In an episode of Foyle’s War, there’s a scene where several British soldiers are seen escorting a group of about a dozen German prisoners through the streets of an English town. And there they were, the Germans, marching in formation under the watchful eyes of their guards, cheerfully singing some of their military songs. Initially, it struck me as rather absurd, almost reminiscent of propaganda. The idea that German prisoners could exhibit such behaviour on Soviet territory during the Second World War, under the close supervision of Soviet soldiers, seemed utterly implausible. Hence, the scenes from the British series appeared rather grotesque. However, when considering the narratives of war prisoners in Western literature, one begins to appreciate the plausibility of such scenes. The treatment of German prisoners in Albion seems rather typical, mirroring the way Germans treated captured Britons or Americans. Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” depicts quite tolerable conditions for captured Allied soldiers. In the initial part of Evelyn Waugh’s trilogy, the main character’s nephew, captured in Calais by the Germans, writes to his parents, requesting canned meat, jam, cigarettes, and a myriad of other items that are difficult to recall. And the grandfather of the captive boy is outraged that his grandson from imprisonment writes only about what he needs. There is no lyricism at all… Well. It’s rather difficult to envision a Soviet soldier writing such a letter to his family back home.
Indeed, the Germans didn’t always treat all of their prisoners kindly – and not only Soviet soldiers. Witold Pilecki, a Polish cavalry officer, described inhuman conditions and brutal treatment of Poles by the Germans, even civilians, in the concentration camp at Auschwitz. Ironically, Pilecki was later executed by the Communists in 1948.
But that seemed to be all in the past. It seemed like all the atrocities had been carefully recounted and documented. And yet, many of us have read the accounts of our soldiers who returned from Russian captivity or have spoken to them firsthand. Sometimes, just seeing our fighters in photos taken shortly after their release is enough to grasp the hardships they endured there… And to envision all those brutal interrogations, humiliating strip searches, starvation, and inhuman beatings. You can try to envision it, of course, but experiencing it firsthand—may God spare us.
Russian prisoners of war in Ukraine are evidently experiencing a much higher level of comfort. This is apparent from the state in which they are presented for exchange—and not only from the media reports when journalists are granted monthly tours of the camp, watching Russian POWs playing football, attending chapel prayers, or enjoying a substantial meal comprising a first course, a second course, and compote. Some captives even acquire new skills, like crafting garden furniture from plastic rods. However, it’s unlikely they’ll have much opportunity to put these skills into practice back home, as they’ll probably be redeployed to the front lines.
Similarly, Ukrainian prisoners of war occasionally participate in labour activities—one man even mentioned that Ukrainian POWs were told to make coffins from ammunition boxes, potentially for continuously arriving Russian ‘Cargo 200s’, a military code for ‘fatality’.
One might attribute the cruelty of Russian overseers or their jackboots to historical reasons, stemming from a time when it was said of Soviet soldiers, “We have no prisoners; we have traitors.” Such demeaning attitudes towards their own soldiers in captivity undoubtedly fueled hatred towards their adversaries whom they held prisoners. The question remains: was this hatred a reaction, or did it originate from the very beginning? The answer to it, perhaps, is evident today.
