Malmedy massacre trial: Difference between revisions

One member of the commission, Judge Edward L. Van Roden of Pennsylvania, allegedly made several public statements allegingclaiming that physical violence had been inflicted on the accused and questioned the validity of the hearings. James Finucane, an official of the National Council for the Prevention of War, heardsaid that he heard Van Roden "had made some shocking statements" at a meeting of the [[Federal Bar Association]], and that when Finucane approached Van Roden to verify the report, Van Roden invited him to hear him speak on the same subject at the [[Rotary International|Rotary Club]]. The National Council for the Prevention of War made a press release on December 18, 1948, publicizing this speech, which the editor of ''[[The Progressive]]'' asked to run as ana partly-[[Ghostwriter|ghostwritten]] article under Van Roden's byline. After Finucane spoke with Van Roden by telephone to get his permission and discuss revisions to the article, it ran in the February 1949 issue of the magazine.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Van Roden |first=Edward L. |date=February 1949 |title=American atrocities in Germany |magazine=The Progressive}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1NFAQAAMAAJ |title=Malmedy Massacre Investigation: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services |location=Washington |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1949 |location=Washington |pages=952, 959–61 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1NFAQAAMAAJ959–63 |access-date=February 25, 2023}}</ref>

The press release and article greatly inflamed the public scandal, especially with the statement that "all but two of the Germans in the 139 cases we investigated had been kicked in the testicles beyond repair. This was standard operating procedure with our American investigators." Finucane later testified that that was what he understood Van Roden to have said, though he had used "the Army language, which a person like he would use," and that he had read the statement back to Van Roden over the telephone and Van Roden had not corrected it.<ref>{{cite book |title=Malmedy Massacre Investigation: Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services |location=Washington |publisher=Government Printing Office |year=1949 |page=963 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k1NFAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA963 |access-date=February 25, 2023}}</ref> However, Van Roden later denied under oath ever making statements found in the article, including the specific claim about 139 cases of damaged testicles.<ref name=":0" />