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Defense Dept.continues Employment of Hitler’s General at Dachau

February 3, 1961
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The Defense Department will continue employment of Martin Unrein, a General in Hitler’s army, despite statements by the German ex-General at Dachau recently “whitewashing” Nazi atrocities. This was made known today in an official letter from Francis X.Plant, special assistant to the Secretary of the Army, to the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A.

Despite Unrein’s controversial utterances a few months ago to Lord Russell, who served as British prosecutor at the Nuremberg war crimes trials, Mr. Plant informed the JWV that the U.S. Army decided to keep Unrein on as supervisor of German civilian labor at the American Army installation at Dachau.

In addition to alleging that the Dachau concentration camp was not the scene of mass murder during the war, Unrein said “it would have been impossible to burn six million Jews unless it had begun in 1906.” He asserted that the gas ovens in Dachau were built by German prisoners after the war.”

The issue was investigated by the West German Government but referred to the United States when Bonn pointed out that Unrein was an employee of the U.S. Army. After a study of the matter, the Defense Department, according to Mr.Plant’s letter, reported “a recommendation that no further action be taken, and the case closed, was approved by the Commanding General.”

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