Treatment of POW's from already occupied countries?

Discussions on the Holocaust and 20th Century War Crimes. Note that Holocaust denial is not allowed. Hosted by David Thompson.
Post Reply
User avatar
Kameraden
Member
Posts: 568
Joined: 04 May 2004, 15:54
Location: Scotland

Treatment of POW's from already occupied countries?

#1

Post by Kameraden » 27 Nov 2014, 15:48

Hello.

I was wondering what the German's attitude was to captured Allied servicemen from nations that had already surrendered? What i mean is we all know that many servicemen fought as Free French, Polish, Dutch, Norwegians etc after their countries had already agreed peace terms. I know one mans patriot is another mans terrorist and i'm not wanting to discuss the rights or wrongs of fighting for your country. But as a nation had surrendered, technically weren't these free fighters viewed as terrorists by the German's and subjective to extreme punishment or hardships if caught? I'd imagine the Poles who had to bail out of Bomber Command aircraft would have been at extreme risk?

Thanx

User avatar
henryk
Member
Posts: 2559
Joined: 27 Jan 2004, 02:11
Location: London, Ontario

Re: Treatment of POW's from already occupied countries?

#2

Post by henryk » 27 Nov 2014, 22:21

Poland did not surrender, but continued with a government-in-exile in London.


Stephan
Member
Posts: 739
Joined: 09 Feb 2003, 21:34
Location: Sweden

Re: Treatment of POW's from already occupied countries?

#3

Post by Stephan » 28 Nov 2014, 13:03

henryk wrote:Poland did not surrender, but continued with a government-in-exile in London.
True. And thus, the question is more adequate for, for example, the Free French.

As I understand it, the parachuting agents in France were (often) executed. I dont know about uniformed soldiers in their officers company.

Still, TS question as such is interesting even for the formally totally legale soldiers - and agents.


User avatar
wm
Member
Posts: 8753
Joined: 29 Dec 2006, 21:11
Location: Poland

Re: Treatment of POW's from already occupied countries?

#5

Post by wm » 28 Nov 2014, 23:21

The Hague Conventions only covered wars between states. As long as a state didn't not surrender, and didn't fail at some of the basic conditions of a a sovereign state, it could continue fighting, and enjoy all the benefits of those conventions.

The Germans had some doubts ( loss of control of territory = no state ), but it didn't matter because there was a second option available anyway - to fight as volunteers in some other legitimate army. Because of that for example the Free French were in fact British soldiers.

The law said: the laws, rights, and duties of war apply not only to armies, but also to militia and volunteer corps and didn't require those volunteers were citizens of the state they were fighting for.

The Waffen-SS wasn't that much different in that regard.

User avatar
Skyderick
Member
Posts: 165
Joined: 11 Apr 2014, 13:59

Re: Treatment of POW's from already occupied countries?

#6

Post by Skyderick » 04 Dec 2014, 13:35

Thousands of Norwegians were interned in concentration camps and prisons during the German occupation. A great number were deported to Natzweiler, Ravensbrück, Sachsenhausen and Auschwitz, where many also died. For a full list of prisons and camps Norwegian citizens were held at see: http://www.stiftelsen-arkivet.no/fangeregister (Norwegian site). Overall, some twelve thousand Norwegians lost their lives in the war. I can't give you precise figures about POW deaths, but here is an example: In 1942 my g-grandfather was deported with a group of 53 Norwegians, 20 of whom were Jews according to German racial law. At least 9 of the 33 non-Jewish deportees, who were blamed for anything between sabotage and listening to enemy broadcasts, died in captivity at Sachsenhausen and Natzweiler within a few months (I suspect a few deaths have slipped my notice). This was in spite of their "better" treatment on account of their Aryan classification.

I'll look into it and see if I can offer you better figures and details.
For a good feature Film on Norwegian resistance I suggest you watch Max Manus: Man of War.

User avatar
wm
Member
Posts: 8753
Joined: 29 Dec 2006, 21:11
Location: Poland

Re: Treatment of POW's from already occupied countries?

#7

Post by wm » 13 Dec 2014, 19:39

Although those Norwegians weren't POWs, in their case getting arrested for sabotage or listening to enemy broadcasts sounds reasonable. Arresting Jews for being a Jew was certainly a war crime.

Post Reply

Return to “Holocaust & 20th Century War Crimes”