German policy towards Soviet POWS

[Henry Sakaida]

Probably quite a few of you are knowledgeable about the German military in WWII, so I pose this question to you:

If a Soviet pilot was captured by the Army or SS ikn Ukraine, would they have been shipped off to a Stalag administered by the Luftwaffe for Allied air crews? I know that in most cases, American aircrew POWs usually ended up in Stalags although I reccall a History Channel episode where some were interned at a death camp. One prisoner spotted a visiting Lufwaffe officer and told him of the situation, and the aircrews were transferred out to a Stalag.

I know the Soviets were not signatories to the Geneva Convention, so the Germans treated them with cruelty.

Just tapping this forum for knowledge. Thank you!

[Commissar]

I heard they were sent to the concentration camps and rarely to labour or actual POW camps; I read a book about it ages ago, I forget the title but it said they were treated even worse than the jews.
Although that may be an exageration.

[Esteban_cool]

I heard they were sent to the concentration camps and rarely to labour or actual POW camps; I read a book about it ages ago, I forget the title but it said they were treated even worse than the jews.
Although that may be an exageration.

Not really. Nazis also considered the slavics as inferior as the jews. So it wouldn´t be a surprise to me that they were treated worse than them. Plus, they were bolsheviks.

[Henry Sakaida]

Thank you very much for your comments! A woman Sturmovik pilot and later HSU, Anna Yegorova Timofeyeva, was shot down and captured. She wound up at Kurstin POW Camp in Germany (now Poland). They housed alot of Soviet POWs and this was not a death camp. She was liberated when the Soviets arrived.

You know how meticulous, precise, organized, and efficient the Germans were. They usually followed policies to the T!

Just curious! Thanks again!

HENRY

[Eryk]

If a Soviet pilot was captured by the Army or SS ikn Ukraine, would they have been shipped off to a Stalag administered by the Luftwaffe for Allied air crews?

Fascinating question. I don't know for sure, however knowing there was an overall policy of segregating POWs by nationality makes me think not. Most POW camps had different compounds for each nationality.

As well, it was very common for prisoners to simply not be taken. They would be killed immediately.

Soviet prisoners were not typically sent to official concentration camps as prisoners. The concentration camp system was begun in 1933, and was not conceived as a POW system. Later POWs would indeed be sent to them, but most prisoners were kept in military run POW camps. "Camps" for Soviet prisoners in 1941-42 were often nothing more than a barbed wire fence. No shelter. Many of the early war deaths were willful neglect by the Germans - they let the Soviets die of exposure, hunger and disease. Later POWs would be used for labor, so more were kept alive, though conditions were still far below those in which Americans, Brits, etc were kept.

Reading Timofeyeva's story a couple of thoughts. First, she was captured very late in the war (8/44) so is not a typical prisoner. By that time much of the infrastructure was in a very bad way, so I doubt POW organization by the Germans was nearly as efficient as it had been earlier. Second, she was badly wounded and completely neglected (no Red Cross parcels, no help from German medicine, etc). This is in keeping with other accounts from Soviet prisoners.

It sounds like the fact she was a flier made no difference as to where she was sent or how she was treated.

[Simon]

A Soviet movie Hunt for a Unicorn (1989) tells a story of captured Red Army pilots who were used by Germans to train their young pilots. With no ammunition and little fuel in their airplanes, these POWs fought mock battles against German cadets. Though a touching film, we don't know how factual it is.

[Henry Sakaida]

Yes, I have that Russian movie on DVD. I was in Kiev in April and bought a bunch of DVDs. This movie is pure "Hollywoood!"
Thanks!

HENRY