|
|
German POWs and the Art of SurvivalBy Simon Rees | Military History | 4 comments | Print This Post | Email This Post In 1948, his last year of captivity, Janssen took up a British offer to extend his time in England as a farm laborer in return for regular pay and the opportunity to wear civilian clothes. Living in rural Surrey and by then fluent in English, Janssen felt himself integrated with the local community. When he returned to Germany on Christmas 1948, he took up another offer for former POWs to go back to Britain and continue working as agricultural laborers. Soon after he returned in 1949, he married. For Janssen, despite some tough times at the start, being a POW had led to the happiest of conclusions. For further reading, Simon Rees recommends Eisenhower and the German POWs: Facts Against Falsehood, by Günter Bischof and Stephen E. Ambrose. This article was written by Simon Rees and originally published in the May 2007 issue of Military History Magazine. For more great articles, subscribe to Military History magazine today! Pages: 1 2 3 4 5Help HistoryNet by bookmarking to
            Tags: Historical Conflicts, People, Politics, Social History, World War II
 |
SPONSORED SITES
STAY CONNECTED WITH US |
|
|
||
What is HistoryNet?The HistoryNet.com is brought to you by the Weider History Group, the world's largest publisher of history magazines. HistoryNet.com contains daily features, photo galleries and over 1,200 articles originally published in our various magazines. If you are interested in a specific history subject, try searching our archives, you are bound to find something to pique your interest. |
From Our Magazines
|
Weider History Group |
Weider History Network: HistoryNet | Armchair General | Once A Marine | Achtung Panzer! Terms of Use | Copyright © 2008 Weider History Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. |
||
Loading ...
4 Comments to “German POWs and the Art of Survival”
Can any one tell me, even in rough terms, the percentage of German POWS that remained in America after WWII. I cannot seem to find it any where on-line. Thanks fo any suggestions.
Bennie
By Ben Rayner on Jul 5, 2008 at 1:58 pm
There are at least 1% of German/Axis POW (of more than 420 thousand incarcerated) remained in the U.S. who didn’t want to return by the end of 1947. Especially of the few thousand Russian Red army who switched side and fought for the Nazi in the western front. Unfortunately they were repatriated to Gulag by Stalin’s order.
There are many others who befriend the locals around the area nearby, married American women and stay after the war. Most of them are located in the mid-west where majority Americans are German or central Europena decendents. I remember talking to a lady in Memphis, TN back in the 1970′ when she remembered fondly the German POW boys she and her friends used to social with. Apparently most of the POW camps had very relaxed control then and even allowed inmates to go out to the towns.
There are some German POW, who after repatriation, couldn’t find jobs in 1950′ Germany and decided to come back to U.S. by immigration.
By George Chen on Jul 26, 2008 at 4:20 am
I cannot find books or articles about German POWs in USSR, before the end of WWII and after WWII. I kow alot of German POWS died due to hard labor and diseases. The Russians would not give the Red Cross a list of German POWs. Did any of the POWs that were eventually released (some) in 1955, write a book?
Did the German government help these men with jobs, housing?
What happened to the POWS that had homes in E. Germany?
I am really upset that Roosevelt and Churchill did nothing to help these Germans. Stalin was playing them as fools and they just followed. I read Stalin viewed Roosevelt as an invalid, and Churchill as a drunk. The Russians committed terrible crimes.
By Daphne Gilbertson on Nov 25, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Those switched russian pows or general Vlasov soldiers sent to gulags further they sent to various hard labor camps. One group of them came to Mongolia during early 50’s and built Mongolian railroad. Also japanese pows used in various hard labor camps in several Mongolian locations.
By Orgo on Dec 8, 2008 at 9:16 pm