Treatment of German POW's by the Soviets

[Jim O]

I suppose that it's pretty common knowledge that the Germans and Russians thought little of each other and treated their respective prisoners badly. This was made worse by the fact that the Soviet Union had refused to sign the Geneva Conventions and apparently did not want their prisoners protected. And so they treated Axis prisoners equally poorly.

Of the 90,000+ German/Axis prisoners taken at Stalingrad only 5000-6000 ever returned home. Many of those were not repatriated until 1955, a full 10 years after the war's end.

[Klaus]

My greatgrandfather came home in 1955 "with the very last train" as my Grandfather always said. I've seen some pictures of him. Pretty bad shape. I'll try to get my hand on 'em. I hope my granpa can manage to find them.

[Jim O]

Was he taken prisoner at Stalingrad?

[Helmut Von Moltke]

a Wehrmacht / Waffen - SS foreign volunteer researcher named 'Panzermahn" stated on the Feldgrau forum that there were a few Flemish SS volunteers that were captured during the Battle of Narwa in 1944 weren't released unti lthe 1960s. incredible



Kevin

[Wurzburg]

This is a sticky subject for me.

There are still prisoners in russia ( not reporteed ).
Last year one was allowed to return home after his health problems. Over all the years he was controled and the news stated he chose to sty in the east. After returning he told of the horrorsof it and that he never was allowed to write his family about the truth.

He died a few months later. They found some writtn pages about his time there and the lies that Russia still tells.

[sniper1shot]

a Wehrmacht / Waffen - SS foreign volunteer researcher named 'Panzermahn" stated on the Feldgrau forum that there were a few Flemish SS volunteers that were captured during the Battle of Narwa in 1944 weren't released unti lthe 1960s. incredible

This is the first time I have heard this one. Please state your sources and not a third party statement. I am not disputing this but would like to read on it...if true.

[Helmut Von Moltke]

hi sniper1shot. No sources, just picked it up, but I will look further into that when I get books about Flemish volunteers.

Kevin

[Klaus]

@ Jim: He was captured in Stalingrad. But I can't remember him He died the same year when I was born. And my grandfather does know little of the stories his father could have told.

[Jim O]

Originally Posted by Klaus

@ Jim: He was captured in Stalingrad. But I can't remember him He died the same year when I was born. And my grandfather does know little of the stories his father could have told.

I can't imagine what 12+ years in Soviet captivity would have been like.

Do you know if your family knew if he was alive or his whereabouts during those post-war years?

It's interesting. I read Andy Grove's book. He's one of the founders of Intel, a Hungarian Jew whose family survived the war by concealing their "Jewishness". He fled Hungary in 1956 if I recall correctly and his parents followed later. He describes the war years including the Russian soldiers forcing themselves on the women including his mother as they came through Budapest. Anyway, the point is, his father was in the Hungarian army and served on the Eastern Front. Because he was Jewish he was only allowed to be in a subordinate role and could not be a front line soldier, but serve he did. Evidently he was taken prisoner by the Soviets but repatriated shortly after the war's end. I don't know if it was because he was Hungarian, because he was Jewish and therefore not a Nazi, or what the reason was.

[Klaus]

As far as I know, they didn't know about his whereabouts til 1950. When he got back, my grandfather and his brother went to pick him up at the trainstation in Innsbruck(Tyrol). They were so happy that he returned that they drank loads of alcohol. When the train arrived first thing their father did: He slapped both of 'em in the face for being so drunk.