We associate being shot at dawn, or being shot for desertion during conflict with the
First World War. During this conflict, a number of servicemen fighting for the Allied nations
were shot dead, being tied to a stake and executed by a firing squad for cowardice,
desertion or other offences considered shameful by the high command. However there were a
number of death sentences handed out to soldiers during the Second World War, however only
one was carried out by the American Army. 49 men were sentenced to death for crimes,
but it was only the execution of Eddie Slovak, a young 24 year old man from Michigan, which
was carried out. The death penalty in this case was incredibly harsh, considering during
World War 2 it was used mostly for serious cases such as murder. So join us today as
we look at, ‘The BRUTAL Execution Of Eddie Slovik - The American Shot For Desertion.
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Eddie Slovik was born in 1920 in Detroit, inside of a Polish American family. As a child
he was often in trouble with the police being known for being a local troublemaker, and
he was first arrested at just the age of 12 accused of stealing brass after being caught
inside a foundry. As his teenage years continued, he continued to have run ins with the law,
and was arrested a number of times for theft, and disturbing the peace, and in October 1937
at the age of 17 he was sent to prison. He was then paroled the following year however
he then stole a car in 1939, and crashed it with his friends whilst intoxicated and was
sent back to prison. However 3 years later Eddie Slovik was given parole again, and he
worked in Michigan as a plumber, and he met his wife.
They married, however Slovak was a felon and a criminal, and with his past record he was
classed at the time as morally unfit for duty within the US Army, however he was then reclassified
and was drafted into the US Army in January 1944. He underwent basic training, and then
following the Normandy Landings, was sent to France to join in the fight to relieve
the country from the Nazi occupation it had been facing for years. He joined the 28th
infantry division, and was then assigned to the 109th Infantry Regiment in August 1944.
He was ultimately drafted to fill the need for personnel inside of the army following
losses, and he had been trained as a rifleman, and he was someone who hated guns. As a replacement
officer, he was not the most respected by officers, especially as his division had suffered
huge losses in France.
Whilst he was en route to his assigned unit near to Elbeuf in France, Slovak and his friend
John Tankey who he had met during training were caught up in the fighting. They were
caught up in an artillery attack in the night, and they became separated from Company G.
In the morning the company advanced, and then left Slovik and Tankey behind. The pair then
found a Canadian military police unit inside of the town and stayed with them for 6 weeks.
Tankey did write to the regiment to explain where the pair were, but the Canadians Mae
arrangements for them to then catch up with their uni on the 7th October 1944. The pair
joined their original regiment, and no charges were brought as replacements getting lost
early on was a rather regular occurrence.
However the next day, Slovak committed a fatal act that would be used against him as he was
passed over to his original unit. On the 8th October, he told his company commander that
he was too scared and frightened to be a soldier inside of a front line rifle company, and
he then asked to be reassigned to a unit to the rear of the action and attacks. His commander
was rather hesitant, and Slovik then said how he would run away if he was assigned to
the front line unit, and even asked his captain if this would be desertion and be liable to
court martial. The commander said this would be desertion, and then refused to place him
in a rear division, and sent him to the front line rifle group.
Eddie Slovik was true to his word, and the following day after recieving news he deserted
from his unit. His friend Tankey tried to convince him to stay, but Slovak absconded
with his mind made up, and he walked to the rear of the advancing soldiers, and walked
miles in the wrong direction and then approached a cook with a note. The cook belonged to the
112th Infantry Regiment, and was given the noter that almost signed Slovik’s death
sentence.
This note read, I, Pvt. Eddie D. Slovik, confess to the desertion of the United States Army.
At the time of my desertion we were in Albuff in France. I came to Albuff as a replacement.
They were shelling the town and we were told to dig in for the night. The following morning
they were shelling us again. I was so scared, nervous and trembling, that at the time the
other replacements moved out, I couldn’t move. I stayed there in my fox hole till it
was quiet and I was able to move. I then walked into town. Not seeing any of our troops, so
I stayed over night at a French hospital. The next morning I turned myself over to the
Canadian Provost Corp. After being with them six weeks I was turned over to American M.P.
They turned me loose. I told my commanding officer my story. I said that if I had to
go out there again I'd run away. He said there was nothing he could do for me so I ran away
again and I’ll run away if I have to go out there again.
It’s bizarre how a cook was presented with this, but he then took Slovak to a military
policeman and then the company commander. Slovik was told to get rid of the note before
he was taken under arrest and he refused, before he was then given another chance to
tear the note up, and return to his unit. He was even offered the chance to not face
any charges, but for some reason Slovik who most probably was terrified with facing front
line action, and intense fighting continued to refuse to tear up the note. The note was
seen as a key piece of evidence that was incriminating, and even the divisions judge general asked
him for one final time to get rid of the note and to rejoin his unit, but he continued to
refuse. He also offered to transfer Slovik to a different division for a fresh start
where no-one would know anything about his past, but Slovik took his chances. He thought
the worst he would get was prison time, which he favoured over facing combat, but he replied
saying ‘I’ll take my court marital.’
The 28th Infantry Division that Slovik briefly belonged to were due to attack in the Hurtgen
Forest, which saw bloody and deadly fighting as the Americans advanced against the German
Army. It was expected that the fighting would be incredibly torrid, and the Germans dug
in wishing to defend their positions. Some soldiers did become very scared of this offensive
such was the brutality, and the high casualty rates, and there was at the time a slight
rise in desertion in the units. Slovik who was seen as a complete coward by officers
was charged with desertion and was tried by court martial on the 11th November 1944. He
was tried by staff officers as combat officers were redeployed onto the front lines, and
at the trial the prosecutor portrayed the events showing Slovik to have been a coward
who had planned to run away. Slovik decided not to testify, hoping just for the prison
time, however during the verdict things took a rather shocking turn. The 9 officers presiding
over the case sentenced Slovik to death for his desertion. Death sentences were not completely
rare during this time in the US Army during this part of the Second World War, however
they were never carried out, but Slovik was the exception.
He appealed to Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D Eisenhower for clemency, however Eisenhower
confirmed that the executions should go ahead. He deemed this was acceptable, as during the
offensives in France and also the Battle of the Bulge, the desertion rates were becoming
higher and were becoming more of a problem because of the fact the fighting was incredibly
intense, with casualities falling all around the soldiers. Eisenhower wished to deter other
soldiers from dereliction of their duties. Slovik genuinely believed he would be given
a dishonourable discharge and time in prison which was also given, however as he was an
ex prisoner, and a convict, he was used almost as a case study to put possible deserters
of. The 28th Infantry Division even had examples of soldiers wounding themselves to avoid some
of the intense fighting, but the treatment of Slovik was very harsh at the time. It’s
almost as if his past as a criminal came back to haunt him confirming his death sentence.
He was remanded in custody for a number of months before his execution day came. On the
31st January 1945 near to the village of Saint Marie Aux Mines, a firing squad was gathered.
Slovik was brought out infront of the soldiers who were there to execute him, and he said
to them, ‘They're not shooting me for deserting the United States Army, thousands of guys
have done that. They just need to make an example out of somebody and I'm it because
I'm an ex-con. I used to steal things when I was a kid, and that's what they are shooting
me for. They're shooting me for the bread and chewing gum I stole when I was 12 years
old.’ He firmly believed he was being punished for the crimes he had committed at a young
age.
Military tradition dictated that Slovik was to be stripped of his uniform and all the
military insignia and buttons. This happened, and the weather was freezing. He was wrapped
in a blanket to shield him from the cold and then led to the courtyard of a house chosen
for the execution. This was selected as it had a high wall that would protect the execution
from the eyes of French witnesses and also as the wall would stop ricochets. Slovik was
then taken to a 15 cm by 15cm post and was strapped to it with belts, with one placed
under his arms and hung on a spike to stop his body slumping over. He was secured tightly
to the post, and then as a soldier placed a black hood over his head, a priest who had
been selected to accompany Slovak said, ‘Eddie when you get up there, say a little prayer
for me,’ referring to heaven, and Slovik’s last words were ‘Okay father, I’ll pray
you don’t follow me too soon.’ 12 soldiers chosen from the 109th Regiment were then readied,
and they were stood with their M1 Garand Rifles, primed and ready. 11 of these had been loaded
with one round, and one had been loaded with a blank round.
Then the command was given for the firing squad to fire. They shot straight into their
target, with 11 bullets hitting him with at least four being fatal shots. He was shot
from high in the neck, the left shoulder, over his chest and under the heart. It was
said by an Army doctor that he had not been immediately killed, but as the firing squad
were being readied to fire another volley of shots into Slovik, he then died. The process
took around 15 minutes, and he was then buried inside an American Cemetery, alongside other
men executed for crimes such as murder.
After the Second World War, it was noted that over 2000 people were tried for purely military
offences, 49 of these were sentenced to death, but 48 of these sentences were then commuted
but only one, Eddie Slovik’s was carried out during the conflict. It’s believed his
death was an injustice, and that he was made a victim of being scapegoated, and that his
past as a convict went against him.
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