The case of Hauptsturmführer (Hauptmann) Walter Hauck is as follows:

On April 1, 1944, Hauck, as chief of the 2nd Panzerspäh-Kompanie, was to transfer his men and parts of other units - about 500 men with vehicles - from Flanders to Normandy by train. He was specifically advised by his superior, Sturmbannführer (Major) Gerd Bremer, of the lively partisan activity in the area to be crossed. Shortly before, on February 23, 1944, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had called for partisan warfare and total warfare of the population against the supply lines of the German Wehrmacht in violation of international law. He called on them to murder all troops in their accommodations, in theaters, cinemas, soldiers' homes, in all factories, villages and towns, as well as on all public transportation and military vehicles. He thus bore the moral responsibility for what followed.

On the night of April 2, 1944, an explosive attack was made on the above-mentioned transport on the Brussels-Lille-Paris express line in the Ascq station area, derailing the locomotive and two cars. Barely 10 minutes before, the preceding express train had still passed through unhindered. The dynamite must therefore have been planted shortly before. Later it turned out that the blast was intended for a following supply train of the Wehrmacht.

The train was also fired at from the nearby village of Ascq. The Germans, some of whom were in their vehicles ready to fire against Allied planes, returned fire. During the then ordered search of the surrounding area by the SS men, about 50 men suspected of being partisans were arrested and brought before Hauck. Despite the curfew, which had been in effect since 10 p.m., they were found dressed in the open and partly with weapons. He released half of them, and the others, especially those who were still armed, contrary to the strict rule prohibiting the carrying of weapons, and a man who was carrying the sketch of the attack, were detained in a train car to be handed over to the nearest German military post. The train was reinforced by guards.

After a quarter of an hour, a shooting broke out: the prisoners still had pistols with them. They made a successful escape and were wounded by the German guards, and fled in the direction of the village. In the process and during the pursuit to the village, some partisans were shot by the Germans pursuing them. Later it turned out that 300 partisans had gathered from the vicinity in two armored cars, of whom a total of about 40 died in the ensuing clash. Women and children were not affected. The train could be towed after two hours to a station 8 km away, and the esuing journey took 12 hours to Normandy, where Hauck made exact reports.

The French ambassador to the Vichy government, Brinon, sent a note of protest about this incident to the German Commander-in-Chief West, Field Marshal von Rundstedt, on April 4, 1944, to which the latter replied with an account of the facts. On May 30, 1944, the German court-martial of the Lille Field Command sentenced to death six French men and one woman, some of whom were proven to have engaged in further partisan activity. The sentences against the men were carried out, but the one against the woman was suspended.

After the end of the war, all traceable German participants in the described train ride were taken to the military prison in Metz and held in solitary cells. After four years of imprisonment - a monstrous punishment for the innocent - they were taken under heavy guard to a penitentiary near Lille at the end of March 1949, where the trial for them began on August 2, 1949. The defendants were given only French public defenders, who behaved correctly; German defense lawyers were not admitted. The show trial, long announced in the press, was conducted in French. The indictment served on the defendants in June 1949 contained the charge: "Murder and plunder during the night of April 1 to 2, 1944, in Ascq." The offense of plunder was then dropped at trial because it was inaccurate. The Germans were regarded as illegal invaders, the partisans, who acted in violation of international law, as legal freedom fighters. The president of the military court was a Mr. Rosenberg, a German Jew who had emigrated to southern France, and he was joined by three active French officers and four partisan leaders as assessors. The prosecutor was a former member of the Resistance.

At the end of his closing statement, he declared: "I admit that there is no personal accusation against these people. Normally they would have to be released and sent home; if we did not have a new law covering them all. I therefore request the death penalty for all those involved." He was alluding to the special law introduced into the French penal code on September 15, 1948, the "Lex Oradour". This provided for the abandonment of individual liability and introduced collective liability. According to this law, someone could be punished for a military act that he did not commit personally, but his unit did. This law was later repealed. Since the people, who had been incited by the press for weeks, demanded the death penalty for all defendants in front of the court and there was a danger of lynching, the court did not pronounce a verdict in the courthouse, but had the prisoners led away through a back exit.

On August 6, 1949, the sentencing took place in the vestibule of the penitentiary without the public: All the defendants were sentenced to death except the youngest, who received fifteen years of hard labor.

From now on, the condemned, dressed in reddish death clothes, shackled with a 50 cm iron chain at the ankles and with a 20 cm steel chain at the wrists, sat for years in solitary cells in the penitentiary, where they daily awaited their execution, which was carried out on other prisoners, perceptible to them. After many letters from German bishops, military officers, superiors and politicians, up to the President of Germany, the conditions were eased after three years in 1952: during the day there was no need to wear chains anymore, one could meet with their comrades for two hours every day.

On the French national holiday, July 14, 1955, the death sentences were lifted. Soon after, the crew ranks were gradually released, Hauck being the last on August 6, 1957. None of those involved had allowed themselves to be broken, even after more than twelve years spent as innocent prisoners in solitary confinement. The comradeship proved itself over all the years.