World War II had been over almost two weeks when Lt. Silverside took this photo of a German P.O.W. at the No. 9 processing camp in Middlesex, UK. He looks healthy, and I think those lights were used to check for lice and skin conditions. POWs were used as forced labor in agriculture and reconstruction in Allied countries for varying amounts of time ranging from a few months in the USA up to 10 years in the Soviet Union. The Western Allies' good treatment of those prisoners is given a lot of credit for the postwar rapprochement between them and the Germans. Not so with the Russians.
Thanks to Larry K. for contributing today's British Imperial War Museum photos.
There was an interesting documentary on PBS about German POWs held in the Midwest. The interviews with the Germans was rather positive, as well as the locals. Some Germans immigrated to the US because of the treatment. The government kept rotating the prisoners from place to place because of the close friendships between Germans and locals.
ReplyDeleteA couple of things that blew the prisoners away (heh) was the abundance of food and the overall size of the US. Interesting show. I wish I could remember the title of it.
I saw that documentary, too, and enjoyed it.
DeleteEiner meiner drei Onkel war in russicher Gefangenschaft, als er 1943 in Donezk gefangen genommen wurde, bis er 1948 nach Oesterreich entlassen wurde. (ein weiterer Onkel starb an der Ostfront in Lettland 1945)
ReplyDeleteDiese Jahre wurden damit verbacht, Stadte in Russland wiederaufzubauen , die das Dritte Reich zerstort hatte. Mein Onkel sah es als seine Pflicht an, Busse zu tun. Es hegt keinen Groll und besuchte Russland mehrmals.
-austriche
-austriche