Germany - Lithuania - Poland
Jul. 07, 1966 - Retired German Admiral on trial for murder - He ordered wartime killing of two prisoners at sea.: Retired German Admiral, Paul Werner Wennecker, stated at the opening session of his trial for murder in Hamburg today, that he issued an order that resulted in the wartime killing of two prisoners at sea on request of Japanese authorities. He is accused of ordering the captains of two ships to see that the prisoners went down with their vessels should they be in danger of Alllied capture. On trial with him is former Merchant captain Heinrich von Allwoerden, skipper of one of the ships involved. He is accused of aiding in murder. The captain of the other ship has since died. Aboard the two ships, which hoped to break the Allied blockade and sail from Japan to the coast of Franee, were a sailor named Powekeleit, and a journalist named Hofmeier. Poeleit was under arrest on suspicion of receiving stolen goods and Hormeier had been acccused of spying in Japan. The ships came under attack in January, 1944, and were scuttled in the South Atlantic. Wennecker, who was German Naval Commander in East Asia, said he had hoped his order would be forgotten in the three months it would take the ships to reach dangerous waters. He said he felt the military situation at the time made the order necessary to prevent the man falling into the hands of the Allies. Photo shows Retired German Admiral Paul Werner Wennecker, 75, pictured at the opening session of his trial in Hamburg today
