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The Germans were the first country to acquire large numbers of POWs. German policy varied as to the nationality of the POWs. Here a primary factor in the German mind was race. The Germans treated French, British, and later American POWs relatively correctly. The internment of the French and some British POWs was for almost the entire war as they took large numbers of POWs in 1940. I note some reports from American soldiers that they tried separate Jewish POWs from the general POW population and subjected the Jewish POWs to brutal slave labor. I am unsure if they did this to the British and French as well. POWs were also used to some extent as forced labor. The German treatment of Polish and Soviet POWs, however, was barbaric and many died from starvation, exposure, and mistreatment. The German policy was in part a planned method of elimination and in part their inablity to deal with the massive numbers involved. German tretment improved somewhat as they began to use Soviet POWs for forced labor, but it was still brutal. At some camps the Soviet POWs were not even provided barracks and other structures and were exposed to the elements. While in terms of fatalities, the worst time for POWs was in 1941 when the German took huge numbers of POWs. Conditions began deteriirated seriously for all POWs in late 1944. There were in German hands in late 1944 a very large number POWs. Most were Soviet and French. There were also anout 0.3 million American and British POWs. Part of the reason that conditions deterirated in late 1944 was the bitter Winter. Other factors were the Allied air campaign and German policies. Conditions became caotic in 1945. Allied planes were destroying the Reich's transportation network. Compounding the problem was civilian refugees fleeling east from the advancing Red Army and the retreating Wehrmacht. There were also SS columns of starving inmates from the death camps. The Germans were also emptying the POW camps in the east. The Germans in late 1944 also evacuated POW camps in the East about to be liberated. The POWs, many weakened by mistreatment and poor diets, were forced to make long marches in sometimes bitter weather. For the weakened and often emaciated men, these were often death marches. Straglers were shot. [Nichol and Rennell]
The Germans were the first country to acquire large numbers of Kriegsgefangenen (POWs). German policy varied as to the nationality of the POWs. Here a primary factor in the German mind was race. The Wehrmacht treated French, British, and later American POWs relatively correctly. The greatest numbr of Western POWs were the French. Large numbers of French soldiers were taken prisoner during the German western offensive and the resulting fall of France (May-June 1940). The Germans after the French surrender (June 1940), interned the French Army in POW camps in the Reich. Vichy hoped that the Germans would release them, but the never did. The SS was a different matter. The internment of the French and some British POWs was for almost the entire war as they took large numbers of POWs in 1940. The German treatment of Polish and Soviet POWs, however, was barbaric and many died from starvation, exposure, and mistreatment. Few of the Polish POWs taken in 1939 survived the War. The German policy was in part a planned method of elimination and in part their inablity to deal with the massive numbers involved. German treatment improved somewhat as they began to take fewer POWs and began to use the Soviet POWs for forced labor, but it was still brutal.
I note some reports from American soldiers that they tried separate Jewish POWs from the general POW population and subjected the Jewish POWs to brutal slave labor. I am unsure if they did this to the British and French as well. POWs were also used to some extent as forced labor.
Conditions began deteriorating seriously for all POWs in German hands during late 1944. The Germans in late 1944 held a very large number POWs. Most were Soviet and French. There had been a sbstatal number of Poles, but ny 1944 most had perished. There were also about 0.3 million American and British POWs, many were srviving air cres shot down over Germany. Part of the reason that conditions deterirated in late 1944 was the bitter Winter. Other factors were the Allied air campaign and German policies. Conditions became chaotic in 1945. Allied planes were destroying the Reich's transportation network. Compounding the problem was civilian refugees fleeling east from the advancing Red Army and the retreating Wehrmacht. There were also SS columns of starving inmates from the death camps. The Germans were also emptying the POW camps in the east. The Germans in late 1944 also evacuated POW camps in the East about to be liberated. The POWs, many weakened by mistreatment and poor diets, were forced to make long marches in sometimes bitter weather. For the weakened and often emaciated men, these were often death marches. Straglers were shot. he first evacuation was Stalag Luft VI in East Prussia (July 1944). Prisoners were shipped across the Baltic to Gros Tychow in Pomerania. Then in the middle of Winter they were forced marched for 86 days covering 500 miles (February 1945). They had only rags against the winter and were given almost no food. When Allied soldiers got to them they were in the same condition as concentration camp inmates (april 1945). There were many other instances. The American and British POWs in Stalag Luft III were evacuated at night during a blizzard and marched for 8 days in freezing weather. Even the prisoners in camp were in danger. Stalag XIIID was near the Nurembrg, an important communications center that the Allied targeted iin the strstegic bombing campaign. The POWs being evacuated was also indanger from Allied fighters hitting military columns. The caos in Germany during 1945 also made it difficult for the Red Cross to get parcels through. These parcels toward the end of the War these parcels (entering the Reich at Lubeck by ship and arriving at Munich by train and truck) were often all that kept the POWs from starvation. [Nichol and Rennell]
McCracken, Isabella. "A lesson in living with fear," The Washington Post May 29, 2004, p. W10.
Nichol, John and Tony Rennell. The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of war in Europe, 1944-45 (Viking, 2003).
Stueck, Rudi. E-mail message, June 27, 2005
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