By Gregory A. Freeman
This is an important, challenging story about the crew of a downed bomber behind German lines. They went down just after a particularly devastating bombing campaign which left their town in shambles, and left most families with at least one member injured or dead. Their response to the young men came from this loss; but regardless of the circumstances it was extreme and brutal. Ending in the deaths of most of them.
But the story doesn't end with this brutal act. These murders were investigated in the system of justice which would later become the Nuremberg trials, the perpetrators were uncovered and those who were found guilty were brought to justice.
"The debate over the bombing strategies would continue past the end of the war, even as the numbers of the dead were still being tallied. . . .The crews flying those missions, most of them young men straight out of high school, were not responsible for debating the merits of their orders, and they rarely questioned them. They flew where they were told to fly and dropped their bombs on the targets they were assigned, trusting that their work was part of the larger effort to shorten the war and defeat an unquestionably evil enemy." pg 40
"The threads of the Russelsheim murders continued spreading for years. Everyone involved with the murders and the trials would find that that terrible day would stay with them forever, an event that changed their lives and how they saw their fellow man."
Book 58
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