Prisoners of war in World War II

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Prisoners of war during World War II faced vastly different fates due to the

European theatre of the war
. Approximately 14%, or 5 million, died in captivity.

Early in the World War II, Nazi Germany, overwhelmed by the number of POWs, released many, though some became used as forced labor. As the war progressed, POWs became strategic assets, increasingly used as forced labor, or considered an important leverage for reciprocal treatment. Within a few years of the war ending, most of POWs were repatriated, though notable exceptions persisted, with Axis POWs in Chinese and Soviet camps held into the 1950s.

The mortality rate was disproportionately high in the Eastern and Pacific theaters, where atrocities, forced labor, and starvation were common, especially for Soviet and Chinese captives under Axis powers and German POWs in Soviet hands. Axis POWs were treated very well by the Western Allies and very harshly by the USSR. Western Allied POWs generally experienced better conditions than most other belligerents, although their treatment by the Japanese was harsh.

Post-war trials, including the

Nuremberg Trials, prosecuted violations of POW treatment, though public awareness of such crimes emerged much later, particularly in Germany, while in Japan and the USSR the issue is still mostly ignored. WWII POWs have been selectively depicted in popular culture, often romanticized in Western media through escape narratives like The Great Escape
, while harsher realities, such as Axis and Soviet treatment of captives, remain underrepresented.

History

Italian soldiers taken prisoner by the Allies during Operation Compass (1941)

Most prisoners, after being captured, spent the war in the prisoner of war camps. In the early phases of the war, following German occupation of much of Europe, Germany also found itself unprepared for the number of POWs it held. As a result of that, as well as for political reasons, it released many (particularly enlisted personnel) on parole (as a result, it released all the Dutch, the Danes,[1]: 90–92  all Flemish Belgian, all Greeks, nine-tenths of the Poles, and nearly a third of the French captives; some, however, like Poles, were almost immediately forcibly conscripted as laborers).[2][1]: 288  Later prisoners became valuable and were kept as guarantee of good treatment of the prisoners' kept by the other side, or directly used for hard (forced) labor. A small number were exchanged in prisoner exchanges, primarily between Italy and Germany and the Western Allies (approximately 6,000 Italian, 14,000 German, and 12,400 Allied POWs were exchanged in such a fashion).[2]

The majority of POWs were released by late 1940s.[1]: 381–482  In most places they were warmly received by the populace, major exceptions included France, where society "preferred to forget about them", and the USSR, where they suffered from much discrimination.[1]: 488–489, [488]  The last POWs of WWII were Germans and Japanese released from the USSR camps in 1956; some Japanese were held in China until 1964.[1][3]: 192, 196  A few exceptions include stories such as András Toma, considered the last POW of WWII released from captivity, who was discovered living in a Russian psychiatric hospital in 2000 and was returned to Hungary some fifty-six years after his capture.[4][1]: 483 

Number of POWs

"Card of Capture for Prisoners of War", an American POW-related document

In mid-90s Simon MacKenzie observed that "Obtaining an exact figure for the number of POWs [in WWII] is made virtually impossible by the inexactness or unavailability of the records kept by many of the belligerents".[2] In some cases, where entire countries surrendered (for example, Belgians), most if not all soldiers who were not killed in action were captured at some point during the fighting, but many were quickly released unofficially; while others were imprisoned for years. Different estimates may or may not count all such groups as POWs.[5]: 187 [1]: 11  Likewise, German and Japanese soldiers held after their countries surrendered at the end of the war have often not been categorized as prisoners of war (see Japanese Surrendered Personnel, Disarmed Enemy Forces and Surrendered Enemy Personnel.).[2][6]: 322 [7]

MacKenzie cites the figure of 35 million following the 1960s estimate by German historian Kurt W. Böhme [Wikidata].[2] That estimate was considered conservative by MacKenzie, and has been repeated in more recent works (such as by Christian Gerlach in mid-2010s).[8]: 235  Bob Moore, who in his monograph focused on the European theater, gave an estimate of "more than 20 million", which he considered inflated with the number of Axis troops that surrendered after the war.[1]: 1 

Consequently, the estimates of the number of prisoners by country or origin or capture can vary as well.[2] With regards to nationality, some estimates include:

By country of origin:

By country of capture:

  • numer of POWs held by the British and Commonwealth: 400,000 Germans[19] (mostly in Canada[9]: 4–5  until the Normandy landings;[1]: 12, 154–155  that number has been also given for the number of Germans "held in Britain;[25] some have also been transferred to the American custody[1]: 156 ) and by the time war ended, 2,400,000 Germans).;[17]: 67  400,000 Italians[23]: 89  (at least 154,000 held in Britain[25] or Commonwealth territories such as India, Australia, South Africa and Kenya[1]: 154–155, 184, 186–188 ), as well as small number of Japanese troops (35,000-50,000 held by the Western Allies).[27]: 61  The Germans in British hand included 1,200 soldiers captured by the Dutch in 1940 and evacuated to Britain before the Germans overrun the Dutch.[1]: 92–93 
  • number of POWs held by Germans has been estimated at approximately 11,000,000 (out of that, roughly 6,000,000 Soviet[32] and 5,000,000 were non-Soviet[8]: 235 )
  • by mid-1943 Italians held 80,000 Allied troops troops (about 42,000 British and 26,000 from the British Commonwealth)[1]: 138 
    Australian and Dutch soldiers in Japanese captivity (Tarsau, Thailand 1943)
  • number of POWs held by Japanese has been estimated at 320,000[9]: 4  to 350,000.[10]: 3  Approximately 132,000 of them came from the Western Allied nations (British Commonwealth, Netherlands and the USA.[10]: 3 
  • number of POWs held by the United States: 425,000 Germans (in the US territory),[18] and by the time the war ended, 1,600,000[17]: 67  as well as small number of Italian[1]: 156  and Japanese troops (35,000-50,000 held by the Western Allies)[27]: 61 
  • number of POWs held by the USSR: approximately 3,000,000 Germans,[22]: 246  65,000 Italians,[24]: 275  100,000-250,000 Romanians[31][dead link‍] as well as 560,000 to 760,000 Japanese (taken into custody after Japan surrendered)[28]

Laws of war

Dormitory for French prisoners of war, reconstruction in a German museum (Freilichtmuseum Roscheider Hof)

While most major combatants signed the 1907

USSR, ignored their provisions to a great or lesser degree.[9]: 4–5  (USSR did not sign the Geneva Convention[33] while Japan signed but not ratified it).[34]: 184 [1]
: 16–23 

Treatment

Main article: Lists of World War II prisoner-of-war camps
Barracks of the former Stalag X-B

Treatment of POWs varied significantly based on time and place.[2][9]: 103  Some were released - or killed - almost immediately after capture.[2][5]: 187  Many ended up in prisoner-of-war camps.[2][9]: 78–79 

Support from

Red Cross was important in improving camp conditions and supplementing often inadequate rations and other necessities for the prisoners, particularly in the camps run by the Axis.[9]
: 103 

Mortality rate and atrocities

See also:
German atrocities committed against prisoners of war, German atrocities committed against Polish prisoners of war, and German atrocities committed against Soviet prisoners of war
Australian Leonard Siffleet, captured by Japanese in New Guinea, is photographed seconds before his execution by beheading ( 24 October 1943).

The death rate of prisoners of war in World War II was higher than that of prisoners of war in World War I. Christian Gerlach explained this due to "much higher prisoner numbers, more supply problems, politically motivated denial of food, hard labor and direct violence", including racism.[8]: 235, 237 

The situation of POWs was easiest in the

Asian and Pacific theater. On the Western Front, both sides (in particular, major belligerents – Germany, Italy and the Western Allies[1]: 151 ) generally treated one another according to the Geneva Convention, while the Convention was mostly ignored in the Eastern Front. In the Asian and Pacific theater, the Allies respected the Convention and treated Japanese prisoners humanely, which was not reciprocated by the Japanese.[2]

Approximately 14% (~5 million, not counting Chinese POWs) died in captivity.[8]: 235  Soviet POWs in Germany (approximately 3 million fatalities) and Axis and German POWs in the Soviet Union (approximately million fatalities, or one and a half accounting for all Axis POWs in the USSR) were among the most numerous victims.[2][8]: 235–238 [1]: 484–485, 488  There were also instances of mistreatment by Western Allies, although on a much smaller scale.[2] Among the Allies, after the USSR, the French had the worst record of treating the POWs.[9]: 4–5  Germany treated Western Allied POWs much better than those from the Eastern Front (in particular, Soviets).[8]: 236  Asian and Pacific Fronts saw difficult POW situation as well, as Japan's treatment of POWs – Western, Chinese, Indian, Filipino and others – was very harsh.[8]: 237 [9]: 4–5  Canadian POW camps have been recognized as among the most comfortable in the entire war.[1]: 160 

Aftermath

Trials

First trials of Germans accused of crimes against prisoners of war took place in the Soviet Union while the war was ongoing.[35]: 10–11  Shortly after World War II, at the Nuremberg trials (in particular, during the High Command Trial), numerous German crimes against prisoners of war were found to be a direct breach of the laws of war (in particular, Geneva and Hague conventions).[35]: 61, 78–85, 144–145  Almost all of the German high commanders tried during that trial were found to be guilty of crimes against POWs.[35]: 150–153 

Despite the trial, German public's awareness of the war crimes committed by its regular army (Wehrmacht), did not arise until the late 90s (see myth of the clean Wehrmacht).[35]: 197–198  The awareness of Japanese crimes against POWs is still poor in Japan; the topic mostly ignored or glossed over in that country.[3]: 2 [10]: 256–262 

Images of WWII POWs in popular culture have been highly selective, obscured by the story of victory for the allies (in which those taken prisoner played little role or were even considered traitors, like in the USSR), and driven by Cold War narratives.[1]: 1 

Stories of WWII POWs have been popularized by media such as films The Wooden Horse (1950), Albert RN (1953), The Colditz Story (1955), Reach for the Sky (1956) and "perhaps most famously" (according to Moore) The Great Escape (1963). Those movies also popularized the concept of prisoner-of-war escapes, creating a misleading impression that this was a relatively common occurrence.[1]: 2, 145 

The harsh treatment of Allied POWs by Japan became infamous in the West and remains widely known; it is however still mostly ignored or glossed over in Japan.[3]: 2 [10]: xxii, 256–262  Similarly, as noted by Mark Edele, in the Soviet Union, "Any claim that the glorious Red Army might have committed war crimes was dismissed as slanderous enemy propaganda". Denial that such crimes occurred is still not uncommon in modern Russia, where the issue has remained politically controversial, and research on this topic in Russia is difficult. [33]

Historiography

The topic has been described as under researched in modern historiography,[36] although there are exceptions. For example, in West Germany, the government established The Scientific Commission for the History of German Prisoners of War (often referred to as the Maschke Commission, after its chairman, Erich Maschke), which produced a large body of research on this topic, collected in 22 volumes.[37]: 4 

By country and region

All regions

Western Front

Eastern Front

Asian and Pacific Front

See also

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-187597-7
    .
  2. ^
    ISSN 0022-2801
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0-674-73761-7
    .
  4. ^ "Hungarian POW identified". BBC. 17 September 2000. Archived from the original on 12 April 2004. Retrieved 18 November 2009.
  5. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4539-0997-3
    .
  6. ISBN 978-0-415-30951-6
    .
  7. ISSN 0022-0094
    .
  8. ^
    ISBN 978-0-521-88078-7
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-1-4464-9096-9
    .
  10. ^
    ISBN 978-1-5381-0270-1
    .
  11. ISBN 978-0-06-093130-8
    .
  12. ^ Finnish POW during the World War II, Viktor Konasov, North magazine ("Север") no. 11–12, 2002 (in Russian)
  13. ^
    ISBN 951-0-28690-7
    .
  14. ISSN 0269-1191
    .
  15. ISSN 1474-0680
    .
  16. ISBN 978-0-520-21228-2
    .
  17. ^
    ISBN 978-1-78533-259-3
    , retrieved 2024-12-15
  18. ^ a b "Day of mourning will honor German POWs held in U.S." NBC News. 2004-11-15. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  19. ^ a b Wolff, Helmut (1974). Die deutschen Kriegsgefangenen in britischer Hand — ein Überblick [The German Prisoners of War in British Hands – An Overview] (in German). The Scientific Commission for the History of German Prisoners of War.
  20. ISBN 978-1-85410-254-6
    .
  21. ^ Source: R. Overmans, Soldaten hinter Stacheldraht, Ullstein 2002. p272– 273.
  22. ^
    ISBN 978-3-549-07121-2
    .
  23. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-288408-4
    , retrieved 2024-12-15
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-963-386-356-5
    .
  25. ^ a b c Custodis, Johann (2012-12-31). "Employing the enemy: the contribution of German and Italian Prisoners of War to British agriculture during and after the Second World War". Agricultural History Review. 60 (2): 243–265.
  26. ISBN 978-1-4411-7626-4
    .
  27. ^
    ISBN 1852851929
    .
  28. ^ a b "シベリア抑留、露に７６万人分の資料 軍事公文書館でカード発見". Sankeishinbun. 24 July 2009. Archived from the original on 26 July 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.
  29. ^ a b c "Straty osobowe wojsk polskich, niemieckich i sowieckich - Polskie miesiące". polskiemiesiace.ipn.gov.pl. 2021-05-20. Archived from the original on 20 May 2021. Retrieved 2024-12-14.
  30. ^
    JSTOR 25779119
    .
  31. ^ a b Lambru, Steliu (25 August 2014). "Romanian Prisoners in the USSR after WWII". Radio Romania International. Retrieved 5 January 2021. [dead link‍]
  32. ^
    ISSN 1990-5378
    .
  33. ^
    ISSN 0022-2801
    .
  34. ISBN 978-1-5275-7546-2
    .
  35. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7006-3267-1
    .
  36. ISSN 0022-0094
    .
  37. ISBN 978-0-19-187597-7
    .
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Prisoners of war in World War II.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prisoners_of_war_in_World_War_II&oldid=1268740571"