Why did Germans forces surrender en masse to U.S. and British forces rather than to the Soviets toward the end of the war?
1 Answer
During the Second World War, the Hague Conventions applied in Europe, but the Germans and Soviets did not apply them to each other.
Explanation:
German treatment to military POWs from its campaigns in Western Europe, the Balkans and Africa was largely honorable during the Second World War -- although there were exceptions, particularly where some Waffen SS formations and Nazi party officials were involved. The German military also -- by long custom -- was ruthless towards partisans and usually refused to consider them as lawful POWs.
On the Eastern Front, Hitler set the rules for his coming war with the USSR in March 1941 -- the customs and laws of warfare would not be applied in the Soviet Union. The war on the Eastern Front was waged with extraordinary cruelty, and the Soviets quickly reciprocated.
A Soviet POW held by the Germans had a 57.5 percent chance of dying in captivity (usually from starvation). Germans POWs held by the Soviets had a 35.8 percent chance of dying (usually of disease) before being repatriated -- often long after the war was over.
By comparison, American POWs were 33 percent likely to die in Japanese custody; the Japanese were slightly more charitable towards British POWs and only 24.8 percent of them died. Western Allied POWs in German hands faced considerable risk in the last year of the war (forced marches and the collapse of German infrastructure) and 3.5 percent of them died; less than 1 percent of Axis POWs died in British or American hands. (Figures extracted from several sources for a work in progress by the author).
Most German soldiers understood that surrender to American, British or Canadian troops carried few risks of being killed immediately after capture; and that their treatment would be in accord with International Law. Surrender to the Soviets was very dangerous except in large numbers, when the risk of casual homicide right after capture would be diminished.
By and large, Germans taken prisoner by the Western Allies were home by 1947-48. The last repatriations of German POWs from the USSR occurred in 1956.
