Tuesday, January 31, 2012

This Day in History: Jan 31, 1945: The execution of Pvt. Slovik

 
On this day, Pvt. Eddie Slovik becomes the first American soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion-and the only one who suffered such a fate during World War II.

File:US28th Infantry Division.svg

Pvt. Eddie Slovik was a draftee. Originally classified 4-F because of a prison record (grand theft auto), he was reclassified 1-A when draft standards were lowered to meet growing personnel needs. In January 1944, he was trained to be a rifleman, which was not to his liking, as he hated guns.

 File:28id-crest.gif

In August of the same year, Slovik was shipped to France to fight with the 28th Infantry Division, which had already suffered massive casualties in France and Germany. Slovik was a replacement, a class of soldier not particular respected by officers. As he and a companion were on the way to the front lines, they became lost in the chaos of battle and stumbled upon a Canadian unit that took them in.

 http://www.guerrillaexplorer.com/wp-content/uploads/Eddie-Slovik-Trial.png



Slovik stayed on with the Canadians until October 5, when they turned him and his buddy over to the American military police. They were reunited with the 28th Division, which had been moved to Elsenborn, Belgium. No charges were brought, as replacements getting lost early on in their tours of duty were not unusual. But exactly one day after Slovik returned to his unit, he claimed he was "too scared and too nervous" to be a rifleman, and threatened to run away if forced into combat. His confession was ignored-and Slovik took off. One day later he returned and signed a confession of desertion, claiming he would run away again if forced to fight, and submitted it to an officer of the 28th. The officer advised Slovik to take the confession back, as the consequences were serious. Slovik refused and was confined to the stockade.

The 28th Division had many cases of soldiers wounding themselves or deserting in the hopes of a prison sentence that might protect them from the perils of combat. A legal officer of the 28th offered Slovik a deal: dive into combat immediately and avoid the court-martial. Slovik refused. He was tried on November 11 for desertion and was convicted in less than two hours. The nine-officer court-martial panel passed a unanimous sentence of execution, "to be shot to death with musketry."

File:HurtgenForest.jpg


Slovik's appeal failed. It was held that he "directly challenged the authority" of the United States and that "future discipline depends upon a resolute reply to this challenge." Slovik had to pay for his recalcitrant attitude, and the military made an example of him. One last appeal was made-to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander-but the timing was bad for mercy. The Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes forest was resulting in literally thousands of American casualties, not to mention the second largest surrender of an U.S. Army unit during the war. Eisenhower upheld the death sentence.

Eddie Slovik

Slovik was shot and killed by a 12-man firing squad in eastern France. None of the rifleman even flinched, firmly believing Slovik had gotten what he deserved.

1975 Private Eddie Slovik Army Execution Firing Squad Antoinette Press

Lead Story
Truman announces development of H-bomb, 1950
American Revolution
Gouverneur Morris is born, 1752
Automotive
Cars.com names most memorable TV cars, 2007
Civil War
House passes the 13th Amendment, 1865
Cold War
First McDonald's opens in Soviet Union, 1990
Crime
The McMartin Preschool trials, 1990
Disaster
Flood wreaks havoc in Europe, 1953
General Interest
The death of Guy Fawkes, 1606
Germany resumes submarine warfare, 1917
Viet Cong attack U.S. Embassy, 1968
Apollo 14 departs for the moon, 1971
Hollywood
Samuel Goldwyn dies, 1974
Literary
Norman Mailer is born, 1923
Music
American composer Phillip Glass is born, 1937
Old West
Author Zane Grey is born, 1872
Presidential
Clinton authorizes loan to Mexico, 1995
Sports
Doug Williams leads Redskins to Super Bowl victory, 1988
Vietnam War
Viet Cong attack U.S. Embassy, 1968
North Vietnam presents nine-point peace proposal, 1972
World War I
Germans unleash U-boats, 1917
World War II
The execution of Pvt. Slovik, 1945

5 comments:

  1. A helpful article, thanks. Can you tell me where you found the photograph of Slovik's execution? Thanks.
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. http://unusualhistoricals.blogspot.com/2011/04/cowards-execution-of-private-slovik.html

      Delete
    2. he soldier shot dead his body is untied is not Slovik. The picture shows the executed German soldiers Manfred Pernass.
      https://picasaweb.google.com/Greif1944/ScrapbookPhotos

      Delete
  2. This results in errors in the story. The soldier shot dead his body is untied is not Slovik. The picture shows the executed German soldiers Manfred Pernass. This was executed on 23.12.1944 in Henri-Chapelle (Belgium). The rest of the story can be found on the internet ....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Solar. I will remove the picture. I want to do a this day in history next year for World War II only and then I will do a piece on Operation Greif & Unteroffizier Manfred Pernass, Oberfähnrich Günther Billing, and Gefreiter Wilhelm Schmidt.

      Delete