german pow's paraded throught the streets of moscow.

prisoners of war....defeated and humiliated...

 

last pic, washing down the streets after pow's passed thro...

 

I think the pictures show the well known parade of German troops captured during Operation Bagration in 1944...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLeAv-z_AmQ

 

could well be hucks, thanks for vt, ray..

 

I find it odd that alot of the POWs are laughing and smiling. Wonder what they were thinking. Also, it looks like the POWs outnumber the onlookers.

 

did they know what awaited them ike, or just pure arrogance?

 

being that the weather was warm along with the number POWs, I would say that the tiem is about summer 42' or 43'. They would have already have been exposed to the brutality of Russian imprisonment I would think. Judging by what I have read in the treatment handed out just in being transported from the front to the rear.

 

Op Bagration took place in the summer so the weather would also be warm and the amount of PoW's numbered in the many thousands...

1944 - Prisoners Paraded - IN OUR PAGES - 100, 75 AND 50 YEARS AGO - NYTimes.com
From a US Newspaper...

MOSCOW: [From our New York edition:] German captives from the Russian front, numbering 57,000 officers and men, marched through the streets of Moscow today [July 17], on the way to prison camps somewhere in the east. Not since the time of Napoleon has Moscow witnessed such a parade. Napoleon's Grande Armee entered the city as conquerors and left of their own accord to escape annihilation, while Hitler's soldiers came as prisoners guarded on all sides by mounted cavalry and foot soldiers with bayoneted rifles.

 

Looks like the prisoners outnumbered the Russian population. Probably happy and smiling that they were alive and away from the fighting.

What the Russians had instore for them was a walk in the park compared to Japanese Prison War Camps.

Watch this.

Unit 731 Japanese Torture & Human Medical Experiments 部隊の真実

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAp8bSdE5MQ&feature=player_embedded#

 

that was exactly my first thought.

 

The way I see it, they simply kept their soldiers pride, even when marching into captivity. Should this be not expected of any soldier?

 

Propaganda. Have you ever seen any leaflets of unhappy POW´s eating their bread, smoking their cigarettes and perhaps even women in the background....

 

After the parade of POW, Russians would always bring out the street sweeping machines and then water trucks to cleanse the Russian soil.

 

Engines of the Red Army in WW2 - YaG-6, 5-ton, 4x2, Cargo Truck pics of street cleaning, date given as 17th july 1944, that would make the parade date 16th july....

 

I found these Picture also of German POW Paraded







German POWs in Stalingrad





Stalingrad, february 1943 German Prisoners of War, waiting for the train.

 

My understanding about the parade of German POW'S in Moscow is that these were the same prisoners that were captured by the Soviets at Stalingrad in Feb 1943. This was the Soviet's first major victory, and Stalin wanted for propaganda reasons, to have them filmed in streets of Moscow. As a German, I have seen these photos before, and it saddens me how these soldiers were brutalized by the jeering mobs lined up on both sides! The civilians were encouraged to kick and spit at these defeated soldiers, many who were traumatized by the hell they endured during the battle! As a side note, I find it laughable about the American soldiers who served in the Gulf War in 1991 and alledged they suffered from post traumatic stress syndrom-give me a break!!! American soldiers no nothing about this condition compared to what the Germans and Russians experienced in the war! The war on the Eastern Front was unbelievably cruel and long! Over 3,000,000 Germans lost their lives their!

 

These soldiers were not from Stalingrad but from Bagration only. The Russian people looked upon them in silence and disgust as they marched. While I am sure that isolated instances of spitting occured, this was not common practice and there was certainly no encouragement needed.

 

thanks for heads up slon, ray..

 

I'll give all a heads-Up If you know disregard this MSG.

Did you know that many Russians captured in 1943 fought against US Canadian and British forces. As Example

The German defences south of Caen were manned by elements of the 272 Inf. Div., a low-category unit formed in 1943.
The division included large numbers of Russians who had chosen service with the Wehrmacht over near-certain death in PoW camps..

 

I believe the whole point was to show the Russian people Germany was broken and on the run and they were no longer the strong.