the Rhine and Gau Westmark) in Wiesbaden, serving there until the close of the war. Plot of 20 July 1944 According to Moczarski, no subject enraged Stroop more than the 20 July plot against Adolf Hitler. Whenever the subject came up, Stroop cursed those involved, "in unprintable terms," as a "murderous band of generals and Jew-ridden civilians." Stroop blamed Germany's defeat on Germans: "A few weaklings poisoned by enemy agents and infected with subversive ideologies were all it took to undermine us. The minute we suffered military defeats, the cancerous elements in our society swung into action, organizing Mafias and creating 'patriotic discussion groups.' In the end, they destroyed our nation." Stroop proudly related his involvement in the purge of anti-Nazi Germans following the plot's failure. He expressed annoyance that Field Marshal Erwin Rommel should have been allowed to commit suicide rather than being hanged from a meat hook. He also praised Roland Freisler of the Volksgerichtshof as "a fine judge." Stroop also boasted about his participation in dealing with Field Marshal Günther von Kluge for his involvement in the plot. As General Wilhelm Burgdorf did with Rommel, Stroop claimed to have offered the Field Marshal a choice between suicide and a show trial before Judge Freisler. To Stroop's outrage, Kluge demanded his day in court. Stroop then claimed he shot Kluge in the head. Himmler announced the Field Marshal was a suicide. Murder of US prisoners of war Between October 1944 and March 1945, nine airmen of the United States Army Air Forces were summarily executed after they were shot down and captured in Stroop's district. They were Sergeant Willard P. Perry, Sergeant Robert W. Garrison, Private Ray R. Herman, Second Lieutenant William A. Duke, Second Lieutenant Archibald B. Monroe, Private Jimmie R. Heathman, Lieutenant William H. Forman, and Private Robert T. McDonald. After Moczarski reminded him the killing of POWs was defined as criminal under the Hague and Geneva Conventions, Stroop responded, "It was common knowledge American flyers were terrorists and murderers who used methods contrary to civilized norms ... We were given a statement to that effect from the highest authorities. It was accompanied by an order from Heinrich Himmler." As a result, he explained, all nine POWs were taken to the forest and given "a ration of lead for their American necks." End of the war In late March 1945, Stroop was forced to retreat from