Chinese → English transcript

This is historical footage of Anton Dostler, the first German general executed by the U.S. Army after the war in 1945, and also the only German general to be executed by firing squad. Why was the U.S. Army so eager to have him killed? Although Dostler was a general in the German Wehrmacht, he himself was quite unremarkable and not proficient in combat, but his crime was executing fifteen captured American soldiers, in violation of international conventions, and on that basis the military tribunal sentenced him to death.

In the footage, it is December 1. Under the escort of prison guards, Dostler slowly walks to the execution site. The officer in charge loudly reads out the charges and the verdict, and arranges for a priest to pray for him, hoping he will repent and have his soul saved.

At the same time, three soldiers in the rear tie his hands behind his back to a stump. Throughout the process Dostler cooperates fully and appears very calm, only looking rather blank, as if he did not believe he would be the first to be executed.

The U.S. Army also specifically arranged for twelve soldiers to carry out the firing squad, and several cameras to record the entire process.

Soon, a prison guard puts a black hood over Dostler’s head and places a four-inch-long white target over his heart.

Then twelve soldiers enter the execution ground one after another and take up their firing rifles. Once everyone is ready, at the sound of a single command there is a burst of gunfire, and Dostler’s head slowly slumps forward.

The medical examiner and the priest’s party step forward to check. Although his body is still tied to the wooden post, he is already dead beyond any doubt.

Immediately afterward Dostler is placed on a stretcher on the platform, covered with a white cotton shroud, and transported to the German cemetery in Pomezia for burial.

In fact, compared with other war-criminal officers, Dostler’s crimes were almost negligible, yet the wrong had been committed and he could only reap what he had sown.

But he was also the only war-criminal officer to be executed by firing squad, while all the others were hanged.