THE ODIOUS ORDER
Throughout modern history, international conventions on the laws of war have struggled to clearly define who is a lawful combatant in a conflict and who is not, as well as what a belligerent party can or cannot do to those persons. Because technology and tactics are always evolving, established laws of war sometimes do not specifically address recently developed military formations, and sometimes a warring nation attempts to reinterpret the extant laws of war in ways that are contrary to established conventions. Both of those factors were at the heart of the two variations of the Kommandobefehl (Commando Order) that the German High Command issued in 1942 at the height of World War II.
Paratroops were a new combat asset when that war began, and the tactical potential of such forces was recognized immediately (and occasionally exaggerated). On June 21, 1942, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt ordered that any Allied paratroops captured by German forces were not to be treated as prisoners of war but instead immediately turned
