During World War II, Nazi Germany committed a number of atrocities against prisoners of war. German mistreatment and war crimes against prisoners of war (POWs) begun in the first days of the war during their invasion of Poland; with estimated 3,000 Polish POWs murdered in dozens of incidents, however, it was the German treatment of the Soviet prisoners of war that became most infamous: Soviet POWs held by Nazi Germany, primarily in the custody of the German Army were routinely starved and subjected to deadly conditions. Of nearly six million who were captured, around three million died during their imprisonment. Also Italian prisoners were particularly subjected to German atrocities.
See main article: German atrocities committed against Polish prisoners of war. During the German invasion of Poland, which started World War II, Nazi Germany carried out a number of atrocities involving Polish prisoners of war (POWs). The first documented massacres of Polish POWs took place as early as the first day of the war;[1] others followed (ex. the of 5 September). During that period, the Wehrmacht is estimated to have mass-murdered at least 3,000 Polish POWs,[2] [3] with the largest atrocities being the Ciepielów massacre of 8 September 1939 (~300 victims) and the Zambrów massacre of 13–14 September (~200 victims).[4] Most of those atrocities are classified as war crimes of the Wehrmacht. In a prelude to The Holocaust, Jewish soldiers with the Polish Army were also more likely than others to be victims of various atrocities.[5]
Later, during the German occupation of Poland which lasted until early 1945, captured Polish resistance fighters were routinely executed by German forces.[6]
Likewise, following the increased hostilities and German victories on the Western front, Germans carried out a number of massacres of the Western Allied forces, such as the Le Paradis massacre (97 victims)[7] or the Wormhoudt massacre (81 victims).
Racial policies of Germany resulted in particular cruel treatment of the black soldiers from the French colonies (Senegalese Tirailleurs). It is believed that between 1,500 and 3,000 of them were killed in war crimes carried out by the Wehrmacht, often after surrendering, in incidents such as the Bois d'Eraine massacre and the Chasselay massacre. Survivors were treated much more harshly than white soldiers of comparable rank.[8] [9]
French resistance members were killed in events like the Saint-Genis-Laval massacre (120 victims).[10]
Massacres of POWs on the Western front took place again after D-Day in 1944, for example the Malmedy massacre (84 victims)[11] or the Normandy massacres (156 victims).[12]
See main article: German atrocities committed against Soviet prisoners of war. On 8 April 1945, more than 200 Soviet prisoners of war were forced to dig their own graves and murdered in Hanover-Wülfel.
In June 1941, Germany and its allies invaded the Soviet Union and carried out a war of extermination with complete disregard for the laws and customs of war. Among the criminal orders issued before the invasion was for the execution of captured Soviet commissars.[13] By the end of 1941, over 3 million Soviet soldiers had been captured, mostly in large-scale encirclement operations during the German Army's rapid advance.[14] Two-thirds of them had died from starvation, exposure, and disease by early 1942.[15] This is one of the highest sustained death rates for any mass atrocity in history.
Soviet Jews, political commissars, and some other groups were systematically targeted for execution. More prisoners were shot because they were wounded, ill, or unable to keep up with forced marches.[16] Others died during harsh forced labor conditions. More than 100,000 were transferred to Nazi concentration camps,[17] where they were treated worse than most other prisoners.
Deaths among these Soviet prisoners of war have been called "one of the greatest crimes in military history". The total number of the deaths of prisoners of war from the Soviet Union greatly exceeded deaths of prisoners from other nationalities.[18] [19] About 3.3 million Soviet POWs perished under German jurisdiction. With regards to the mortality rate, it is estimated at forty three to as high as sixty three percent.[20]
German crimes against the POWs on the Eastern Front were not limited to those against the Soviet soldiers; Polish soldiers serving under Soviet command have also been victims of several massacres, with the largest atrocities in 1945 being the Podgaje massacre (~200 victims) and the (~300 victims).[21] [22]
See main article: Commando Order. The Commando Order was issued by the OKW, the high command of the German Armed Forces, on 18 October 1942. This order stated that all Allied commandos captured in Europe and Africa should be summarily executed without trial, even if in proper uniforms or if they attempted to surrender. Dozens of Allied special forces soldiers were executed as the result of this order.[23]
See main article: Italian Military Internees. Following he days immediately following the World War II armistice between Italy and Allied armed forces (September 8, 1943), most of the Italian army refused to participate in the war and was subsequently interned by the Germans.[24] Some were victims of mass executions and massacres, perpetrated by the Germans.[25] [26] Some were subject to harsh forced labors or even sent to Nazi concentration camps.[27] [28] Others were interned in the camps, where they suffered from the second highest mortality rate of prisoners in German captivity (six to seven percent).
Some soldiers were murdered before reaching POW camps, ex. the 5,000 victims of the Massacre of the Acqui Division.[29] [30]
See main article: The March (1945). "The March" refers to a series of forced marches during the final stages of the Second World War in Europe that were enforced on prisoners of war under German control, as Germans were falling back and tried to prevent the recapture of the POWs by the Allies (primarly, the Soviets);[31] many POWs, estimated at thousands, died during that event.[32] [33]
See also: German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II. Mortality rates for POWs at German camps, outside the extremely high rates for the Soviet POWs, were at 1-6%, depending on the group. Gerlach cites estimates of about 1% for British and US prisoners, 1–2.8% for French, 2–2.5% for Belgians, 2–3% for Dutch, 2–4% for Poles, 3-6% for Yugoslavs and 6-7% for Italians.
In several instances, POWs held at POW camps were executed for various reasons that were deemed war crimes in subsequent investigations; the most infamous of these were the Stalag Luft III murders on March 25, 1944, following the mostly unsuccessful "Great Escape" of the POWs; 50 of them were executed as a punishment.[34] A similar incident involved few dozens Polish officers who were executed after having been recaptured during the failed escape attempt in 1943 from the Oflag VI-B.[35]
Some of these incidents have been attributed to Aktion Kugel, a secret decree issued by the head of Gestapo, Heinrich Müller in 1944, which stipulated that all recaptured escapees from the POW camps other than British or American were to be taken to Mauthausen concentration camp and executed.[36] [37] It has been estimated that as many as 5,000 Allied POWs might have been killed as a result of this decree.[38]
First trials of Germans accused of crimes against prisoners of war took place in the Soviet Union while the war was ongoing; meanwhile, Western allies were still gathering information through the United Nations War Crimes Commission.
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). Almost all of the German high commanders tried during that trial were found to be guilty of crimes against POWs.
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).