Abstract
Bob Moore has written extensively in the past on the topic of prisoners of war (POWs) and has a vast knowledge of the subject. In this comprehensive and detailed study, he consolidates several aspects of the current body of knowledge related to the 20 million soldiers from all sides who became POWs in Europe during, and immediately after, the Second World War. Whereas previous studies have usually focused on the experience of POWs of a single nationality, Moore draws from a vast number of secondary sources and case studies to describe the experience and fate of POWs from all Second World War belligerents in Europe.
The first part of the book focuses mainly on the experience of the largest groups of POWs, including the French, Polish (both in German and Soviet hands), Yugoslav, British and American. Two sections are dedicated to the tragic fate of the largest group of Allied POWs, the Soviets, of whom less than half survived German captivity. Moore concludes (p. 240) that their sufferings were not a result of deliberate planning, but rather of lack of planning, although it can be argued that this lack of planning was in itself deliberate. He then describes the experience in Allied captivity of the circa 10 million German POWs (Germany's whole army went into captivity following its unconditional surrender) and of the Italian POWs. However, Moore's important contribution in this section is his review of the experience of smaller groups of POWs, such as those from Scandinavia and Greece; and of special interest is the review of the smaller belligerents, such as Finland, whose treatment of Soviet POWs resulted in a 30% mortality rate, and of the Polish treatment of German POWs. Moore also reviews the POW policies of the main belligerents, along with their use of POWs as economic resources and the fraternization issues it had caused.
When it comes to the ‘conventional’ treatment of POWs from Western countries, Moore frames the question of Germany's almost full adherence to the 1929 Geneva Convention not as why the Convention was not adhered to in its entirety; but rather, why was it adhered to at all (p. 32) – which, given Nazi Germany's record of breaching its international obligations, is an important point. However, it is worth mentioning that certain events (all of which are mentioned separately in the book), when reviewed together – including the Commando Order, the lynching of Allied airmen, the murder of Italian officer POWs and of the 50 escapees from Stalag Luft 3 – all pointed towards a clear escalation trajectory that was a de facto abandonment of the Convention.
Moore's assertion that towards the end of the war, the SS and the Gestapo assumed control over POW matters (pp. 308, 311, and 399) requires some clarification. Although Himmler, the head of the SS, was appointed in July 1944 as commander of the Replacement Army – which was in charge of POW camps – the SS and the Gestapo were never put in control of POW camps, nor were the camps made part of the SS organization.
The second part of the book deals with the treatment of POWs from minority groups, including Jews, blacks, non-white colonial soldiers and women (mostly German and Soviet). This is a research area that has not been given enough attention in previous studies, and its inclusion in this book is well deserved. Moore points out that when dealing with some of these groups Germany had set aside its racial ideology and attempted – in most cases unsuccessfully – to recruit them to fight against their colonial masters; in this case, practical considerations trumped racial ideology. One minority group whose experience is missing from this section is the 9,000 Spanish Republicans, fugitives from the Spanish Civil War who fought with the French army. Although they were supposed to be protected by the Geneva Convention, they were sent to concentration camps where only 1,500 of them ultimately survived.
The book's last part focuses on another subject that has not been widely addressed previously: the repatriation of POWs and their reintegration back into society. Moore's examination highlights the differences in the treatment of the returning POWs, from the efficient handling and heroes’ welcome given to POWs from the US and the UK to the near collapse of the French repatriation system, and the terrible treatment of the returning Soviet POWs endured at the hands of their own countrymen after years of suffering in German captivity. Moore also describes the fate of the German POWs, the last of whom only returned from Soviet captivity years after the end of the war, and the shock of the many families who only then realised that their loved ones would never return. Their treatment in Soviet captivity, which initially led to thousands of deaths from hunger and disease, was later improved – in a process not dissimilar to the one the Soviet POWs in German hands had gone through – so that they could be used for labour.
Moore makes several important contributions in this book to the subject of Second World War POWs by providing a comprehensive and detailed description of the experience of POWs from all countries, including smaller ones; by highlighting the treatment of different minority groups; and by describing the post-captivity experience of POWs from all sides. Another important contribution – which is not specifically stated – is in enabling the reader to make comparisons: between the treatment of POWs by each captor, between the POW policies of the main belligerents, and between the ways they treated their returning POWs. It might have been useful to point out these comparisons as part of the summary.
The book is highly recommended both for readers who would like to enrich their existing knowledge of Second World War POWs by learning about less researched areas, as well as for lay readers who would like to delve into this vast subject for the first time.