Prisoners of War to Partisans: Australian Experiences in Italy during the Second World War

War & Society ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Peter Monteath ◽  
Katrina Kittel
Author(s):  
Mark Edele

How many Soviet soldiers defected to the Germans? Vague statements abound in the literature, but few scholars have tried to systematically investigate the available quantitative evidence. This chapter discusses the available numbers on defectors from both Soviet and German sources. It discusses the methodological problems involved in establishing the total number and the share of defectors among Soviet prisoners of war (POWs). It also compares these numbers with comparative cases in other fronts of the Second World War in Europe. It shows that despite methodological and source problems we can be confident that defection was much more prevalent at the German–Soviet front than elsewhere.


1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (102) ◽  
pp. 491-491 ◽  

Mr. Raymond Courvoisier has since 1 August 1969 taken over the appointment of special assistant to the President of the International Committee, thus bringing it his wide experience in the field of international humanitarian law. It should, in fact, be recalled that from 1936 to 1945 he undertook a large number of missions in ICRC service as delegate in Spain, Turkey, in East European and Middle East countries. Furthermore, he was in charge of a section in the Central Prisoners of War Agency in Geneva during the Second World War.


Author(s):  
Valeriy P. Ljubin ◽  

In German and Russian historiography, the tragic fate of the Soviet prisoners of war in Germany during the Second World War has not been suffi- ciently explored. Very few researchers have addressed this topic in recent times. In the contemporary German society, the subject remains obscured. There are attempts to reflect this tragedy in documentary films. The author analyses the destiny of the documentary film “Keine Kameraden”, which was shot in 2011 and has not yet been shown on the German television. It tells the story of the Soviet prisoners of war, most of whom died in the Nazi concentration camps in 1941– 1945. The personal history of some of the Soviet soldiers who died in the German captivity is reflected, their lives before the war are described, and the relatives of the deceased and the surviving prisoners of war are interviewed. The film features the German historians who have written books about the Soviet prisoners. All the attempts taken by the civil society organizations and the historians to influence the German public opinion so that the film could be shown on German television to a wider audience were unsuccessful. The film was seen by the viewers in Italy on the state channel RAI 3. Even earlier, in 2013, the film was shown in Russia on the channel “Kultura” and received the Pushkin Prize.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 761-774
Author(s):  
Izabella Sariusz-Skąpska

By appearance it would seem that Rodziny Katyńskie—the Katyń Families—are a veterans’ organization. The elderly, the last witnesses of the terrible Second World War, make up the majority of members. But these are not heroes, and they are not veterans. Who are they? In the first days after Poland regained its independence, after the first free elections of 4 June 1989, people from many cities leave the quiet of their homes and for the first time in their lives start talking about the history of their fathers, who had gone missing after 17 September 1939. The Katyń Families were formed. Statutes were written, and the aims of the organization were defined: explaining all of the circumstances of the Katyń Massacres, finding all of the locations where Polish prisoners of war died, and, finally, accomplishing their dignified burial in Polish War Cemeteries.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document