United States. The West Point Cadets' Sword of William Rowdell Denson, West Point Class of 1934, Chief Prosecutor War Crimes Trials EUCOM 1945-1947

Includes: 
1. West Point Cadets' Sword named to William Rowdell Denson (issued to cadet officers of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York for wear when the uniform is designated as "under arms," to include formal functions, drill, parades, inspections and graduation: Sword: steel blade with a silvered finish, magnetic, engraved in Gothic style text "William Rowdell Denson" on the obverse, inscribed "U.S.M.A." (United States Military Academy) and maker marked "THE LILLEY-AMES CO. / COLUMBUS, OHIO" on the reverse, the blade measuring 810 mm in length, green felt washer at the base of the blade, the handle in bronze gilt, bearing the insignia of the United States Military Academy at the center of the crossguard, with an eagle head placed at either end of the crossguard, ribbed grip, the pommel with a spread-winged eagle on either side and finished with a scroll, the sword measuring 952 mm in length x 105 mm in width, exhibiting gilt wear; scabbard: in silvered metal, magnetic, the throat, locket and chape in bronze gilt, the locket with a hook, the chape incorporating a wide and flat tip fixture, measuring 830 mm in length, dent on the reverse, exhibiting wear in the silvering and gilt; and Carrying Case: in brown canvas, with the trim in light brown stitched in place, lined in white cotton, foldover flap with snap closure, stamped with the initials "W.D." (William Denson") on the flap, measuring 975 mm in length x 175 mm in width, exhibiting extensive wear and soiling); 

2. Cap Badge (in bronze gilt, measuring 54 mm (w) x 44.5 mm (h), screwback, with both push pin points intact); 

3. Cufflinks Pair (in bronze gilt, marked "KREMENTZ" on their reverses, measuring 18.5 mm (w) x 12.5 mm (h), both with intact post and fixed toggle); 

4. West Point June Week 1934 Calendar (embossed black leather cover, with an imprint in silver ink and dated "1934" on the front cover, vellum insert on the inside front cover, containing eighteen pages printed in black ink, in an off-white paper stock, measuring 125 mm (w) x 175 mm (h) x 5.5 mm (d), lightly soiled on the exterior cover, the pages unaffected); 

5. West Point "The Howitzer" 1934 Yearbook (greenish embossed stone pattern on the covers, the front cover bearing an eagle on a staff, inscribed "HOWITZER MCMXXXIV" in gold-coloured ink, Limited Edition of 2,300 copies, printed under the direction of Editor J. deP. Townsend Hills, Associate Editors John H. Anderson & Charles F. Tank and Business Manager Thomas L. Crystal, printed by Baker, Jones, Hausauer, Inc. of Buffalo, New York, "for the Corps of Cadets at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York", this edition numbered "1668" in handwritten black ink, photo and biography of the owner William Dowdell Denson in this edition (flagged page), multiple un-numbered pages, printed in black and green or color inks, the initial pages and title pages on an off-white paper stock, the majority of the pages on a coated white paper stock, incorporating a few vellum inserts, measuring 230 mm (w) x 315 mm (h) x 38 mm (d), with a letter entitled "The Femmes' Number of The Pointer" and a movie listing newspaper clipping loosely inserted in the yearbook beside his photo and bio); 

6. Book: "Justice at Dachau: The Trials of an American Prosecutor", by Joshua  M. Greene, brown cloth cover, with dust jacket and protective clear plastic cover, signed by the author in black ink on the title page, First Edition published in 2003, published by Broadway Books, printed in the United States of America, ISBN 0-7679-0879-1, the book documenting Lieutenant Colonel Denson's work and successful convictions as Chief Military Prosecutor at the War Crimes Trials, 400 pages printed in black ink, on a white paper stock, measuring 158 mm (w) x 241 mm (h) x 34.5 mm (d)); 

7. Document: "The Last Words of Dr. Karl Brandt from the Landesberger Galgen" (in German, typewritten in black ink, on a thin off-white paper stock, measuring 208 mm (w) x 298 mm (h), edge evident along the bottom edge, accompanied by assorted research papers and a photocopied photograph). 

Better than very fine.

 

At the time of the trials, Denson, age 32, was assigned to the Judge Advocate's Office in Europe. He would go on to help convict and execute more Nazi war criminals than any other American while serving as the Chief Military Prosecutor of those accused of running concentration camps in Germany. In the trials that Mr. Denson oversaw, the proceedings were conducted in Dachau and were presided over by American judges under the United States War Crimes Tribunal. In the Nazi war crimes trials, American military defense counsel upheld standards of professionalism even with respect to clients who had once been their enemies, and whom clear evidence showed had committed horrific acts. Seeking to uphold both international law and ideals of American justice, they vigorously defended their clients amidst cries of "victor's justice."  

 

In four trials from 1945 to 1947, which focused on atrocities committed at the concentration camps at Dachau, Mauthausen, Buchenwald and Flossenburg, and after twenty-one months of trials, Denson secured convictions of 177 Nazis, the largest number convicted by any single prosecutor. Technically the four were "mere" concentration camps, rather than Vernichtungslager, or extermination camps, such as Auschwitz or Treblinka, but the wickednesses committed there were scarcely less egregious. Most defendants he was in charge of prosecuting in 1945 were closer to the scenes of the Nazi crimes than those in the dock in the more famous 1945-1946 trials at Nuremberg. Many Nuremberg defendants had planned the brutal acts, but the underlings who carried them out often drew harsher penalties. 

 

Those who were in the dock before Denson, struck him as having come from fairly normal backgrounds, but he noted that exposure to violence merely generated more violence; experience of atrocity merely raised the threshold of future atrocity. Of the 177 people he prosecuted, only four were acquitted, and 132 were sentenced to death, with the rest receiving varying prison terms. It was the highwater mark for war crimes trials in Europe. A dozen more tribunals would sit in Nuremberg, but of the 185 who appeared before them, just 25 were sentenced to death.    

 

Of those condemned to die, some had their sentences reduced on appeal, but 97 were eventually hanged. By comparison, of the 22 most prominent former Nazis who were the first to go on trial in Nuremberg, twelve received death sentences, and three were sentenced to life in prison, while four were granted lesser prison terms and three were acquitted. In twelve subsequent tribunals at Nuremberg, 185 leading personalities of the Nazi period were indicted. Of these, four committed suicide, four were ruled incompetent to stand trial, 25 were given death sentences, 20 received terms of life in prison, 97 were sent to prison for shorter periods, and 35 were acquitted.