TOUL, MEURTHE-ET-MOSELLE, FRANCE – NOVEMBER 11, 1944 Two German Army soldiers convicted of espionage were executed by firing squad. 18-year-old Josef Wende and 25-year-old Stefan Kotas, both of Polish origin, were executed by American military police after an American military tribunal found them guilty of espionage.
On September 24, 1944, the two men crossed the Moselle River and infiltrated behind American lines, where they were supposed to observe Allied troops and determine their positions. According to historical records, they were wearing civilian clothes and posing as Polish laborers. The Americans discovered and captured them. On October 18, they were sentenced to death.
The executions took place in the courtyard of a farm in the presence of American military police officers and a Catholic priest. Surviving archival footage captures the final moments of both condemned men and the executions themselves.
