mostly filled with other Submariners, including some members of the U-118 crew. This transfer occurred even though he was supposed to be segregated from other naval prisoners. Unfortunately for Drechsler, many of the other POWs had learned of his collaboration with their enemy, and held a Kangaroo Court Martial while he was asleep. The other prisoners eventually decided that it was necessary to kill Drechsler to be sure he could no longer spy on them, and to warn other POWs who might be inclined to engage in the same actions. The next morning Drechsler was found hanging in the shower room. He was murdered only a matter of hours after he had arrived.
Seven men (Helmut Fischer, Fritz Franke, Gunther Kuelsen, Heinrich Ludwig, Bernard Ryak, Otto Stenger and Rolf Wizuy) were executed for the beating and hanging of Werner Drechsler. In what was to ultimately become the last mass execution in the United States, the men were hanged in August 1945 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- A website which explains the story in detail
- website which follows history channel program about the mass execution
- A number of photographs taken around the time of Drechsler's capture
- Drechsler's article on the Spanish wikipedia
[edit] References
- Richard Whittingham, Martial Justice: The Last Mass Execution in the United States, Naval Institute Press, 1997 ISBN 1-55750-945-X
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Drechsler, Werner |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | WWII German POW murdered by fellow POWs for informing |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 17, 1923 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mühlberg (Elbe), Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 12, 1944 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Papago Park, Arizona |
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