Best time/nationality to be taken as Axis POW?

naraht

During WWII (which for these purposes goes back to 1932(?) China), what would have been the *best* characteristic(Time/Location of capture/Nationality) for a soldier being captured by the Axis? (Note, being Christian would have always been superior to being Jewish, so I'm not including religion)

I'm thinking one of the following situations
1) 1940 retreat on the way to Dunkirk/British Soldier
2) Fighter/Bomber Crew 1941-1943/British or American Airman
3) One of the 1941 battles in North Africa/British or Australian Solder (would they have been shipped back to Germany/Italy with the possibility of being sunk by the Royal Navy?)
 

BigDave1967

Banned
naraht said:
During WWII (which for these purposes goes back to 1932(?) China), what would have been the *best* characteristic(Time/Location of capture/Nationality) for a soldier being captured by the Axis? (Note, being Christian would have always been superior to being Jewish, so I'm not including religion)

I'm thinking one of the following situations
1) 1940 retreat on the way to Dunkirk/British Soldier
2) Fighter/Bomber Crew 1941-1943/British or American Airman
3) One of the 1941 battles in North Africa/British or Australian Solder (would they have been shipped back to Germany/Italy with the possibility of being sunk by the Royal Navy?)
Click to expand...

I'd say if there was a good time in WW2 to become a pow in Europe it would be in Italy in 1944.
 

Undeadmuffin

I'd say north africa,
One it was Rommel, a general with a sense of 'chivalry' regarding the conduct of the war and its rule.
Second, the british had italian and german prisoner, thus preventing a possible inhuman treatment due to the possibility of retaliation.
 

The Red

KACKO said:
I would say American/ British May 7th 1945.
Click to expand...

Hyperbolic but pretty much on the ball, even the small number of Red Army troops captured in the last months of the war were treated fairly well due to their captors being aware of the imminent audit of their conduct.
 

BigDave1967

Banned
The Red said:
Hyperbolic but pretty much on the ball, even the small number of Red Army troops captured in the last months of the war were treated fairly well due to their captors being aware of the imminent audit of their conduct.
Click to expand...

I read that the Germans treated the survivors of the Warsaw uprising as POWs out of fear of war crimes trials
 

mattep74

Kicked
naraht said:
During WWII (which for these purposes goes back to 1932(?) China), what would have been the *best* characteristic(Time/Location of capture/Nationality) for a soldier being captured by the Axis? (Note, being Christian would have always been superior to being Jewish, so I'm not including religion)

I'm thinking one of the following situations
1) 1940 retreat on the way to Dunkirk/British Soldier
2) Fighter/Bomber Crew 1941-1943/British or American Airman
3) One of the 1941 battles in North Africa/British or Australian Solder (would they have been shipped back to Germany/Italy with the possibility of being sunk by the Royal Navy?)
Click to expand...

I would say 2nd if they were captured unhurt by regular units and not SS. It was the Luftwaffe that ran the POW camps IIRC
 

Readman

Well, it's pretty common knowledge Japanese POW's really got the shit-end of the stick. Bataan Death March anyone? :( Numerous other examples, so I think that eliminates the PTO in its Entirety :eek:

the LW Stalags were generally well-run, but one could say at times the Allied Aircrews had a 50/50 chance of getting mauled by angry civilians. I wouldn't want to be a Commando, since they were given orders by Goebbels or Keitel for a summary execution. I would also say, and of course this is just me, but being a POW on the Ostfront well...:eek: Not Good. So by process of elimination I think that being in the Western Allied armies on the ETO would stand the best chance of both immediate and long-term survival, with, again, obvious exception being if you were in the path of a Waffen-SS Unit on the Advance (Hitler-Jugend Div and Canadians, Malmedy and US Troops)
 

Johannes Parisiensis

naraht said:
1) 1940 retreat on the way to Dunkirk/British Soldier
2) Fighter/Bomber Crew 1941-1943/British or American Airman
3) One of the 1941 battles in North Africa/British or Australian Solder (would they have been shipped back to Germany/Italy with the possibility of being sunk by the Royal Navy?)
Click to expand...

1) As said by other,be capturated by regulars instead of Nazi Waffen-SS (yes, I know, it's a pleonasm)and don't be from the Colonial troops.
2) Be capturated by Luftwaffe servicemen and in the countryside to lessen the risks of being lynched by enraged civilians.
3) They would surely be kept in North Africa, so don't bother with being sunk by the RN.

And, as for the Western front, even Jewish POWs weren't much bothered by the Nazis.

And, outside the three cases of the OP:

  • Best case: Western soldier on May 1945 by Wehrmacht
  • Worst case:Chinese by the Imperian Japanese Army or, alternatively, Jewish Soviet soldier in 1941.
 
Last edited:

BigDave1967

Banned
Johannes Parisiensis said:
1) As said by other,be capturated by regulars instead of Nazi Waffen-SS (yes, I know, it's a pleonasm)and don't be from the Colonial troops.
2) Be capturated by Luftwaffe servicemen and in the countryside to lessen the risks of being lynched by enraged civilians.
3) They would surely be kept in North Africa, so don't bother with being sunk by the RN.

And, as for the Western front, even Jewish POWs weren't much bothered by the Nazis.

And, outside the three cases of the OP:

  • Best case: Western soldier on May 1945
  • Worst case:Chinese by the Imperian Japanese Army or, alternatively, Jewish Soviet soldier in 1941.
Click to expand...

What you said about Jewish POWS wasn't always true.

http://www.mitchellbard.com/articles/pows.html
 

jmc247

Johannes Parisiensis said:
And, as for the Western front, even Jewish POWs weren't much bothered by the Nazis.
Click to expand...

Its something still not well understood even by historians, but Hitler effectively with a two front mega war was able to subdivide his high level officers between those in the East willing to wage his dirty war and those in Africa and the West that he felt wouldn't.

There were orders to massacre Jewish POWs in the West and Africa. The orders were just burned and the Jews hidden once they get into the POW supply system various ways like using the Italian POW system or altering records.

jews2.jpg~original
 

Perky50

I read a book once (imagine that!) .... it was called "In enemy hands" ... it was a collection of stories about the experiences of Canadian PW's ....

In the book it was stated that once the Germans learned how their countrymen were being treated in camps in Canada, they started giving Canadian PW's they held preferential treatment in return.

It was at such a level that Canadian PW's wishing to attempt escape from by using working parties which left the camp had to exchange identities with other nationals as the Germans didn't use Canadians in afore mentioned working parties to the same degree as PW's of other nations.

The information on the treatment in Canada was brought back by prisoners who had been repatriated in one of the exchanges between the combatants of PW's that had been severely injured enough not to be at risk to rejoin the conflict.
 

Readman

I seem to recall something along similar lines myself, that is, German POW's in Canada--in fact some were even *invited* to do local work in some of the towns, without escort....then again, if your in Saskatchewan, where the hell are ya going to Escape To? :confused::p:rolleyes::eek:
 

AussieHawker

Banned
Readman said:
I seem to recall something along similar lines myself, that is, German POW's in Canada--in fact some were even *invited* to do local work in some of the towns, without escort....then again, if your in Saskatchewan, where the hell are ya going to Escape To? :confused::p:rolleyes::eek:
Click to expand...

America? But then he would miss his daily ration of Maple syrup and Beer. Truly another great Canadian prison. :p:p:p
 

BigDave1967

Banned
Readman said:
I seem to recall something along similar lines myself, that is, German POW's in Canada--in fact some were even *invited* to do local work in some of the towns, without escort....then again, if your in Saskatchewan, where the hell are ya going to Escape To? :confused::p:rolleyes::eek:
Click to expand...

Same with German POWs in Arizona
 

CthulhuFhtagn

Banned
Best: American/Commonwealth captured by Italy in 44, or Germany in 45
Worst: Soviet captured by Germany at any point in time, Chinese captured by Japan at any point in time
 
johnboy

johnboy

A lot of Italian POW's worked on farms in Australia as well. Quite a few even stayed and/or came back here
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top