Page 93 of 120 |
Continued from page 92
Testimony of: Lt. Col. Walter J. Fellenz, 0-23055, Headquarters 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry.
Taken at: Stumm, Austria. (RECALLED)
Date: 15 May 1945. By: Lt. Col. J. M. Whitaker, IGD,
Asst. Inspector General, Seventh Army.
The witness was reminded that he was still under oath, and again advised of his rights under the 24th Article of War.
732 Q I have received some testimony that after the last man had been taken from the tower which was described in your previous testimony that approximately fifteen or so prisoners had been accumulated, and that American soldiers started pushing these men in the canal and shooting them in the canal. Did you see anything like that?
A As far as pushing people in the canal I saw nothing of that.
733 Q Did you see any being shot while they were in the water?
A No, sir.
734 Q With what weapon were you armed that day?
A With a 45 caliber automatic and M-3 sub-machine gun.
735 Q Who was it that fired the pistol into the bodies of some of these Germans while the Germans were on the ground?
A That I don't know. There were several people shooting at the Germans. I can't specifically point out any one individual.
736 Q Did you also shoot at the Germans.
A No, because my gun would not fire. When I first saw the Germans in the tower from a distance of about 25 yards I tried to shoot my "grease gun" several times, but the damn thing would not fire.
737 Q Did you try to shoot either it or your pistol after the tower was taken?
A No, sir.
738 Q You, yourself then, did not shoot at the Germans after they were taken prisoner?
A I myself did not shoot at those particular Germans at any time due to the fact of malfunction of my machine gun, and it was clumsy to attempt to hold the machine gun in one hand and shoot the pistol with the other.