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Mikhail Devyatayev

en.wikipedia.org

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Re: Mikhail Devyatayev

#31

Post by excannuck »

kstenerud wrote: post #29
dopeboy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Germans hated the Russians (and generally anyone east of them). You had a 57% chance of dying if you were a soviet POW, compared to a 3.6% chance if you were British or American [0]. [0] - https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-perse...

The Russians had a reputation for brutality, and so were considered by the German army to be undeserving of the gentleman's rules of war. Once Germany finally fell, many civilians were raped or killed or starved under the occupying Russian forces. People either hunkered down and hoped for a miracle, or fled to anywhere they could find that was controlled by the French, English, or Americans, who had a reputation for…

[dead]

Re: Mikhail Devyatayev

#32

Post by rswskg »

mopsi wrote: post #17
dralley wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why was he considered a criminal?

Treating all POWs as traitors and spies was easier than weeding out the actual traitors and spies. Human life had no value in the USSR.

Not sure if you know much about communists, but none of them value human life.

Re: Mikhail Devyatayev

#33

Post by coold »

Again and again, I think that hacker news cant be a place for spreading false anti-russian (anti-any country) propaganda that was proved to be false a long ago. If you read a references section of "penal military unit" - you will not able to find it in his books.

Re: Mikhail Devyatayev

#34

Post by orloffm »

rangibaby wrote: post #19
throwaway803453 wrote: post #13

Missing from this article is why Devyatayev was considered a criminal: "The NKVD did not believe Devyataev's story, arguing that it was impossible for the prisoners to take over an airplane without cooperation from the Germans. Thus, Devyataev was suspected of being a German spy and sent to a penal military unit along with the other nine men. Of the escapees, five died in action over the following months. Devyataev h…

We’re there any returning POWs who weren’t considered to be criminals?

They weren't considered criminals, they were sent to detention for clearing because otherwise it would've been easy for spies to get into army ranks. Of course, it sounds straight-forward in theory, but during war times the conditions in the detention were awful, and the whole Soviet system of gulags was very demanding of labor, so there weren't many incentives to get cleared.

Re: Mikhail Devyatayev

#35

Post by cafard »

kstenerud wrote: post #29
dopeboy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Germans hated the Russians (and generally anyone east of them). You had a 57% chance of dying if you were a soviet POW, compared to a 3.6% chance if you were British or American [0]. [0] - https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-perse...

The Russians had a reputation for brutality, and so were considered by the German army to be undeserving of the gentleman's rules of war. Once Germany finally fell, many civilians were raped or killed or starved under the occupying Russian forces. People either hunkered down and hoped for a miracle, or fled to anywhere they could find that was controlled by the French, English, or Americans, who had a reputation for…

The Russian POWs were treated terribly long before the Red Army had any chance to maltreat German civilians.

Re: Mikhail Devyatayev

#36

Post by cafard »

mbg721 wrote: post #22
dopeboy wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Germans hated the Russians (and generally anyone east of them). You had a 57% chance of dying if you were a soviet POW, compared to a 3.6% chance if you were British or American [0]. [0] - https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-perse...

The idea of "Hogan's Heroes" resonating at all is still utterly bizarre to me, given the legacy that we have now of WWII Germany, but I guess with some countries, gentlemen's rules of war were still a thing.

I'm not sure who still finds Hogan's Heroes resonant. I enjoyed it when it was on, but I was about ten, and not particularly up on history.
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