Five or six ways: by gas, by shooting, by beating, that is beating with clubs, ah, by exposure, that is standing out in the snow, naked, for 48 hours and having cold water put on them, thrown on them in the middle of winter, starvation, dogs, and pushing over a hundred-foot cliff. Tags Mauthausen Austria camps US Army POWs National Archives - Film
Full Answer
How did the Germans treat POWs during WW2?
During the (1944) battle of Warsaw, as reported in "Rising 44", when Polish prisoners were captured, the German General von dem Bach-Zalewsi told his men to treat them "as if they were British." In World War II, the Germans reserved their best POW treatment for captured men from America, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
How were prisoners of war treated in WW2?
How were they treated? According to the Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, signed at Geneva on 27 July 1929, prisoners of war had to be kept in conditions equal to those that they would experience on their own army bases. There was also no guarantee in 1942 that Britain would eventually win the war.
What did the POWs find hard to resolve with the Japanese?
[Stan Arneil in Hank Nelson, Prisoners of War: Australians under Nippon, Sydney, ABC, 1985, 48.] The POWs found it hard to resolve the contradiction between the Japanese demanding that the railway be completed quickly but then making no effort to protect the health of their workforce.
Why did so many POWs die in WW2?
By the end of 1941, epidemics (especially typhoid and dysentery) emerged as the main cause of death. In October 1941 alone, almost 5,000 Soviet POWs died each day. The onset of winter accelerated the mass death of Soviet POWs, because so many had little or no protection from the cold.
How were POWs treated in ww2?
Prisoners were routinely beaten, starved and abused and forced to work in mines and war-related factories in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions. Of the 27,000 Americans taken prisoner by the Japanese, a shocking 40 percent died in captivity, according to the U.S. Congressional Research Service.
How are POWs treated?
POWs must be treated humanely in all circumstances. They are protected against any act of violence, as well as against intimidation, insults, and public curiosity. IHL also defines minimum conditions of detention covering such issues as accommodation, food, clothing, hygiene and medical care.
How did Germany treat POWs in ww2?
Large numbers of the Russian prisoners ended up in special sections of German POW camps. Held by the Nazis to be racially and politically inferior, they were starved and brutalised. The appalling suffering of these POWs was witnessed by British and Commonwealth prisoners held in separate compounds.
How were the POWs treated when they returned?
They were often chained or imprisoned in small cages. Some of the younger RPOWs showed maturation deficiencies due to the malnutrition, disease and infections. For many POWs returning to their families, the enduring physical problems were not their only concern.
How did Japanese treat POWs in ww2?
The Japanese were very brutal to their prisoners of war. Prisoners of war endured gruesome tortures with rats and ate grasshoppers for nourishment. Some were used for medical experiments and target practice. About 50,000 Allied prisoners of war died, many from brutal treatment.
Why did Japan treat POWs so badly?
The reasons for the Japanese behaving as they did were complex. The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) indoctrinated its soldiers to believe that surrender was dishonourable. POWs were therefore thought to be unworthy of respect. The IJA also relied on physical punishment to discipline its own troops.
How were German POWs treated in Britain?
The experiences of these prisoners differed in certain important respects from those of captured German servicemen held by other nations. The treatment of the captives, though strict, was generally humane, and fewer prisoners died in British captivity than in other countries.
How were German POWs treated in Canada ww2?
All POWs were legally protected under the terms of the Geneva Convention, and were adequately provisioned and housed as required by the Convention. Canadians living near the camps believed the POWs received better food than they themselves enjoyed under wartime rationing.
What kind of work did POWs do?
The work performed was largely agricultural or industrial, ranging from coal or potash mining, stone quarrying, or work in saw mills, breweries, factories, railway yards, and forests. POWs hired out to military and civilian contractors and were paid $. 80 per day in scrip in U.S. camps.
How did Vietnamese treat POWs?
Although North Vietnam was a signatory of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949, which demanded "decent and humane treatment" of prisoners of war, severe torture methods were employed, such as waterboarding, strappado (known as "the ropes" to POWs), irons, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement.
How are prisoners of war tortured?
During a routine torture session with the hook, the Vietnamese tied a prisoner's hands and feet, then bound his hands to his ankles—sometimes behind the back, sometimes in front. The ropes were tightened to the point that you couldn't breathe.
Are there any POWs right now?
According to the Pentagon's Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office, there are currently 83,204 unaccounted for U.S. personnel, including 73,547 from World War II, 7,883 from the Korean War, 126 from the Cold War, 1,642 from the Vietnam War, and six from Iraq and other recent conflicts, including three Defense ...
What was the effect of Soviet POWs being transported by train?
When Soviet POWs were transported by train, the Armed Forces High Command permitted only open freight cars to be used. Sometimes days went by without the prisoners receiving any rations. This resulted in an enormous loss of life during winter months.
How did the onset of winter affect the death of Soviet POWs?
The onset of winter accelerated the mass death of Soviet POWs, because so many had little or no protection from the cold. Even in POW camps in Germany, Soviet POWs had often been left for months to vegetate in trenches, dugouts or sod houses. In the occupied eastern territories conditions were even worse.
How many Soviet prisoners were executed in 1941?
In early September 1941, 600 Soviet POWs were selected for execution. Hoess decided to gas them with Zyklon B, also known as hydrogen cyanide, in the Auschwitz I gas chamber. The experimental gassing here also included 250 inmates who had been designated unfit for work.
What was the bread that the POWs ate?
The POWs were often provided, for example, only special "Russian" bread made from sugar beet husks and straw flour. Suffering from malnutrition and nearing starvation, numerous reports from the late summer and fall of 1941 show that in many camps the desperate POWs tried to ease their hunger by eating grass and leaves.
What was the Nazi policy on Soviet prisoners of war?
From the very beginning, German policy on the treatment of Soviet prisoners of war (POWs) was determined by Nazi ideology. German political and military leaders regarded Soviet POWs not only as racially less valuable but as potential enemies, obstacles in the German conquest of "living space." The Nazi regime claimed that it was under no obligation for the humane care of prisoners of war from the Red Army#N#View This Term in the Glossary#N#because the Soviet Union had not ratified the 1929 Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, nor had it specifically declared its commitment to the 1907 Hague Convention on the Rules of War. Technically both nations, therefore, were bound only by the general international law of war as it had developed in modern times. Yet even under that law, prisoners of war were to be protected.
What was the first victim of Nazi starvation?
Copy Link Link copied! Soviet prisoners of war were the first victims of the Nazi policy of mass starvation in the east. In August 1941, the German army set a ration of just 2,200 calories per day for working Soviet prisoners of war .
How did Soviet prisoners die?
Many Soviet soldiers, including many wounded, died on the way to the prisoner collection centers and transit camps; others died during transit to camps in occupied Poland or the German Reich. Most of the prisoners captured in 1941 had to march to the rear across hundreds of miles and those who were too exhausted to continue were shot to death on the spot. When Soviet POWs were transported by train, the Armed Forces High Command permitted only open freight cars to be used. Sometimes days went by without the prisoners receiving any rations. This resulted in an enormous loss of life during winter months. According to army reports between 25 percent and 70 percent of the prisoners on these transports from the occupied Baltic countries died en route to Germany.
What happened to the German POWs when they departed Europe?
When the German POWs were boarding ships to leave Europe, they were terrified. The propaganda told them they would suffer horribly under US/UK. During the trans-atlantic boat ride, they calmed down.
How were Eastern and Western farm workers treated?
The treatment of Eastern and Western farm workers varied from case to case. It could depend on the ideological fervor of the local party representative and that of the individual farmers.
Why did the Soviets encourage German POWs to join the NKFD?
The Soviets encouraged German POWs to join the NKFD to fight against the Nazis in an organization which was less overtly communist than the KPD . Joining it could get the prisoners out of the camps and into the frontline. The Nazis 'allowed' some POWs to give their parole and become civilian forced labor.
Why did the Soviet Union not sign the international conventions on POW?
Soviet Union did not sign the international conventions on POW. Soviet Government treated its own citizens captured by the Germans as "traitors" and did nothing to help them.
What was the treatment of laborers from the East?
Their treatment of laborers from the East was barbaric, but those from so-called 'germanic races' received better treatment. In the best cases, this was similar to the conditions of German workers under wartime conditions, while the worst case was something like Mittelbau Dora.
What was the Nazi worldview during the final breakdown of Germany?
During the final breakdown of Germany, there were organized and unorganized attempts to kill surviving prisoners. The nazi worldview led them to expect that certain European groups (Norwegians, Danes, Dutch) were natural allies who would follow German guidance.
Which US operation captured scientists like Wernher von Braun?
The US had Operation Paperclip which captured scientists like Wernher von Braun. It is a judgement call when captivity turned into a job for NASA.
Nurse POWs: Angels of Bataan and Corregidor
The “Angels of Bataan and Corregidor,” 77 American military nurses taken prisoner in the Philippines, provided lifesaving care to the civilian POWs in the Santo Tomas and Los Banos Internment Camps where they were held from 1942-1945.
Lunchbox Lecture: Creating & Coping: POW Life and Craftsmanship by Curator Kim Guise
More than 120,000 Americans were held prisoner by the enemy during World War II. In order to pass the time and to make life easier, POWs used the scarce resources available to design and build practical and artistic pieces.
Operation Swift Mercy and POW Supply
At the end of the war, more than 12,000 American POWs were scattered in camps across the Pacific in desperate shape. From August 30-September 20, 1945, in Operation Swift Mercy, B-17s and B-29s flew 1,000 missions and dropped 4,500 tons of supplies to American troops no longer prisoner, but still trapped.
Dominic Martello, 9th Infantry Division
Dominic Martello describes his experience of becoming a POW during the Battle of Kasserine Pass in North Africa.
Roland Martin and His Final Flight Aboard the Iron Maiden
A snapshot of Roland Martin's course from boyhood in California to a B-17 Pilot stationed in England, ending as a POW in Germany.
Camp Lucky Strike: RAMP Camp No. 1
The cigarette camp “Camp Lucky Strike” was a bustling tent city of 58,000 impatient American troops awaiting transportation back to the United States after Victory in Europe. Lucky Strike was described as both “seventh heaven” and complete chaos.
Ben Skardon
After becoming a prisoner of war of the Japanese, Ben Skardon survived the Bataan Death March and the sinking of two hell ships during the crossing from the Philippines to Japan.
What did the guards throw at prisoners?
On the work site guards would throw jagged stones at prisoners working in cuttings below and beat anyone they thought was working too slowly. Sometimes they simply laughed at the misfortune of their captives.
How did Japanese prisoners get punished?
The Japanese used many types of physical punishment. Some prisoners were made to hold a heavy stone above their heads for many hours. Others might be forced into small cells with little food or water. Tom Uren described how a young Aboriginal soldier was made to kneel on a piece of bamboo for a number of days. The bamboo cut into him, causing gangrene and the eventual loss of his legs.
How long did prisoners hold a stone?
Some prisoners were made to hold a heavy stone above their heads for many hours. Others might be forced into small cells with little food or water. Tom Uren described how a young Aboriginal soldier was made to kneel on a piece of bamboo for a number of days.
What made the prisoners vulnerable?
The unpredictability of the guards made their prisoners particularly vulnerable. An action that could attract a savage beating one day could elicit a laugh and a cigarette the next day. Ray Parkin noted in his diary the 'fatal impulsiveness as the Japs can so readily show'. 1.
What are Japanese soldiers remembered for?
Japanese soldiers are widely remembered as being cruel and indifferent to the fate of Allied prisoners of war and the Asian rǒmusha. Many men in the railway workforce bore the brunt of pitiless or uncaring guards.
Why did Japanese use torture?
They used torture in order to gain information from prisoners, particularly those who had been caught trying to escape or in possession of an illegal radio. The Japanese attitude to sick prisoners was perhaps the most hated of all.
Why was Japanese military discipline sadistic?
Japanese military discipline was sadistic, because they administered instant or Japanese punishment. This was carried out on their own troops, but when it was administered to prisoners it was particularly vicious and brutal. [Tom Uren, Straight Left, Milsons Point, NSW, Vintage Australia, 1995, 40.] Japanese soldiers are widely remembered as being ...
Why were prisoners of war interned in Britain?
There were prisoners of war interned in Britain until 1948. Due to the heavily depleted labour force and the requirements for food supplies and rebuilding, they were too useful to let go.
What did the prisoners of camp 61 do?
Prisoners also formed football teams and played in the local league. In their spare time, the Italian prisoners of camp 61, the Forest of Dean, built a monument to Guglielmo Marconi – the inventor and engineer. The monument, on Wynol’s hill, was completed in 1944 and not demolished until 1977.
Why did Italian prisoners strike in Orkney?
Italian prisoners in Orkney declared a strike when it emerged that their work on the island of Burray appeared to be intended to close off to invasion access to the four sea straits between the islands. The Red Cross Committee reassured them 20 days later that this assumption was incorrect.
What did Trautmann do?
In football matches against local teams, Trautmann took the position of goalkeeper. He worked on a farm and in bomb disposal, then began to play for St Helens Town. He was offered a contract for Manchester City in 1949.
What did the prisoners at Eden Camp do?
Prisoners at Eden Camp were able to fraternize with the local community. Skilled labourers among them would make ornaments and toys to barter with the community for items they could not otherwise obtain.
How many prisoners of war were held in Britain in 1945?
Whilst many of these prisoners were kept interned elsewhere in the British Empire or by other allied nations, almost half a million prisoners of war were being held in Britain in 1945. 1.
How many British prisoner camps are there?
The British prisoner of war internment camps were numbered – the list extends to 1,026, including 5 in Northern Ireland. A prisoner would be assigned to a camp depending on their classification.
What were the problems in the camps?
Across almost all camps there was a lack of facilities, such as heating, beds and washrooms. Where these were available, they usually had to be shared between hundreds of prisoners. As a result, disease was common.
What were the facilities lacking in the camps?
Facilities such as toilets, heating, and washrooms were lacking in these camps. Where these facilities were present, they were usually in a poor and unsanitary condition.
What did the early camps look like?
Camps then appeared wherever the SA , SS and police could securely detain people: from SA pubs, to airfields, to vacant hotels, to castles, to sports grounds, to apartments.
Where was the Esterwegen concentration camp?
Esterwegen was an early Nazi concentration camp within a series of camps first established in the Emsland district of Germany. It was established in the summer of 1933 as a concentration camp for 2000 so-called political Schutzhäftlinge (protective custody prisoners) and was for a time the second largest concentration camp after Dachau.
What were the early camps in Nazi Germany?
A range of different groups operated and organised the early camps in Nazi Germany: the SS , the SA , the local police and prison guards. Most early prisoners were held in conventional prisons, which fell under the jurisdiction of the existing local prison guards and authorities.
When did the SS take over the camps?
Once the SS had become an independent organisation on the 20 July 1934 (following the Night of Long Knives ), they took over control of the camps.
Who ran the first concentration camp?
Many of the early camps were run by the SA and the SS. One example of this is Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, which was established on 22 March 1933. The brutality of the SA and SS guards was considerably more intense in comparison to prisons.