VON MANSTEIN APPEALS

Chronicle (Levin), 20 December 1949, Page 5

VON MANSTEIN APPEALS

{ N.Z.P.A .-

—Reuter. i

War Crimes Bring 18-year Prison Sentence

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Received Tuesday, 9.25 a.m. BERLIN, Dec. 19. Field Marsflal Ericfl von Manstein tonigMt appeaied against the 18-year prison sentence imposed on him eariier today by the Hamburg British Military Court. Lieut.^General Sir Charles Keightley, "Comniander-iii-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine, will revi^w the hndmgs and sentence. It is beiieved tfiat Lord ^Russell, the eminent British judge who frequently attended the trial, will act as General Keightley's legal adiviser. The apeal is largely a formality made m thq case of all prisoners before a court-martial sentence has been confirmed. Von Manstem was found guilty fon nine charges and acquitted on 'eight. He heard the verdict in silence, his face whitening until it was like a mask as the pronou#cements were made. The' court then adjourned briefly to allow the defence to prepare its plea for clem^ ency.

Von Manstem was iound. noi guilty on one of the most important charges — ordering the mass > exterminations by Himmler's S.S. troops. Instead the court found him guilty of'disregarding his duty [by failing to ensure respect for 'human life. I Severity Surprises Germans. f The United Press correspondent at Hamburg says that not one of the 50 German spectators at the sentencing whom he_ questioned thought the sentence f'air. Said one : "We trusted the British Court and hoped that the sentence would be a humane one, but 18 years for a good old general who only did his duiy is- horrible." Other correspondents report similar views among Gerjnans interviewed throughout the country. A former • lieut.-colonel who served under von Manstein in Crimea said: "An 18-year sentence is disgraceful. It is a swinish sentence." The officer, who lost a leg iin the fighting, added: "Von Man■stein was a grand commander and a fine fellow. The British Court has no idea what the situation was like in Crimea." A spokesman of the Free Democratic Party of Hesse said: "I am astouiided at the severity of the sentGiics." Not all Germans thought the sentence too heavy)n however. "Die secretary of the Jewish organisa■tion in West Germany, Norbert Wollheim, said: "The court has not ailowed itself to be influenced by the emotiorial pleading of the de--fence or German attempts to whitewash von Manstein. The seni tence shows that while it is not a erime.to lose a waf'it is- definitely one to commit ba'rbarous atrocities " I a spokesman of the West German Communist Party headquarters said the sentence was "msufAcient." • ■jlijuliljuuulmJU'A