Citation

Berkhoff KC. Holocaust Genocide Stud. 2001; 15(1): 1-32.

Affiliation

Netherlands Institute for War Documentation.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2001, Oxford University Press)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

20827833

Abstract

Ukrainian and Russian primary sources enable us to integrate the civilian Soviet population into the story of the Wehrmacht's treatment of Soviet POWs during World War II. This article reveals a little-known phenomenon: the myriad attempts of bystanders-usually thwarted-to save the lives of the prisoners. Most importantly, it seems likely that in Ukraine prisoners' mass mortality could have been avoided. However, German policy makers and prison guards' desire to eliminate most Soviet POWs, based on the view that these were "Russians" and thus irreversibly "Bolshevized" or simply superfluous, resulted in a "genocidal massacre" that lasted until at least the end of 1942.

Language: en