Several moments in WW2 that are to be remembered as despicable acts of depravity. I have purposely left out the Holocaust as I feel that is a hands down winner for greatest war crime, and would not accurately depict the greater horrors of WW2.
Cheers.

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I guess the Germans during the first year of barbarossa got several millions of Soviet POWs killed so in numbers I guess that could be no 1.

In cruelty perhaps the top prize goes to the japanese biological weapon development branch.

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I have some trouble with this being a poll, the list can never be long enough and any overlooked one is a problem.
Oradour-sur-Glane for instance is not on the list, nor Katyn, nor any other small cruelty that might not have occurred without the surrounding chaos of war. If I've got to vote on worst, then I'd possibly either go for every single one of them, or none, to avoid too many moral comparisons.

The Malmedy one's always interesting though, still far too much uncertainty over what went on there, butchery and general misbehaviour on all sides seems quite likely. The peculiar nature of the investigation & trial probably means we'll never really know.
It also veers into the very difficult area of what's acceptable in war, and is anything involving military personnel in action really unacceptable?... but that's a hugely complicated moral debate that makes my brain hurt.

Excellent site on such grim events of the war here:
George Duncan's Massacres and Atrocities of World War II
Well worth a shufti, the sheer length of each page really brings it home how much 'irregular' killing was going on.

Cheers,
Adam.

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"Wars cannot be fought with dream stuff" - Sir Percy Hobart.

I feel very uncomfortable with polls of this nature as it seems to me trivialising the dark side of human nature as all crimes against Jews, P.O.W's and civilians are sickening and distasteful.

Panzerknacker, I am not having a go at you it's just how I feel on this matter.

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Regards, Richard

There back this Xmas 2008

This is one poll I'll steer clear of.

IMPO war itself is possibly the greatest obscenity ; under its influence and conditions certain elements on all 'sides' allow themselves to do dreadful things to fellow-humans.

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"Stand by to pull me out of the seat if I get hit" - Guy Gibson

I agree with Adam. There are many that are missing and can one crime be more hanous than another. I selected the Crimean Massacre which not only happened in the Crimea but other places as well by other countries as well. It represents the brutality of mankind towards the innocent because of discrimination.

BTW, it is now to see a poll again.

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American by birth, TEXAN by the grace of GOD!

I agree, in cruelty probably the Japanese... However I voted for the Russians in German hands simply for the numbers in which they parished. Stavation, is a terrible way to die. The sad part is how quickly this is forgoten or down played.

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The war against Russia will be such that it cannot be conducted in a knightly fashion. This struggle is one of ideologies and racial differences and will have to be conducted with unprecedented, unmerciful and unrelenting harshness. -Adolf Hitler

Man. This leaves out so many. Kaytin Forest (massacre of the Polish officer corps) by the Soviets for example. Atrocities like this should not be ranked. They are all equally dispicable.

How can we pick one horror over another? I'm not voting.

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I agree with you, Za. I just can't choose one over an other.

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Best Regards,
JW

I vote for the General German mistreatment of Soviet POWs, because i think the Germany capture a million number of the Soviet POWs in the 1941-42, it must be difficult to manage such a number

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Nor am I.

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Regards, Richard

There back this Xmas 2008

I have to pass on this one.

Lesser of Evils a choice ?....pass

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"Danger Will Robinson!"

This is one poll where the non-voters give a better account of things than the voters.

How do you compare atrocities? I'm not sure it is even possible. I've always felt the circumstances around Lidice were particularly heinous, but there is no way to 'rate' one war crime against another.

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Dont forget the firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo.

After this though my thoughts end with war in general. Maybe this is why most of the war crimes trials had to do with starting the war.

How does one compare Lidice to Oradour-sur-Glane?

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"Never wrestle with pigs, you both end up getting dirty and the pig likes it."

I don't see how you can compare a bombing run with some like say The Rape of Nanking.

My point exactly Za. The aspects of scale, method and hideousness of such events are impossible to hold up to a scale.

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