The Only U-Boat Commander Executed for War Crimes

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Heinz-Wilhelm Eck (27 March 1916 - 30 November 1945) was a German U-boat commander of the Second World War who was tried, convicted, condemned and executed after the war for ordering his crew to shoot the survivors of a Greek merchantman sunk by U-852.
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[@HiddenHistoryYT]

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[@TennesseeHomesteadUSA]

Nice ! Erudite and accurate. Hard to find among new material these days on YT. Exzellent !

[@MrAndyBearJr]

The German submariner casualty rate had reached 75% by wars end, so there probably wasn't many sub commanders left to prosecute. The Kriegsmarine submarine arm commander, Admiral Karl Donitz lost his own sons Peter, and Klaus who were both killed while on U-boat patrol. He himself, was defended during his Nuremburg trial for his use of unrestricted submarine warfare by the American in charge of COMSUBPAC during the war, who said that if they convicted him, they would have to convict every American sub commander, himself included for doing the same thing.

[@Dontwlookatthis]

In the war crimes trials, both individual commander of Uboats and Donetz were tried and found guilty with an initial punishment being Death. However one of the American admirals who commanded in the Pacific war intervened and said that by the standards the court used to find the Germans guilty and sentenced to death, he would have to be executed as well. He said that in submarine warfare, it was impossible to follow the rules of war because a submarine would be shot out of the water if it surfaced and gave a warship time to launch its lifeboats, and then there was not enough room in a submarine to take on prisoners in any numbers. The rules of war simply made it impossible for the submarines of any nations to abide by those laws. Therefore the death sentences were thrown out.

[@PauloPereira-jj4jv]

It's Doenitz or Dönitz, not Donetz.

[@andrewdillon7837]

@@PauloPereira-jj4jv Thank you Capitain Obvious..

[@randymagnum143]

​@@PauloPereira-jj4jvdonuts von unternaziboaten.

[@Idahoguy10157]

IIRC the American Admiral offering a letter was Chester Nimitz. On December 7th, 1941, orders were issued authorizing unrestricted submarine warfare against Japan.

[@Dontwlookatthis]

Thank you Robert!@@Idahoguy10157

[@michaelosullivan724]

In 1939 a U boat put ashore the crew of a Greek ship it had sunk in Ventry,County Kerry,Ireland.

[@rodgerhargoon3402]

Few politicians cause war and millions die.. then they make films about it and talk about it for the next 200 years ......😂😂

[@lifeisharditsharderifyoure6822]

@@rodgerhargoon3402 Just like the US envoy Borys Johnson in Ukraine

[@narajuna]

Much nicer, but were they in danger in that area, or moving along?

[@kayekaye251]

Thank you for that post!

[@johncrichton4341]

@@lifeisharditsharderifyoure6822 What?!!!!

[@andrewstackpool4911]

As I recall, former U-boat officers and sailors were furious when they ;earned what had happened. Leaving survivors' (and that occurred after the Laconia incident), may be one thing; executing helpless men was something else.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

[@andrewstackpool4911]

@@HiddenHistoryYT Ditto

[@WILLIAM1690WALES]

He stated he didn’t want the survivors to know of the U-boat and its operation. Therefore, why did the German captain attack the vessel in the first place when he didn’t have to, perhaps to satisfy his own ego to score another sinking of a allied ship?

[@KC-UT4rmAZ]

Exactly. When I was in the military I was in a Special Reconnaissance unit. Our job was reconnaissance & surveillance. In other words our job was to be invisible and not exist. So if we’re getting into gunfights, being attacked/attacking others, then we didn’t do our job right or something went wrong. If this U-boat Captain’s job is to not exist and be invisible. Why is he attacking other ships?

[@choochoo9436]

I recall an incident where earlier a German U-boat picked up survivors and was puling a life boat with it's deck packed with survivors and an allied plane attacked them .I'm guessing this incident had a lot to do later with picking up survivors. This BTW was suppressed by the allies till after the war.

[@stevew6138]

The Laconia incident I believe.

[@johns3544]

It was defently the sole reason. The Germen U-boat called England and told them but no help came. Italy did send some help. But the US got word of it and they had a secret base near by. They sent a bomber and they crew didn't want to go after them but they decided to attack any ways. After that and a few other incidents Dontize ordered a full stop to helping any ship after that.

[@ricksmith4736]

Hardegans boat I believe..

[@greenslider]

Laconia. It happened twice more with German and Italian subs. Awfully chivalrous. Equally stupid in wartime.

[@andrewstackpool4911]

@johns3544 The aircraft crew were given a direct order even after reporting the boat was flying the Red Cross flag. The base CO should have been tried

[@mohawkdriver4155]

25 days in the water...Mother of God...

[@deniswilliams2212]

My grandfather was torpedoed on Christmas Day 1916 and spent 2 weeks in the northern Atlantic they were on the edge of death and somehow a British freighter found them in the nick of time as they were running low on provisions my mother told me he never got on a boat again

[@mohawkdriver4155]

I can certainly understand that. @@deniswilliams2212

[@FormerMPSGT]

GOD DOES NOT HAVE A MOTHER! HE HAS NO BEGINNING AND NO ENDING, HE CREATED HE WAS NOT CREATED! BIBLE > THE RCC TRADITIONS

[@mohawkdriver4155]

@@FormerMPSGT relax, bro. It’s just a saying. Jeez…

[@DavidBrown-ke8cb]

@@FormerMPSGT God is as fake as Santa Claus.

[@africadreamin]

My uncle John was a purser on the Atlantic convoys, he was torpedoed twice once in a raft for eleven days, evidently, he married a girl from Newfoundland and for some unexplained reason sought to bring her to England on his ship however, his wife and one-year-old son had to travel on a different ship. Unfortunately, her ship was torpedoed and she and their son lost, John's ship was then torpedoed but he survived, he saw out the war only to be killed when a drunken taxi driver ran into an electric pole in Housten Texas.

[@Dulcimertunes]

Wow, that’s sad

[@ronaldhughes1810]

I knew a former British soldier who told me about his time at the end of the war. He was in what he called special duties., which included roaming the German cities and shooting stray dogs because they were a health hazard due to rabies. He was also involved in the repatriation of former Russian men who had participated in combat on behalf of the Germans, these were loaded on to trains and transported East to await transfer to Russian captivity, also probable death. He was also involved in the rounding up of former German military personnel suspected of war crimes. He recounted they were all detained in special military establishments where secret tribunals were conducted, not connected to the official war crimes courts. Many of those detained wert U. boat commanders, he personally told me many were executed. So officially only one was put to death but in reality far more were summarily dealt with.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Very cool and thanks for sharing this!

[@garythgeorge1]

Made UP lies

[@djquinn11]

Gee, what shame too.

[@wendydelisse9778]

I had been wondering why it was that supposedly only one German U-boat commander had been executed for committing war crimes. It would appear that whoever said so had only counted the war crime convictions that happened in international war crimes courts. Also, since all except about 1/4 of German U-boats were sunk during WW2, multiply the number of total convictions of German U-boat captains by 4 in order to reach a truer estimate, since the post-war victors were probably at most very rarely going through the administrative bother of trying in absentia the war criminal U-boat captains who got sunk with their U-boats during the war and were therefore permanently unavailable to show up at any war crimes trials.

[@ronaldhughes1810]

At the end of WW2 Churchill and all his cabinet ministers were in conversation and, all were worried that the truth about the conflict would come out, Churchill replied. " Gentlemen don't worry, history willl be kind to us because we shall write it" . I guess that's all we need to know.@@wendydelisse9778

[@drstrangelove4998]

A very senior member of the U.S. armed forces said ‘if we’d have lost the war, we’d all be tried for war crimes.’

[@boblee6093]

That was Curtis Lemay on the fire bombing of Japan

[@jimomaha7809]

Not quite. He said he would be tried, This about his bombing campain of Japan. That said no one of the Axis powers was put on trial for the bombing of cities after the war. Simply as there were no rules at that moment against bombing of cities. Many seem not to know this when they make war crime comments in regarding the bombing of cities.

[@therealuncleowen2588]

That's bull, I mean yes LeMay said that, but bombing cities was something all air forces did during WW2 and nobody was tried for war crimes because of it. Not even the Axis.

[@alfootball9828]

War breeds atrocities!

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Completely agree! Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

[@alexandermenzies9954]

Eck knew what he was doing. He was told by the crew in fact.

[@vedranr.glavina7667]

Super correct german prononciation.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Greatly appreciate it and have a fantastic week :)

[@sgtsillyass1575]

@@HiddenHistoryYT Jawohl Herr Kommandant

[@scallopohare9431]

Like "military intelligence," "military justice" is a bad joke. I saw three career NCO's go to Leavenworth, while our squadron commander tottered around drunk. Zero penalty for what was negligence at best. They were in an off-base unit that he created.

[@kennethrouse7942]

I have seen the UCMJ referred to as the "Uniform Code of Enlisted Military Justice."

[@wingedbuffalo4670]

First, let me say that I am sorry for your experience and jaded perspective. However, lest the general public be misled by your remark containing GROSSLY INCOMPLETE (and quite possibly misleading) information, let me ask and state the following: 1. For WHAT exact alleged crimes were the "3 career NCOs" convicted in a trial by jury of their peers (court-martial) and sentenced to confinement at the USDB, Ft. Leavenworth, KS? In my quite lengthy experience, confinement there would have required conviction of a SERIOUS crime such as murder, manslaughter, rape, drug trafficking, high value theft, etc. LESSER crimes simply don't result in prison at Ft. Leavenworth. 2. Is it not possible that the "3 career NCOs" committed such serious crimes at the time that they justly DESERVED conviction and jail time at Ft Leavenworth? 3. While being "drunk on duty/station" is certainly an offense under the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice), does it merit incarceration at Ft. Leavenworth? Is that offense even remotely close to the crimes of the "3 career NCOs?" 4. Most importantly, did YOU or anyone in your circle of friends/co-workers ever bother to file a complaint against your supposedly "drunk" squadron commander -- or did you DO NOTHING at the time when you could have stepped forward to make a difference (i.e., is your belated complaint surfacing only now when it's too late to do anything) ... and thereby contribute to the squadron commander CONTINUING to be able to "totter around drunk" as you claim without being held accountable? Many options were available -- commander's hotline complaint; formal complaint to superior commanders, formal complaint to the Security Police/Security Forces Investigation Unit, formal complaint to the AFOSI, formal IG complaint, Congressional complaint, etc. What, if any, avenue did YOU stick your neck out to pursue? I GUARANTEE that, had a complaint of this alleged officer misconduct ever been brought to me (and/or many colleagues I knew in the military legal and law enforcement communities), it would have been properly investigated and -- if a valid complaint -- the officer would DEFINITELY have been disciplined. Now, perhaps the level of "discipline" would NOT have been "exactly" the same as others receive, and also may NOT have been sufficiently "harsh" in YOUR subjective opinion. BUT THAT'S NOT YOUR CALL -- it's the commander's and court-martial convening authority's call. Additionally, most people understand that "cookie cutter justice" where "everybody gets the same punishment" doesn't exist and SHOULDN'T exist because all cases are different and unique: (a) DIFFERENT crimes/offenses/transgressions are not as severe as others and merit DIFFERENT punishments (b) DIFFERENT accused persons/defendants have vastly different prior disciplinary records and merit different treatment (e.g., some people are frequent and repeat law-breakers, while others are first-time offenders; some people have mitigating factors or unique and special circumstances going on in their lives which contributed to the misconduct taking place, etc.) (c) DIFFERENT disciplinary responses have vastly different and disproportionate impact on different individuals' careers (e.g., even a private administrative "punishment" such as a punitive "Letter of Reprimand" entered into an officer's record will likely end that person's career and prevent further promotion ... whereas a young troop can receive an Article 15 NJP, or even a low-level court-martial [and in the process lose rank, suffer a fine, be restricted to base, be reprimanded, etc.] and STILL overcome that blemish and get promoted to E-9! It all depends on the transgression and circumstances.

[@scallopohare9431]

@@wingedbuffalo4670 Bear with me, because your reply was lengthy, and I think it deserves a reply from me. First, I am a woman, now 71 years old. In the late 70's, I enlisted in the USAF. at that time, I was told later, that branch screened women for appearance. That's not vanity, it is part of my history. I was assigned to a small (5,000 permanent party) base in Asia. Female service members were very conspicuous, and many younger women were intimidated. 1. I do not know the exact crimes for which those men were convicted. I would guess high value theft. We were in Transportation Squadron. They were all married to local nationals, and may have believed their families would be in jeopardy if they exposed higher ups. 2. No, as per above. 3. I did not say our commander was drunk on duty. I saw him drunk off-base. Which is telling in itself, because officers of his rank, O-5, and position rarely went to bars off-base. They might for some "mandatory fun," but not otherwise. My Lt. Col. had two other men accompany him, minders, I suppose. The simple fact that he went drinking in "the ville" means he had a problem with alcohol. [Your reference to "coworkers" does make me question your military experience.] 4. As a matter of fact, I did get a legal opinion that bore on this, though in regards to another matter. The previous squadron commander had forced me to, shall we say, visit with an O-6. Who had a few kinks. I was told that if I made a complaint, I would likely be the one receiving disciplinary action. I did indeed have a history of minor disciplinary action, at least some stemming from what is now known as sexual harrassment. I also had the experience of a supervisor believing I had gone AWOL, but not reporting it. The only airman I ever knew to file a congressional complaint had to be transferred out hastily. I really do not want to be insulting, but you are either a fantasist, or you spent your time in, or around, the military in a remarkably stern command. Your (a), (b), and (c) are really quite patronizing.

[@AmericanVet.4everJesusAmen]

No, A drunk officer on duty is and will be noticed by other officers. There has always been a 2 tire justice system in the usa and the military, no matter what country or military you live in.

[@scallopohare9431]

@@AmericanVet.4everJesusAmen Sigh. Someone took down an earlier reply. I never said I saw my cdr drunk on duty. He did his drinking in the ville, and took a couple of minders with him. He was an O-5, and those men did not go in the bars off base. Except for him.

[@ricksmith4736]

The Admirals Wolf pack is an EXCELLENT book about the U Boat commanders and their relationship with Doenitz.....

[@JohnHannigan-wx8ng]

In 1944 thecaptain of the submarine Wahoo Commander Morton ordered his crew to shoot 10,000 survivors who were in life boats and in the water these survivors were the survivors of the ship Buyo Maru a troop transport that his submarine had just sunk .This can be verified by consulting the Naval Institute.

[@benadam7753]

They were not Japanese soldiers! Morton was killing Indian POW's of the British Army! Dudley "Mush" Morton was murdering his own Allies!

[@thatlittlevoice6354]

10,000 survivors? That's an awful lot of.......ammo. 🤨

[@Furryone1]

Mush Morton waited till the Japanese soldiers opened fire on his sub and then he told his crew to open fire. Know your history before arguing who did what

[@MrBrutal33]

10,000?...stop getting your facts off Tik Tok! There were just over 1,000 men onboard at the time it was sunk. 195 POWs and 87 Japanese died

[@TheStrathmoreChannel]

​@thatlittlevoice6354 there were about 1400 on the ship and about 200 Indian POWs and 90 Japanese were killed.

[@baystgrp]

There is a very good novel by Gwyn Griffin, “An Operational Necessity”, that has at its core the sinking of a British freighter in WW II and the systematic killing all but one of its survivors by a German U-boat. There was at least one instance I have read of in which the Japanese gathered the survivors -men and women of a ship sunk by that submarine, on the foredeck of the submarine, then submerged in mid-ocean and left them all to drown, remarkably, one survived to tell the story. In another instance, a US submarine captain cruised among the survivors of a sunken Japanese troop transport, machine-gunning those still alive. I have often wondered about judgement of situations like this, and the judgement of the men who flew the airplanes in WW II that bombed civilians in major cities, killing hundreds of thousands. War is a terrible thing.

[@kenharvey8161]

I read that novel years ago. Quite good and clearly inspired by this particular incident.

[@kennethrouse7942]

I will recommend to you "Slaughter at Sea" by Dr. Mark Felton. It chronicles war crimes committed by the Imperial Japanese Navy. And they were endemic. Most of the commanders who survived the war seem to have gotten away with what they did. Truly, war is hell. 😢

[@kennethrouse7942]

I have a copy of "An Opporational Necessity" but haven't had an opportunity to read it yet.

[@kennethrouse7942]

I have read Dr. Felton's book.. horrifying and tragic.

[@RemusKingOfRome]

War starts with the gentlemen's code on conduct but ends like rats fighting for survival.

[@MRYOUNG123451]

The Germans did not hold or occupy Penang.the Japanese did!

[@thonbrocket2512]

Yeah, real dumb mistake.

[@DBEdwards]

I understand that whilst torpedo casualties were not routinely rescued, I find it SCANDALOUS AND UNBELIEVABLE that U Boot Kapitan would on purpose machine gun survivors of the ships they sank.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

[@benadam7753]

Commander Dudley "Mush" Morton of the submarine USS Wahoo did the same thing! He sank a Japanese troop transport ship and than machine gunned the survivors in the life boats and the water! It turned out that they were not Japanese soldiers, they were Indian POW's of the British Army! Morton was murdering his own Allies!

[@kkteutsch6416]

There was history and history...

[@torarildhenriksen371]

The soviet comander of uboat S-13 should definetley been charged of war crimes for sinking the hospital ship Wilhelm Gustloff during operation Hannibal. 9400 people died

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

[@ndi1337]

An extremely tragic event, and although I fundamentally agree with you, the situation was unfortunately different. The Gustloff was at that time a troop transport and therefore a legitimate target. Camouflaged, unlit, armed with anti-aircraft defenses and an escort ship, flying the Kriegsmarine flag and not registered as an evacuation ship with the Red Cross. Ultimately, a legitimate target. The refusal of the Hipper to participate in the rescue operations is no less abhorrent.

[@maryb2185]

@torarildhenriksen371 Agreed, it was a tragically high number, but the Wilhelm Gustloff was being used to evacuate troops at the time, rather than as a hospital ship, but there were of course also civilians on board.

[@Dulcimertunes]

Agree

[@williambennett5612]

Its a travesty that the narrator did not reference the Laconia incident ion 12 September 1942 that proceeded the order from the German Kriegsmarine not to attempt to rescur or otherwise help survivors of torpeoded vessels. The above incident resulted when a german submarine sunk the RMS Laconia off the coast of W. Africa and rescued survivors. Flying Red Cross flags it had agreed to meet a Vichy ship and transfer the survivors when it came under attach from a B-24. it subsequently dived leaving the passengers stranded. A subsequent attempt by another submarine was also attacked. It was ONLY afte this incident that the Kriegsmarine prohibited any subsequent rescur attempts.

[@georgerix3224]

There is a very good book called 'An operational necessity ' by Gwyn Griffin that is obviously based on this event. I have a copy right here!

[@ohmeowzer1]

Very interesting topic thank you great job .

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

[@NineteenEighty8]

He looks JUST like one of my good friend, and his father. I'm entirely convinced he is related to the commander in the video.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

[@johnrandolph6121]

In video description you wrote that Eck was born in 1916. If that's true, he wasn't 39 in 1945.

[@Dr.Pepper001]

War proves how low humans have fallen.

[@user-vx2vx9kd7u]

It is simply the victors who decide what war crimes they charge the defeated with. Even if they did the same thing...

[@hilariousname6826]

Maybe you should think twice before you try to take over the world, then.

[@227beau]

Is this the inspiration for the movie 'Murphys War' ? Good movie.

[@Carlton-B]

No, Murphy's War was pure fiction. It was a pretty good movie. I venture to guess that there are more U-boat movies featuring lifeboats being machine-gunned than there are actual incidents.

[@tomoconnor6869]

So was Battan death march. Massacre at Saipan. Don’t forget the massacre by German soldiers on U.S. Army soldiers that surrendered at the battle of bulge. Attack on the Jews. As brutal as the enemy was. German and Japanese were the worst

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)

[@johnsmith-mq4eq]

The Russians were far worst you need to research much more

[@andrewstackpool4911]

The Wermacht, Luftwaffe, and Kreigsmarine. No.

[@beneleonhard7915]

@@andrewstackpool4911 Wehrmacht, consisting of Heer (army), Luftwafe (airforce) und Kriegsmarine (navy). Well, does the ranking help any of the victims and make us wise enough to stop atrocities and really investigate what makes man go against man ?

[@en2oh]

Oh, I suspect the American side should accept their share of war time atrocities.

[@kevinraines4318]

war crimes only matter if you are on the losing side

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

[@johnschofield9496]

Yep, ask Curtis LeMay

[@jimomaha7809]

@@johnschofield9496 After ww2 no Axis officer was tried for bombing cities. There were no definate rules against bombarding cities before and during ww2.

[@therealuncleowen2588]

WW2 was actually quite equitable in terms of how war crimes were prosecuted. Nobody was prosecuted for unrestricted submarine warfare. Nobody was prosecuted for bombing cities.

[@jano-ir1cg]

Exactly

[@bradsanders407]

Meanwhile a us bomber attacked a german U-boat with a white and red cross flag draped over its guns towing liferafts full of surviors from a downed ship.

[@matthuber9925]

Why werent any allied commanders sentenced for war crimes?

[@chrissycarr1618]

Seems like a lot of extreme violence occurs in wars. Nice to hear a story where it was not allowed.

[@scallopohare9431]

Huh? War IS violence.

[@rnies6849]

do you think the bombarding of German cieties to ashes was a case of extreme violence? Now people like you come as tourists to Germany and wonder why the big cities lack the charm of ancient times.

[@northwestprof60]

Lame ending words, esp. the village relativist claims of universal moral "ambiguity" in warfare. Simplistic. This case deserves more moral scrutiny, esp. in comparing distant aerial attacks and bombings to direct, personal killings face to face.

[@user-xh3lz9xt4l]

I thought the Devonian was sunk by the Graf Spee, although that may be a miss understanding.

[@nacra613]

The US Sub Commander - Mush Morton - comes to mind. Did a similar thing - Buyo Maru. Victors justice I'm afraid.

[@kevinh5349]

baloney.

[@markk3186]

there was a U Boat captain that was called the gentleman captain (captain Muir I belive) he would attack ships talk all prisoners on his ship than taken to neutral ports not one crew member of the ships he attacked died he latter went down with his U Boat the german navy was found to have fought an honorable war is history

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)

[@xtremenortherner]

This is not an just a war crime,its a nightmare scenario..., helpless men in lifeboats being gunned down. I'm sure Eck gave the usual line that these psychopaths say, "was only following orders." I'm also reminded of the Charlie Brown/Franz Stigler incident; where a German pilot escorted a crippled B-17 to safety..., Stilger's commander had told him, "If you shoot at a man in a parachute, I will shoot you myself." Chivalry was not totally extinct...,

[@CashMacGregor]

it seems to me that bombing a beached sub that is no longer a threat to allied sea craft for the express purpose of killing sailors is no different than what the uboat commander did.

[@pimpompoom93726]

Justice was served.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

[@PauloPereira-jj4jv]

American submarines (at least one) did exactly the same to the Japanese...

[@drlobomalo]

"German-held Malaya"

[@drittenreichlieber]

I am also wondering!!

[@barryfeagan3969]

At that time Malaya and Singapore were under the control of the Japanese and the British were advancing through Burma. A stupid mistake but as the narration had a US accent it is understandable.

[@kkteutsch6416]

In a war there's no winners and both sides may be persecuted by atrocities, no winners and no loosers, all are poor young guys that is only on orders of their office:

[@jhill4071]

Don't lose

[@bigdave6447]

Who was the commander of Oh,U-812???

[@HiddenHistoryPlaysYT]

🔥

[@alexanderv7702]

They should have left the ship alone, avoiding contact, thereby not giving notice of their presence.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

[@sticksbass]

if only peeps would refuse to side w starting wars.

[@user-hp8fn1wd7t]

They didn't have wood chippers in those days did they?

[@johnbrooks595]

They were sentenced to jail time

[@peterrobbins2862]

I wonder how many u boat captains actually survived the war

[@MrZeissOne]

They needed a better lawyer...

[@williamleslie4939]

"River Pla-tay"

[@joeblow2069]

FYI Admiral Donitz who was in charge of the entire German navy was sentenced and served 10 years in prison by the original Nuremburg trials.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)

[@patrickw8302]

It all depends on when and where your born

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Yep. Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

[@jodypitt3629]

This heinous atrocity has reminded me of the Peter O'toole movie "Murphy's War". The bastard!

[@DaveSCameron]

😂😂

[@DBEdwards]

Ah! MURPHY'S WAR (1971). I did see it. Excellent motion picture. The moral? That hatred breeds destruction when it serves no other purpose but revenge. Then it ends in doom.

[@DBEdwards]

😡😡😡@@DaveSCameron

[@Dan-xx5jq]

The movie "Sea Wolves" is a movie based on retired British soldiers who made their way to Goa, India where the Portuguese who were neutral however they allow the Germans to keep their war ships. They were successful in blowing them up all their ships. These ships provided info intelligence to the N@zis. Some of the Germans that survived the sinking of their ships took up residence in Goa, marrying the local women.

[@johndavis8626]

Q …in ww1 British navy had Q ships which were regular cargo ship with sides of ship would fall down uncovering heavy guns used to sink u boats that was being used to rescue British sailors. Also, they would give the British time to enter the lifeboats the British cannons came out and sink the u boats and British machine gun, any U-boat survivors notice, and never mention that in the story blondish British were cold blood killers

[@caligrafocaracas]

Even it's crew are accountable for that massacre. Were they to have opposed the procedure at that time beyond frowned eyelids, the Allies retaliation would not have been so severe. From ťhis lessons modern warfare is directed against against civilians, hospitals, schools, refugee camps etc.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Appreciate you watching and have a great rest of your week :)

[@karlheinzvonkroemann2217]

How is it that the other 3 or 4 U-Boats were sunk on the high seas on the other side of the globe? Was it perhaps because the Allies had broken the German naval codes and were thus able to locate them on the other side of the globe without any difficulty? not prounced like is along "o" is in English. w

[@MBKindell]

I know it's late in the game, but I am nearly 100% sure that your image in the thumbnail is not the actual captain of whom you are speaking. There are images of him at the War crimes trial and they do not match.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Interesting, I’ll have to double check this

[@Brian-zp1df]

RIP

[@terrycrowley9323]

He looks like Frank Sinatra😅

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

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[@der_Exilant]

Vae victis

[@narajuna]

Not very nice, not usual business maybe, but sure plenty cases in war. Similar and even worse war crimes had been committed by German submarines during the First World War, as in the case of the machine-gunning of the survivors of the HMHS Llandovery Castle hospital ship. Allied submarines (such as HMS Torbay and USS Wahoo) were also recorded as committing similar actions, though such instances were quietly hushed up at the time and years after the war ended; no legal proceedings were ever carried out against their crews.[3] The crew of the Wahoo could not be tried after the war, because they were by then dead, as were the crew of the German U-247, who had shot the shipwrecked survivors of the fishing trawler Noreen Mary.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

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[@haroldfiedler6549]

The USS Wahoo, an American submarine operating during WWII in the Pacific, surfaced and machine gunned some 20 lifeboats launched when the American sub torpedoed a Japanese ship. Worse yet, the ship was carrying allied prisoners of war, who were murdered along side the Japanese in the water. In another incident, the same American sub with the same captain surfaced and ran over a life boat from another ship that the Wahoo had torpedoed. The Japanese sailors who were able to swim away before their lifeboat was crushed, were then machine gunned in the water. Here’s a question. Were any of the officers, including the captain, arrested or tried for war crimes? No. They were in fact given promotions and awards handed to them by none other than Chester Nimitz himself. In a separate event, the crew received additional awards by a different high ranking naval officer. What grand hypocrites the allies are.

[@gwine9087]

Quick answer, no. The winners get to choose who is tried and who is not.

[@richardc488]

Its war,, stuff happens

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

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[@smitty9733]

German selective outrage -- the Blitz anyone?

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

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[@dennismiddlebrooks7027]

If Eck was born n 1916, he was 29 when shot, not 39 as this video claims.

[@felixcat9318]

To these devout Nazis, the massacre of innocent, unarmed, defenceless merchant seamen as they desperately tried to survive being torpedoed in the freezing sea was just another war crime atrocity! Happily, the vast majority of U-Boat crews went down with their submarines under Allied fire!

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

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[@user-yr4mo3iz4d]

he was 29. Get it right!!

[@paulmarshall4453]

He had an older brother flipping😊😮😊

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Haha. Thanks for watching and have a great weekend :)

[@daver8521]

A miscarriage of justice.

[@marttimattila9561]

Wery good pronounching to German military ranks.

[@mikereu1605]

There was no "german held Malaya". The german bases in Asia were granted by the allied japanese invaders.

[@ClarenceCochran-ne7du]

William Tecumseh Sherman, Union General in the American Civil War, first reintroduced the concept of Total War. The goal of Total War is two-fold. Not only do you destroy the enemy' forces, you destroy the enemy's ability to "Make War." With Total War, atrocities are commited by all sides. Collateral Damage is egregiously high. It's easy to sit back and pronounce one that War Criminals get their just desserts. It ignores though that War itself is Criminal and all sides are guilty of heinous acts. What of the approximately 1200 men, unarmed, exhausted, oil soaked, who were allowed to drown after the Bismark was sunk. The Royal Navy only rescued 85 men from the cold Atlantic's embrace, and callously left the rest to drown.

[@markallison5641]

It is only the losing side that gets tried for war crimes. In war only survival matters.

[@hilariousname6826]

Don't start wars, then.

[@jimmynolet3752]

There's footage of US soldiers doing the same thing to Japanese sailors

[@SheepDogg-ki1gp]

Canadian Hospital Ship Londovery Castle torpedoed in WWI survivors shot causing Canadian Corps to seek revenge

[@nypdbob]

Thank god they did not not win. If they did everyone in a Benz, great highways, integrity in banking, better off the way we are!!!!

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

[@wobby1516]

As wrong as it was I’ve no doubt our lads dealt out similar, especially to SS soldiers. War in itself is a dreadful crime against humanity, Dresden, Hiroshima comes to mind.

[@1960caroline]

As a german- born woman. British Military were not the Japanese or Nazis!!

[@rnies6849]

@@1960caroline true British were more civilized than French, US or Russians who also murdered civil people and captives by the thousands. French and Russian troops raped German women in the millions (see wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of_Germany. Vice versa cases of German troops raping women were rare exceptions.

[@kieranororke620]

Dresden and Hiroshima were aerial attacks on enemy cities currently at war with the attacking force. There is no comparison between those acts of war and the Axis powers' extermination of surrendered POWs and civilian communities. How you cannot grasp the difference is beyond me.

[@davecopp9356]

RIP Mr. Eck.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

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[@DaveSCameron]

Zee schweinenesreichshweinen.. s..

[@tuncozbora2244]

Americans are so nices !

[@thatguy990]

👍👍

[@NormanBraslow-nh2tz]

The US navy did similar things.

[@charlesfaure1189]

SOME US commanders did. Mush Morton in particular. But the Japanese took care of Morton by themselves.

[@jimmiematho8082]

By this same standard thousands and thousands of allies would be guilty of war crimes as well. The Greek Sailors weren't non-combatants.

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Thanks for watching and have a great week :)

[@southafricandominion]

Allied mines are stationery why would they be a threat if the freighter's crew survived? This is badly written script

[@Tucker_George]

There is no rule book in war.

[@charlesfaure1189]

Tell that to the Nuremberg defendants.

[@johnsmith-mq4eq]

The British attacked german Red Cross ships in the Med.

[@stevek8829]

The AI narration is pathetic. Why can't these posters actually read? It isn't hard. The robo pronunciation of "bow" was the icing on the came. AI, if you just were smart enough to read.

[@S62bhas]

I blame them also for the global warming effects in the present years too

[@MrMmp1234]

And don’t forget terrorism.

[@user-yy4vf7mb9u]

You England France Netherland Denmark Portugal back stolen gold and money to your colonial country. This is not possible docoit and pease stay together.

[@stevemartin6144]

Gads...you can't even pronounce "Peleos".

[@ohmeowzer1]

The topic is interesting enough to forgive mispronunciation.

[@haroldfiedler6549]

So the U-boat was grounded on a coral reef and completely helpless. But the brutal allies attacked with aircraft anyway murdering 7 of the crew. Where were the trials for the allied murderers? Where were the death sentences?

[@williamkoppos7039]

Boo hoo. "I was just following orders"

[@randymagnum143]

Right, I mean it's not like they firebombed Dresden.

[@kieranororke620]

​@@randymagnum143Dresden - along with all aerial attacks by all powers in that war - was an attack on an enemy city still at war with the attackers. It was an act of war. Massacring at close range those who have surrendered or are helpless is simply a slaughter. It shouldn't be that hard for you to see the distinction.

[@captainsalty56]

If you're British and machine gun survivors, you are awarded a Victoria Cross and promoted to Rear Admiral. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Miers

[@catlikepizzagaming8280]

Did you just say reigmarine?

[@Navyuncle]

Der Dumbkoph

[@r43640]

One sided law, justice. Understand, figure out

[@HiddenHistoryYT]

Appreciate you watching and have a great week :)