The History Press | Hitler’s Commando Order

On October 18, 1942, Hitler ordered captured allied commandos to be killed. An excerpt from the article:

"The most significant consequence of Operation Basalt, the British commando raid on the occupied Channel Island of Sark, was the Commando Order (Kommandobefehl), issued by Hitler on 18 October 1942, exactly two weeks after the raid. The Führer was furious that the successful raid resulted in a deaths of German soldiers who had surrendered and had their hands bound – but were later shot while trying break free.
The Order was marked ‘Secret’ and was limited in its distribution to just twelve copies. ‘For a long time now,’ it began, ‘our opponents have been employing in their conduct of the war, methods which contravene the International Convention of Geneva … The members of the so-called Commandos behave in a particularly brutal and underhand manner.’

‘From captured orders,’ it continued, ‘it emerges that they are instructed not only to tie up prisoners, but also to kill out-of-hand unarmed captives who they think might prove an encumbrance to them, or hinder them in successfully carrying out their aims. Orders have indeed been found in which the killing of prisoners has positively been demanded of them.’

‘In future, Germany will adopt the same methods against these Sabotage units of the British and their Allies; i.e. that, whenever they appear, they shall be ruthlessly destroyed by the German troops.’

On the one hand, Hitler was denouncing the breach of the Geneva Conventions by British soldiers. But on the other hand, he was issuing orders to ‘ruthlessly destroy’ them. Hitler was not calling for the commandos to be shackled if captured. He was demanding their execution."