World War I prisoners of war in Germany
The situation of World War I prisoners of war in Germany is an aspect of the conflict little covered by historical research. However, the number of soldiers imprisoned reached a little over seven million[1] for all the belligerents, of whom around 2,400,000[2] were held by Germany.
Starting in 1915, the German authorities put in place a system of camps, nearly three hundred in all, and did not hesitate to resort to denutrition, punishments and psychological mobbing; incarceration was also combined with methodical exploitation of the prisoners. This prefigured the systematic use of prison camps on a grand scale during the 20th century.
However, the captivity organised by the German military authorities also contributed to creating exchanges among peoples and led a number of prisoners to reflect on their involvement in the war and relation with their homeland.
The Hague Conventions[edit]
At the end of the 19th century, Western nations reflected on the legal aspect of war and of captive soldiers, particularly following the Crimean and Austro-Prussian wars. Tsar Nicholas II initiated the two conferences that fixed the terms of the laws and customs of war at The Hague in 1899 and 1907.
Chapter II of the convention signed in October 1907 is entirely devoted to prisoners of war and begins thus: "Prisoners of war are in the power of the hostile Government, but not of the individuals or corps who capture them. They must be humanely treated. All their personal belongings, except arms, horses, and military papers, remain their property."[3]
The twenty articles comprising this chapter regulate various aspects of life in captivity such as lodging, work, religion, nourishment, dress, and mail. However, this international accord is imbued with 19th-century conceptions of war. Thus, prisoners "may be set at liberty on parole if the laws of their country allow", for example.
The principal nations of the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance signed the convention, with the exception of the Ottoman Empire, not among the 44 signatories in 1907. The Hague Conventions’ dispositions entered into force in the German Empire and France on 26 January 1910, but these agreements turned out to be unsuitable in the tumult of World War I. In October 1918, the number of prisoners held in Germany reached 2,415,043,[4] and such a mass of men made it harder for a country at war to respect the conventions fully. During the conflict, the belligerent parties concluded special accords in order to mitigate these difficulties and in 1929, a new text was produced, amending the applicable regulatory dispositions.[5]
Wounded prisoners[edit]
Wounded prisoners benefited from the 1864 Geneva Convention, article 6 of which stated: "Wounded or sick combatants, to whatever nation they may belong, shall be collected and cared for."[101] Wounded soldiers were transported to a "Lazarett", the most important of which was the Lazarett Saint-Clément of Metz. In his book, Robert d'Harcourt gives a very detailed description of the treatments practiced on prisoners.
Amputation was commonplace, even when unnecessary, and care quite rudimentary.
Charles Hennebois touches on a wrenching aspect concerning the wounded. Some of them, instead of being transported to the hospital, were finished off on the field of battle: "Men wounded the day before were calling them from afar and asking to drink. The Germans finished them off by butting them with their rifles or bayoneting them, then despoiling them. I saw this from several metres away. A group of seven or eight men, felled by machine-gun crossfire, found itself at that point. Several were still alive, as they were begging the soldiers. They were finished off like I just said, shaken down and heaped up in a pile."[102] This claim is refuted in a German propaganda book about what happened in the camps published in 1918.[103]
The prisoners and historiography[edit]
Historiography has played a vital role in emphasizing and giving the proper place due to the theme of World War I prisoners of war, though at first it ignored them and they were only gradually rehabilitated. The historiography of the Great War can be divided into three phases.[120] The first is the military and diplomatic phase. Antoine Prost and Jay Winter (2004) speak of preserving the national atmosphere.[121] Captivity was absent from all that was written on the conflict at the time. For instance, in 1929 Jean Norton Cru published a study of writings by former combatants: "The goal of this book is to give an image of the war according to those who saw it up close."[122] None of the 300 collected writings was by a former prisoner of war. The second phase was social, and the third is the social-cultural phase, wherein the prisoners have retaken their place.
The first French book to describe the conditions of prisoners' captivity appeared in 1929.[123] Georges Cahen-Salvador described his book as a "tribute to the truth". However, it was not until the end of the 20th century that historians conducted research on this subject. Annette Becker, Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau and Odon Abbal are among this group.
In Germany, one of the few complete studies of the phenomenon was written by a university professor, Uta Hinz. As for Italy, Giovanna Procacci's book Soldati e prigionieri italiani nella grande guerra. Con una raccolta di lettere inedite discusses Italian prisoners through their letters. Several studies have been published in other countries but the subject remains little discussed overall.
In the arts[edit]
Cinema[edit]
La Grande Illusion, a 1937 film by Jean Renoir, depicts the story of two French officers of the First World War sent to a PoW camp in Germany. They decide to escape by digging a tunnel in perilous conditions. After several aborted escape attempts and repeated transfers, they are placed in a mountain fortress. The story does not portray negative characters: soldiers or guards, the Germans are good guys, while the Allied prisoners perform their duties conscientiously but without excessive heroism. As shown, the camps of 1914-18 (at least the officers' camps) do not give the impression of a frightening inferno.
Who Goes Next?, a 1938 film directed by Maurice Elvey, was a fictionalised account of the tunnel escape from Holzminden.[138]
Theatre[edit]
Le voyageur sans bagage is a play by Jean Anouilh written in 1937 (reprinted in 1958) and deals with the true story of the Anthelme Mangin (Octave Monjoin) affair. A French soldier and former prisoner of war afflicted with barbed-wire psychosis returns to freedom.