German Prisoners fighting for Russia Questions

[Matthias]

I read somewhere that those prisoners who fought for the Red Army still wore their Wehrmacht uniforms is this true? and if so did the Soviets have them sew on patches to distinguish them from other units? I know that foreign nationals fighting for the Reich wore patches in order to make them unique.

Also was the a name used by the German soldiers to discribe the "traitors" as they faced their brethen in combat?

Thanks,

Matthias

[sid guttridge]

Hi Matthias,

I am not at all sure that the Russians ever comitted turned German prisoners to combat. The book to look at might be "The Last Six Months" by Shtemenko (spelling?).

As far as uniforms are concerned, it was certainly Russian practice to allow the various nationalities they formed into units and formations to fight beside them to continue to wear elements of their own national uniforms, which were sometimes manufactured in the USSR. This was true of the Poles, Czechoslovaks, Yugoslavs, Romanians and Hungarians. However, as I say, I would be suprised if any Germans served actively beside the Russians in combat.

Cheers,

Sid.

[Christian]

In fact, a German soldier was lucky when he made it alive of the battle field; then came the horror of Russian captivity.
If this account is indeed true about, then it had to be a very rare exception.

Cheers,

Christian

[Bruno]

German prisoners who fought for the Red Army??? What Krap!!!

Stalin didn't trust his own men let a lone Germans. Besides the majority of Germans retained a modicum of loyalty to the fatherland. Those turncoats that there were, became propoganda mouth pieces in the POW camps. Those fat little parasites fed off the labour of their fellow prisoners, while they extolled the virtues and values of the soviet system.
Lastly the Soviets filmed re-enactments of battles for their newsreels- using German POWs in uniform while the tanks of the glorious liberation army rolled over them. The first casualty of war is Truth!

[sid guttridge]

Hi Bruno,

Have you some evidence for your last proposition that the Russians rolled tanks over German POWs for film purposes? As you say, the first casualty of war is truth. May you not be taking part in truth's murder?

I also doubt many of the "parasites" were particularly convinced by the Soviet system. The Officers Committee consisted of men who were appalled by the Nazi system - although not so appalled that they weren't prepared to serve it until captured.

Cheers,

Sid

[PzrMeyer]

Altner's book Berlin Dance of Death suggests that "Seydlitz Troops" as the Germans called them (named after General von Seydlitz, the highest ranking POW in the Comittee to Free Germany) were committed to battle and describes fighting against them on the Oder Front in March/April '45. He said they were distinguished by red armbands over their Wehrmacht uniforms. He also said it was very confusing in battle to distinguish between themselves and the turncoats, as descibed during a sequence when a wounded man called out to them "Kamarad, hilfe!" and they found him to have a red armband on. They left him where he was. Altner also descibes seeing Bf109s without markings attack German positions but does not say (or allude) that they had German pilots. I've read other accounts where they were supposedly used but I'm not completely convinced.

[Matthias]

I must have been experiencing a brain cramp because I couldn't remember what book I read it in - Thanks for refreshing my memory.

[George Lepre]

Hi guys -

There are several books on the topic of Germans fighting for the Red Army.

The best is Bodo Scheurig's Free Germany. This is the story of the German Officers' League.

Also, Hans-Peter Klausch's book Antifaschisten in SS-Uniform includes first-hand accounts by former concentration camp inmates (Communists) who were drafted into the Dirlewanger Brigade and who deserted once they reached the front. A number of these men later made propaganda broadcasts to Wehrmacht units in the last days of the war.

It is also true that Stalin mistrusted the Seydlitz Germans. In his book, Klausch reveals that when the Dirlewanger deserters reached Soviet lines, they were harshly interrogated. The Russians would ask, "If you're an anti-faschist, why didn't you form a partisan detachment behind the lines?" Ironically, many were sent to prisoner-of-war camps and remained there for years, as Ulbricht wouldn't dare raise the question of their release with Stalin.

Best regards,

George Lepre