Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarge
I think the blame can be shared with the Nazis who regarded the Slavs as sub-humans [my bold].
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While this is true there were times when the Germans asked the Protecting Authority (the Swiss Red Cross) to intervene and their efforts were rebuffed by Stalin.
See "Forced Repatriation to the Soviet Union: The Secret Betrayal", by Nikolai Tolstoy, December 1988, IMPRIMUS
"During World War I, Russian prisoners received the same treatment as the British, French and American troops; they were all signatories of the Hague Convention. Ironically, it was not Imperial Russia under Czar Nicholas II [1868-1918; r. 1894-1917] which refused to be bound by the Hague agreement but the new Soviet regime which supplanted it in 1917. Twelve years later, the world powers reached a more detailed agreement, the Geneva Convention, but the Soviets remained aloof. Throughout World War II, Russian POWs were completely unprotected. Except on a few rare occasions, the Red Cross was forbidden to enter the camps and Stalin refused to discuss the issue even though Germany urged Red Cross intervention."
Stalin clearly did not care about the state of Soviet prisoners though it's unclear why. I have several theories including that he didn't want to offer reciprocal treatment to German POW's, he regarded those who surrendered as cowards and traitors, and he wanted to use the mistreatment of Soviet prisoners to foment unrest among them to keep the Nazis "busy" guarding them, and for propaganda.