Americans, Germans, and War Crimes Justice: Law, Memory, and "The Good War"

(Hardback)

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This ground-breaking comparative perspective on the subject of World War II war crimes and war justice focuses on American and German atrocities. Almost every war involves loss of life of both military personnel and civilians, but World War II involved an unprecedented example of state-directed and ideologically motivated genocidethe Holocaust. Beyond this horrific, premeditated war crime perpetrated on a massive scale, there were also isolated and spontaneous war crimes committed by both German and U.S. forces. The book is focused upon on two World War II atrocitiesone committed by Germans and the other by Americans. The author carefully examines how the U.S. Army treated each crime, and gives accounts of the atrocities from both German and American perspectives. The two events are contextualized within multiple frameworks: the international law of war, the phenomenon of war criminality in World War II, and the German and American collective memories of World War II. Americans, Germans and War Crimes Justice: Law, Memory, and "The Good War" provides a fresh and comprehensive perspective on the complex and sensitive subject of World War II war crimes and justice.

Reviews

Weingartner's book is not an ordinary historical account of war crimes and their trials in the European Theater of Operations in WW II. . . . For all students of WW II in Europe. Summing Up: Highly recommended. * Choice *

Author Bio

James J. Weingartner, PhD, is professor emeritus of history at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL.