German POW treatment by Americans during World War II

German POW's Treatment by Americans During WWII

German POWs: Their Treatment by Americans During WWII

Officially beginning in 1941 and ending in 1945, World War II saw an onslaught of technology, much of which had not previously been widely used. The main advances were in planes and small weapons. Unfortunately, the way that people looked at one another and how they treated one another did not evolve in the same way that technology did. Some of the technology that was used at the end of the war had not been available at the beginning, and was therefore important in the war effort to those that get their hands on it and supply their armies. Some of it was also used for torture and to keep prisoners of war. Without the technology that was available, the war might have actually been much longer, although some of the more advanced technology did result in the loss of more lives, both during the actual war and through the way that prisoners were treated by some of the countries.

Most of the people who thought that prisoners were mistreated during WWII by Germany are actually mistaking POWs for the people who were sent to the concentration camps. These are not the same thing, and the Germans actually treated the people that they captured from other countries like the United States rather humanely. How the United States treated the German POWs, though, was another matter entirely. To really understand what was taking place it is important to know a bit about the war and how it unfolded.

There were plenty of men in the armies, and the women often took over factory and other traditionally male jobs while the men were away fighting. Women did many things in the war, including working as nurses and even flying planes (Wilson, 1996). Since so many countries were involved in the war, some of the countries had technology different from others, and were willing to share at the time to see the enemy stopped. The enemy was, of course, dependent on whose side one was on. A lot of this was reflected in how POWs were treated by various countries, and that was an issue in WWI, as well (Americanization, 1925).

Timeline of WWII detailed timeline of what actually occurred in WWII, as well as what occurred before the war officially started, would be too long to reprint for purposes of this paper. However, some chronological understanding seems important, and therefore below are the most significant events that occurred in WWII (AP Mod, 2003):

German Invasion of Russia

Attack on pearl Harbor and other targets

US and Britain enter WWII

1942-1944

Allied Landing in Africa

German defeat at Stalingrad

Allied Landing in Normandy

Yalta Conference

Atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Germany and Japan Surrender

Nuremberg trials begin

Vietnam becomes independent

United Nations created

The creation of the United Nations became a very important focus for many people after the war ended (Korten, 2001). This was due to the fact that the UN was designed to help all countries work together and have an equal voice, which was something that had not previously been seen in the world. Because of this, the UN ended up being more of a forum for debate than anything else, but this was still significant. It allowed countries to air their grievances and talk them out instead of resorting to painful and disastrous consequences, such as occurred during WWII (Korten, 2001).

Along with the UN came other important institutions, such as the World Trade Organization, which was conceived in the postwar period. This organization would work for and encourage trade with all different countries, and help to further the work of the UN in this way. Unfortunately, for it as well as for society, it was not actually created until the middle of the 1990's, so it did nothing to help the prisoners who were captured and detained while the war was actually taking place. (Albert, 2003).

The Prisoners of War

Elie Wiesel was born in 1928 (Wiesel, 1995). He was in Hitler's death camps during the Holocaust and survived it, moving on to write over 40 books, speak publicly, and show the world that there is still human dignity available, even after the pain and humiliation that he endured in those camps (Wiesel, 1999). The work that he created from the pain that he had been through was very admirable, and undoubtedly would have been important to philosophers and others as well (Wallerstein, 1974). The reason for this is that many philosophers were very involved with the ethics of life and society, and therefore would likely have been very interested in Wiesel and the way that he took his experiences in Hitler's death camps out into the sunlight and helped both himself and the world learn from them (Wallerstein, 1974).

While he was not a POW in the same way as an enemy soldier, he was still a prisoner because of the war. It showed that Germany did not necessarily treat everyone unfairly. As an American-Jewish novelist, Wiesel's work has helped countless individuals understand not only the pain that he went through but also the pain that can be endured and survived so that joy can be later found (Fine, 1982). He is an inspiration to many individuals and therefore highly significant, not only for Jewish people but for all people that need to be reminded of the importance of their lives and the way that they treat others (Fine, 1982).

Many actual POWs were not so lucky, but this was seen much more with Germans who were captured by the Americas as opposed to Americans who were captured by the Germans (Keeling, 1947; Kelsen, 1945). While the Germans followed international rules as to how prisoners of war should be treated, the Americans and some of the other Allied forces did not take these rules as seriously (Gaddis, 1997). Many German POWs were tortured, shot, and otherwise killed or maimed simply because they were on the 'wrong side.'

This was done instead of holding them prisoner and treating them decently so that it could be determined what would be done with them after the war was over. They often slept in tents on the freezing ground, were beaten, and were given little to eat. This was not how prisoners of war were supposed to be treated, but much of it was covered up at the time to make American forces look better and make the Germans and their allies look bad (Gaddis, 1997; Barnes, 1970; Giardina, 1999).

Conclusion - the Significance of Technology

There was a great deal happening under the surface while WWII was raging. Technology was being deliberately advanced at a very rapid pace, much more rapidly than in peacetime, because of the competition between enemies, and because of the need to protect soldiers and civilians from those that would invade and destroy. Because of WWII, the world in general advanced faster, at least for a time, than it would have otherwise. While the war was certainly not an enjoyable thing, there were good things that came from it. The way that the U.S. treated others was not one of those 'good things.'

Society is shaped by the things that have occurred in the past, and WWII was certainly a very important piece of history that will never be forgotten. It allowed the United States to emerge from the war as the most powerful nation in the world, and even though it did not have the economic power that Europe and Japan had, the U.S. remained dominant in shaping the future of the world (Korten, 2003). Most of the problems with the mistreatment of prisoners did not come to light right away, and that helped to pave the way toward a dominant and respected United States.

Solidarity was one of the things that became more important to many people in all different countries after the war was over. It was through the war that the U.S. And other countries learned just who was for them and who was against them. This helped them in forming alliances during the war, but also helped them in determining who they would 'be friends' with when the war was over. Realizing that it is much better if people can get along with one another, the U.S. made an effort to tolerate and not be openly hostile to their enemies. Solidarity is a preferred state, but it needs to be between two countries that respect one another and each other's values (Albert, 2001). The way that German POWs were treated by the United States, unfortunately, had nothing to do with solidarity and respect.