Vinkt Massacre - Aftermath

Aftermath

As news of the carnage spread, German press sources denied it or excused it, claiming that Belgian civilians had dressed up as soldiers. Although British newspapers knew the exact story, they refused to press the point - because this had happened in Belgium, they were afraid of being accused that they were repeating the war propaganda claims they had made in 1914 with the gross exaggeration of "the rape of little Belgium".

On the Western Front, the Vinkt massacre was not only the first major infraction of the Geneva Convention by the German army, but also unique in that it was committed by an ordinary Wehrmacht unit, and not by a special SS unit, not even by the Waffen SS. It may be the only notable war crime of the Wehrmacht committed on the Western Front before 1944.

Although largely ignored outside Belgium, it did not go entirely unpunished: the German officers Major Kühner and Lieutenant Lohmann were tried, convicted and sentenced to 20 years forced labour. They were both released after five years.