Germany, SS. A Handwriting Sample from SS-Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer, in Allied Custody

(Kurt Meyer Unterschrift). An interesting example of ephemera from the pre-trial custody of SS-Brigadeführer Kurt Meyer, presented on off-white paper with black ink, dated 1 September 1945, featuring a typewritten affirmation in both English and German that the accompanying handwritten signature is an appropriate specimen of Meyer’s handwriting, measuring 20 cm (w) x 13 cm (h), a historically-significant signature in extremely fine condition.

Footnote: Kurt Meyer was a Waffen-SS officer who rose to the rank of SS-Brigadeführer and Generalmajor der Waffen-SS. He joined the SS in 1930 and served in the invasions of Poland and France before fighting on the Eastern Front. In 1943, he took command of the 25th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment of the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, a formation composed largely of young soldiers. During the Normandy campaign in 1944, Meyer assumed command of the division after its commander was killed. His forces fought Canadian troops around Caen, where numerous Allied prisoners of war were killed. Meyer was captured by American forces in September 1944 and subsequently transferred to Canadian custody.

Meyer was tried by a Canadian military court at Aurich, Germany, from 10 to 28 December 1945. He faced charges relating to the killing of Canadian prisoners of war at several locations in Normandy, including Buron, Authie, and the Abbaye d'Ardenne. The prosecution argued that Meyer had either ordered the killings or had encouraged his troops to refuse quarter to Allied soldiers. The court did not accept every allegation: Meyer was acquitted of responsibility for the killings at Buron and Authie and was not found to have personally ordered the Abbaye d'Ardenne killings. However, the court found him guilty on charges concerning his responsibility as a commander for the killing of prisoners at the Abbaye d'Ardenne and for conduct amounting to incitement to deny quarter.

Meyer was sentenced to death by firing squad, but the sentence was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment. He served his sentence in Canada before being transferred to a British military prison in West Germany and was released in 1954. He returned to civilian life and became involved in veterans' organizations before dying in 1961. His trial became an important early Canadian war-crimes case, particularly because it addressed command responsibility: the extent to which a commander could be held criminally responsible for crimes committed by subordinates even when there was no proof that he had personally ordered each killing. The surviving proceedings provide an important record of both the killings of Canadian prisoners in Normandy and the legal difficulties involved in prosecuting senior German commanders after the war.