The Department of Justice Building
Many people are not aware that eight Nazi saboteurs landed on our country’s shores early during World War II with the intent to commit sabotage. Their names were George John Dasch, Ernst Peter Burger, Herbert Haupt, Heinrich Heinck, Eddie Kerling, Herman Otto Neubauer, Richard Quirin, and Werner Thiel. Even fewer are aware that during this week in 1942, six of those saboteurs were executed here in D.C.
Operation Pastorius was a failed German plan for sabotage inside the U.S. during World War II. The operation was staged in June of 1942 and was to be directed against strategic American homeland targets. In all, eight saboteurs were dropped off near shore by Nazi submarines and were able to make it to the U.S. mainland — four of them near Long Island, New York and the other four near Jacksonville, Florida. After one of them turned himself in, the largest manhunt in the history of the FBI began for the remaining seven. Within nine days, all of the saboteurs were captured.
Fearful that a civilian court would be too lenient, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Proclamation 2561 on July 2, 1942, creating a military tribunal to prosecute the German agents under a veil of secrecy. Lawyers for the accused attempted to have the case tried in a civilian court but were rebuffed by the U.S. Supreme Court in a case that was later cited as a precedent for trial by military tribunal of any unlawful combatant against the U.S., including those currently being held in the military prison at Guantanamo Bay as part of the War on Terror.
The military tribunal took place in July of 1942 in Assembly Hall # 1 on the fifth floor of the U.S. Justice Department building on Pennsylvania Avenue. All eight would-be saboteurs pleaded innocent, denouncing any allegiance to Adolph Hitler or the Third Reich. The prosecution, headed by the U.S. Attorney General, asked for the tribunal, consisting of seven military generals, for the death penalty. All eight Germans were found guilty. Exactly one month later, based on the Presidentially approved recommendation of the military tribunal, six of the eight were executed in the electric chair on the third floor of the D.C. Jail. They were subsequently buried in a potter’s field called Blue Plains in the Anacostia area of D.C. The other two Germans, George John Dasch and Ernst Peter Burger, were sentenced to terms of 30 years to life at hard labor.
On today’s bike ride, I went by the U.S. Department of Justice Building where the first military tribunal against an enemy combatant was held. I also rode by the District of Columbia jail, where they were executed in the electric chair on the third floor. I also rode to the Anacostia neighborhood in southeast D.C., where those who were executed were buried in unmarked graves in a potters field.
A look at the statistics will show how things have changed dramatically over the past 71 years. During World War II, there were a total of eight enemy combatants charged by the U.S. All eight were tried, convicted and sentenced, and the sentences were carried out. There were only 57 days between June 12th when the Germans first landed on U.S. soil with plans to commit sabotage, until their sentences were carried out and they were executed or began serving their prison sentences on August 8th.
By comparison, the statistics for today’s enemy combatants is much different. In the current military tribunal process, the shortest time between initial capture and conviction was five years, three months and the longest time nine years, seven months.
To date, 779 detainees have been held at the Guantanamo Bay facility since the War on Terror began after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Of the 779 detainees, roughly 600 were eventually released without charges, many after being detained for years. The total number of detainees currently remaining at Guantanamo stands at 41, although 5 of the 41 detainees have been approved by the U.S. for release to home or third countries but remain at Guantanamo. There have been 15 children under age 18 who have been held at Guantanamo. Nine Guantanamo detainees have died while in custody, six by suspected suicide. Only seven detainees have been convicted in the War on Terror military tribunals. And of the 41 detainees that currently remain at Guantanamo, 26 have not yet been charged with a crime.
Today’s ride reinforced for me how important it is to know what your government has done, and is doing.
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Above are the FBI mugshot photos for: 1.George John Dasch; 2. Ernst Peter Burger; 3. Herbert Haupt; 4. Heinrich Heinck; 5. Eddie Kerling; 6. Herman Otto Neubauer; 7. Richard Quirin, and; 8. Werner Thiel.
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