1.7 million German POW dies from starvation in the US army death camp captivity after world war II ?

Question

after world war II, about 1.7 million German POW dies from starvation in the US army captivity !! is that a reality or a hoax ?

and why this savage act toward the Germans !?

Answer 1

Canadian novelist James Bacque has alleged that U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower oversaw the deaths by starvation or exposure of one million German prisoners of war held in Western internment camps after the Second World War. Bacque charges that hundreds of thousands of German prisoners of war (POWs), redesignated as "Disarmed Enemy Forces" in order to avoid recognition under the third Geneva Convention, were recorded as entering the camps but not recorded as transferring out, so they must have died. He also points to a German report recording the death of 1.4 million German POWs, and Soviet data accounting for only 450,600 of these deaths. The remainder, he says, must then have died in Western camps.

In his book Other Losses, Bacque recounts interviews with people who claimed to have witnessed trucks full of dead leaving the camps each day, and civilian women who say they were fired upon while trying to throw bread over the camp fence. The fact that Red Cross inspectors were banned, Red Cross food aid was returned, building of shelters was forbidden and soldiers were kept on short rations are seen by Bacque as a "method of the genocide." Another critic of Eisenhower's policy in Germany was Senator Homer E. Capehart.

Answer 2

It sounds like some facts have gotten mixed up, embellished or just plain made up. While we did have German POW's in the states during WWII, but the number was no where near 1.7 million. Unlike other countries we followed the Geneva Convention as to treatment of these men. They were allowed to have a theater group,an orchestra, gardens, and pretty much allowed to govern themselves. Where as the Russians treated their POW's as slave labor and literally worked them to death.

Answer 3

This is really far fetched, only because most of the German prisoners of war were sent the United States, some right near where we lived. They were given "On their honor passes" to see movies, go to dances, etc, a lot came back after the war, some never went home. Does this sound to you like they were mistreated ?

          I had a friend for many years. He was in the German army and taken prisoner on the Eastern front. He was sent far into th North Gulag prisoner of war camps. He was read the charges. He was charged as a felon and for attempted murder against the Soviet people.

         He said there were many American and British prisoners there also, for what reasons, he didn't know. They weren't allowed to speak with them.

         He was released in 1957 to find his own way home. His wife and family were gone, He migrated to America.

Answer 4

I read James Bacque's book "Other Losses," around 17 years ago, when it first came out. It gives some figures.

http://www.jamesbacque.com/books.html

Around 1964 or so, there was an article in the American Legion magazine about a large number of German POWs, that were slave laborers for the Russians.

Answer 5

This is absolutely true.Harsh but true and also a genuine war crime.Over two million German soldiers captured by the American army were kept confined in horrible conditions on the specific orders of Dwight Eisenhower.General Bradley protested the order but obeyed it.General Patton ignored the order.The exact number who died from starvation and disease is not known but is exceedingly high.Eisenhower wanted vengeance upon the Germans.At West Point he was known as "the Swedish Jew" so his motives for murder are apparent.Most Americans and nearly all historians do not want to face the fact of this terrible crime so it is just simply ignored in the history books.

Answer 6

This was a claim by an inflamed canadian author James Bacques in a book called Other losses

The evidence for his claims is sparse and relies heavily on information from soviet russia who demanded over 4 million germans to rebuild their cities as forced labor, and would of course not want to appear the villain in the international media.

The US involvement in post war Germany as well as in American camps is well documented by the Red Cross, allied nations (who helped relocate many POWs), and other forces in the rebuilding of the nations.

However, there were incidents where the relief groups like the Red Cross were not allowed into the camps or allowed to inspect the POWs and this gave fuel to the claims of mistreatement etc.  The reasons why they were kept out were explained that these were interrogation camps or camps for the most violent, but I'm not really sure on those claims, personally.

Also, Eisenhower did express a want for the German POWs to go through and suffer like those they held in their camps.  Remember the German's did mix POWs into the death camps with the gypsies, jews, etc.  But it is my understanding that Eisenhower's wishes were never acted upon and he later recanted what he said and expressed sorrow for his words which he admitted were borne in anger.

The documented Germans forced to work for the allies I think is only about 800,000 and to my knowledge many of them remained in America, Britain and France refusing to go home.

This is my understanding of the topic, and I hope it has helped.

Answer 7

Not US. I would say Allied. Many Germans died in the Soviet Gulags. Due to the agreements of Yalta, the US gave over to the Soviets any soldiers from units that fought on the East. Meaning many soldiers were shipped off to camps in Siberia and had to labor there for decades.

As well as 2million Germans were murdered/killed during the expulsion of roughly 11 million Germans from the Eastern territories. Most of these deaths after the end of WW2. In short a family that's been living on a farm for centuries, all of a sudden found army men outside of it's house. They were then sometimes lined up against the wall and just shot or forcefully taken from the house and put in brutal internment camps where most of them didn't survive the winter simply because their ancestors came from Germany. Even though they as Germans not living in Germany, but in the eastern territories could not even be held responsible for voting the n**i party, as they couldn't even hold votes for elections inside Germany. Just one of those small ethnic cleansings.

There are several moving poems and books written about this forgotten genocide. Somehow the Allied powers try to downplay it since the blood of two million innocents as a result of actions after the war doesn't fit into their view of the perfect victors who fought over evil and won. It's just how life is. So if 2 million civilian deaths are overlooked. Why do you think the deaths of actual soldiers is going to be any more astonishing or be treated differently?

Answer 8

hoax. there aren't enough US POW prisons to hold 1.7 million people I would think, not to mention, the US didn't have "death camps" we did have concentration camps, but they were for the Japanese during WWII.

Answer 9

Pure BS we never even had close to that #