The Officers implicated
In the book “Conduct Unbecoming” by Howard Margolian, it states that five senior officers were implicated in the killings of the Canadian POW’s: Karl-Heinz Milius (CO of III/25 Bn), Kurt Meyer (CO of 25 PzGn Regt), Gerhard Bremer (CO of 12 Recce Regt), Wilhelm Mohnke (CO of 26 PzGn Regt), and Siegfried Muller (CO of PiBn 12). Two of these officers had served in concentration camps earlier in their careers. Muller had done a ten month stint as the commander of a detachment of concentration camp guards, while Milius had spent two years at Dachau where he commanded a platoon of guards. One Officer, Wilhelm Mohnke had an addiction to morphine.
Not all 12th SS officers were involved in the killing of POW’s. Of note is the CO of II/26 Bn, Bernhard Siebken, who was trying to protect the Canadian POW’s. He disobeyed the orders from the Regt CO Wilhelm Mohnke to kill the prisoners, and he tried to evacuate them to the rear. However, Mohnke went chasing after them to ensure that they were executed. This was the group of 40 PW’s from the Winnipeg Rifles, including Edward Smith.
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10-06-04, 23:04
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