Talk:Albert Kesselring

Italian government on the execution
''The Italian government refused to carry out death sentences, as the death penalty had been abolished in Italy in 1944 and was regarded as a relic of Mussolini's Fascist regime. The Italian decision was very disappointing to the British government because the trials had partly been intended to meet the expectations of the Italian public.''

I'm quite skeptic about this statement, or at least about the given reasoning. For one, capital punishment had been reinstated for certain common crimes on May 10, 1945, and continued to be in force until January 1, 1948 (not to mention that it had never been abolished for wartime offences, including war crimes). It was definitely in force for both common and war crimes both at the time of the Ardeatine massacre in 1944 and when Kesselring was convicted in 1947. Executions of war criminals with much less severe responsibilities were carried out as late as March 1947.

In addition, Kesselring was moved to Austria within ten days from the conviction, which suggests that the execution was always meant to be carried by the British (as expected for a sentence rendered by a British court). And of course I can't find public sources suggesting that the Italian government was opposed to the execution. Does anyone have the source at hand?

Daydreamers (talk) 11:30, 5 September 2020 (UTC)


 * The source says:
 * "The Italian position also had a direct influence on British war crimes policy when it came to deciding on a venue: as it transpired, it would actually be impossible to sentence Kesselring to death in Italy. Pursuant to an inquiry from the Foreign Ministry in Rome, the Italian military prosecutor stated that Italian law would preclude "imposing the death penalty on Kesselring in view of the evidence submitted", and this finding would also apply to Mackensen and Maltzer. The death penalty could only be imposed for "premeditated crimes" such as those which Herbert Kappler was charged, since such crimes had been explicitly exempted when the death penalty was abolished. It also appeared that Italy was unwilling to assume any responsibility for the verdict of the British military tribunal and, further, that it wanted the British to bear sole responsibility for the enforcement of that verdict. The Italian government refused to execute Kesselring because the death penalty was considered a "Fascist practice", and had been abolished in Italy in 1944. The British were extremely vexed by the attitude of the Italians, for the sentences had partly been imposed to meet the expectations of the Italian public and to make the Allied occupation of Italy easier."


 * Hawkeye7  (discuss)  20:11, 5 September 2020 (UTC)

GAN
This is already an A-class article. Why is it re-submitted for lesser "good article" status? Chris Troutman ( talk ) 17:08, 30 September 2020 (UTC)
 * It lost its GA status when it was stripped of its FA status by the FAR coordinator. I thought GA would be a stepping stone to having its status restored but it doesn't look like it will be reviewed.  Hawkeye7   (discuss)  19:17, 30 September 2020 (UTC)
 * It is worth noting that someone is more likely to notice a GA icon in the top right corner of an article, indicating that the article is a decent article, than for someone to go into the talk page and notice that the article has been rated as A-class. Plus, all that would happen is an icon to appear in the top right corner of the article and the GA template being put on the talk page. If the article was currently a featured article, which it isn't anymore, than I would understand why someone would be concerned about nominating it for GA status (it is against an unincorporated GA criterion). Lazman321 (talk) 04:07, 7 October 2020 (UTC)

needs further explanation
" ... the Austrian government, which ordered his deportation. He ignored the order and completed his tour, ... " - why didn't the gov't send officials to enforce the order? Why was it left 'voluntary'? 50.111.51.247 (talk) 13:22, 11 March 2021 (UTC)


 * The Austrian People's Party supported Kesselring, and the Australian government reacted only in response to pressure from the Soviet and Communist press. Hawkeye7   (discuss)  20:14, 11 March 2021 (UTC)