During World War II, both sides of the conflict committed many crimes against humanity. Millions of civilians and military personnel were killed. One of the controversial pages of that history is the execution of Polish officers near Katyn. We will try to find out the truth, which was hidden for a long time, blaming others for this crime.

For more than half a century, the real events in Katyn were hidden from the world community. Today, information on the case is not secret, although the opinion on this matter is ambiguous both among historians and politicians, and among ordinary citizens who participated in the conflict of countries.

Katyn massacre

For many, Katyn has become a symbol of brutal murders. The shooting of Polish officers is impossible to justify or understand. It was here, in the Katyn forest in the spring of 1940, that thousands of Polish officers were killed. The mass murder of Polish citizens was not limited to this place. Documents were made public according to which, during April-May 1940, more than 20,000 Polish citizens were killed in various camps of the NKVD.

The shooting at Katyn complicated Polish-Russian relations for a long time. Since 2010, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and the State Duma have recognized that the massacre of Polish citizens in the Katyn Forest was the activity of the Stalinist regime. This was made public in the statement "On the Katyn tragedy and its victims." However, not all public and political figures in the Russian Federation agree with this statement.

Capture of Polish officers

The Second World War for Poland began on 09/01/1939, when Germany entered its territory. England and France did not enter into conflict, waiting for the outcome of further events. Already on September 10, 1939, Soviet troops entered Poland with the official goal of protecting the Ukrainian and Belarusian population of Poland. Modern historiography calls such actions of the aggressor countries the "fourth partition of Poland." The troops of the Red Army occupied the territory of Western Ukraine, Western Belarus. By decision, these lands became part of Poland.

The Polish military, who defended their lands, could not resist the two armies. They were quickly defeated. On the ground, under the NKVD, eight camps for Polish prisoners of war were created. They are directly related to the tragic event, called the "execution in Katyn".

In total, up to half a million Polish citizens were captured by the Red Army, most of whom were eventually released, and about 130 thousand people ended up in the camps. After a while, some of the ordinary soldiers, natives of Poland, were sent home, more than 40 thousand were sent to Germany, the rest (about 40 thousand) were distributed among five camps:

• Starobelsky (Lugansk) - officers in the amount of 4 thousand.
• Kozelsky (Kaluga) - officers in the amount of 5 thousand.
• Ostashkovsky (Tver) - gendarmes and policemen in the amount of 4700 people.
• directed to the construction of roads - privates in the amount of 18 thousand.
• sent to work in the Krivoy Rog basin - privates in the amount of 10 thousand.

By the spring of 1940, letters to their relatives had ceased to come from prisoners of war from three camps, which had previously been regularly transmitted through the Red Cross. The reason for the silence of the prisoners of war was Katyn, the history of the tragedy of which tied the fate of tens of thousands of Poles.

Execution of prisoners

In 1992, a proposal document dated 08/03/1940 by L. Beria to the Politburo was published, which considered the issue of the execution of Polish prisoners of war. The decision on capital punishment was made on March 5, 1940.

At the end of March, the NKVD completed the development of the plan. Prisoners of war from Starobelsky and Kozelsky camps were taken to Kharkov, Minsk. Former gendarmes and policemen from the Ostashkov camp were transferred to the Kalinin prison, from which ordinary prisoners were taken out in advance. Huge pits were dug not far from the prison (Mednoye village).

In April, the prisoners began to be taken out for execution by 350-400 people. Those sentenced to death assumed that they were set free. Many left in the wagons in high spirits, not even knowing about the imminent death.

How did the execution near Katyn take place:

• prisoners were tied up;
• they put a greatcoat over their heads (not always, only for especially strong and young people);
• led to a dug ditch;
• killed with a shot in the back of the head from a Walter or Browning.

It was the latter fact that for a long time testified that German troops were guilty of the crime against Polish citizens.

Prisoners from the Kalinin prison were killed right in the cells.

From April to May 1940, the following were shot:

• in Katyn - 4421 prisoners;
• in Starobelsky and Ostashkovsky camps - 10131;
• in other camps - 7305.

Who was shot in Katyn? Not only career officers were executed, but also lawyers, teachers, engineers, doctors, professors and other representatives of the intelligentsia mobilized during the war.

"Missing" Officers

When Germany attacked the USSR, negotiations began between the Polish and Soviet governments regarding joining forces against the enemy. Then they began to search for the officers who had been taken to the Soviet camps. But the truth about Katyn was still unknown.

None of the missing officers could be found, and the assumption that they had escaped from the camps was unfounded. There was no news or mention of those who ended up in the camps mentioned above.

They were able to find the officers, or rather, their bodies, only in 1943. Mass graves of executed Polish citizens were discovered in Katyn.

German side investigation

The first mass graves in the Katyn forest were discovered by German troops. They carried out the exhumation of the unearthed bodies and conducted their own investigation.

The exhumation of the bodies was carried out by Gerhard Butz. To work in the village of Katyn, international commissions were involved, which included doctors from German-controlled European countries, as well as representatives of Switzerland and Poles from the Red Cross (Polish). Representatives of the International Red Cross were not present at the same time due to a ban by the USSR government.

The German report contained the following information about Katyn (execution of Polish officers):

• As a result of the excavations, eight mass graves were discovered, 4143 people were taken out of them and reburied again. Most of the dead have been identified. In graves No. 1-7, people were buried in winter clothes (fur jackets, overcoats, sweaters, scarves), and in grave No. 8 - in summer clothes. Also, fragments of newspapers dated April-March 1940 were found in graves No. 1-7, and there were no traces of insects on the corpses. This testified that the execution of the Poles in Katyn took place in the cool season, that is, in the spring.
• Many personal belongings were found on the dead, they testified that the victims were in the Kozelsk camp. For example, letters from home addressed to Kozelsk. Also, many had snuffboxes and other items with the inscriptions "Kozelsk".
• Tree sections showed that they were planted on the graves about three years ago from the time of discovery. This indicated that the pits were filled in in 1940. At that time, the territory was under the control of Soviet troops.
• All Polish officers at Katyn were shot in the back of the head with German-made bullets. However, they were produced in the 20-30s of the XX century and were exported in large quantities to the Soviet Union.
• The hands of the executed were tied with a cord in such a way that when trying to separate them, the loop tightened even more. The victims from grave No. 5 had their heads wrapped in such a way that when they tried to make any movement, the noose strangled the future victim. In other graves, the heads were also tied, but only those who stood out with sufficient physical strength. On the bodies of some of the dead, traces of a four-sided bayonet, like those of Soviet weapons, were found. The Germans used flat bayonets.
• The commission interviewed local residents and revealed that in the spring of 1940, a large number of Polish prisoners of war arrived at the Gnezdovo station, who were loaded onto trucks and taken away towards the forest. The locals never saw these people again.

The Polish commission, which was during the exhumation and investigation, confirmed all the German conclusions in this case, finding no obvious signs of document fraud. The only thing that the Germans tried to hide about Katyn (the execution of Polish officers) was the origin of the bullets used to carry out the murders. However, the Poles understood that representatives of the NKVD could also have such weapons.

Since the autumn of 1943, representatives of the NKVD have taken up the investigation of the Katyn tragedy. According to their version, Polish prisoners of war were engaged in road work, and with the arrival of the Germans in the Smolensk region in the summer of 1941, they did not have time to evacuate.

According to the NKVD, in August-September of the same year, the remaining prisoners were shot by the Germans. To hide the traces of their crimes, representatives of the Wehrmacht opened the graves in 1943 and removed all documents dated after 1940 from there.

The Soviet authorities prepared a large number of witnesses for their version of events, but in 1990 the surviving witnesses withdrew their testimony for 1943.

The Soviet commission, which carried out repeated excavations, falsified some documents, and completely destroyed some of the graves. But Katyn, the history of the tragedy of which did not give rest to Polish citizens, nevertheless revealed its secrets.

Katyn case at the Nuremberg Trials

After the war from 1945 to 1946. The so-called Nuremberg trials took place, the purpose of which was to punish war criminals. The Katyn issue was also raised in court. The Soviet side blamed German troops for the execution of Polish prisoners of war.

Many witnesses in this case changed their testimony, they refused to support the conclusions of the German commission, although they themselves took part in it. Despite all the attempts of the USSR, the Tribunal did not support the accusation on the Katyn issue, which actually gave grounds for thinking that the Soviet troops were guilty of the Katyn massacre.

Official recognition of responsibility for Katyn

Katyn (execution of Polish officers) and what happened there has been considered by different countries many times. The United States conducted its investigation in 1951-1952, at the end of the 20th century a Soviet-Polish commission worked on this case, since 1991 the Institute of National Memory has been opened in Poland.

After the collapse of the USSR, the Russian Federation also took up this issue anew. Since 1990, the investigation of the criminal case by the military prosecutor's office began. It received number 159. In 2004, the criminal case was terminated due to the death of the persons accused in it.

The Polish side put forward a version of the genocide of the Polish people, but the Russian side did not confirm it. The criminal case on the fact of the genocide was dismissed.

To date, the process of declassifying many volumes of the Katyn case continues. Copies of these volumes are transferred to the Polish side. The first important documents on prisoners of war in Soviet camps were handed over in 1990 by M. Gorbachev. The Russian side admitted that the Soviet government represented by Beria, Merkulov and others was behind the crime in Katyn.

In 1992, documents on the Katyn massacre were made public, which were kept in the so-called Presidential Archive. Modern scientific literature recognizes their authenticity.

Polish-Russian relations

The issue of the Katyn massacre appears from time to time in the Polish and Russian media. For Poles, it has a significant significance in the national historical memory.

In 2008, the Moscow court rejected a complaint about the execution of Polish officers by their relatives. As a result of the refusal, they filed a complaint against the Russian Federation in Russia, which was accused of ineffective investigations, as well as of a dismissive attitude towards the close relatives of the victims. In April 2012, he qualified the execution of prisoners as a war crime, and ordered Russia to pay 10 out of 15 plaintiffs (relatives of 12 officers killed in Katyn) 5,000 euros each. This was compensation for the plaintiffs' legal costs. It is difficult to say whether the Poles, for whom Katyn has become a symbol of family and national tragedy, have achieved their goal.

The official position of the Russian authorities

The modern leaders of the Russian Federation, V.V. Putin and D.A. Medvedev, adhere to the same point of view on the Katyn massacre. They made several statements condemning the crimes of the Stalinist regime. Vladimir Putin even expressed his own assumption, which explained the role of Stalin in the murder of Polish officers. In his opinion, the Russian dictator thus avenged the defeat in 1920 in the Soviet-Polish war.

In 2010, D. A. Medvedev initiated the publication of documents classified in Soviet times from “package No. 1” on the website of the Federal Archive. The execution in Katyn, whose official documents are available for discussion, is still not fully disclosed. Some volumes of this case are still classified, but D. A. Medvedev told the Polish media that he condemns those who doubt the authenticity of the documents presented.

11/26/2010 The State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted the document "On the Katyn tragedy ...". This was opposed by representatives of the Communist Party faction. According to the adopted statement, the Katyn execution was recognized as a crime that was committed on the direct orders of Stalin. The document also expresses sympathy for the Polish people.

In 2011, official representatives of the Russian Federation began to declare their readiness to consider the issue of rehabilitating the victims of the Katyn massacre.

Memory of Katyn

Among the Polish population, the memory of the Katyn massacre has always remained a part of history. In 1972, a committee was set up in London by Poles in exile, which began raising funds for the construction of a monument to the victims of the massacre of Polish officers in 1940. These efforts were not supported by the British government, as they feared the reaction of the Soviet authorities.

By September 1976, a monument was unveiled at Gunnersberg Cemetery, which is located west of London. The monument is a low obelisk with inscriptions on the pedestal. The inscriptions are made in two languages ​​- Polish and English. They say that the monument was built in memory of more than 10 thousand Polish prisoners in Kozelsk, Starobelsk, Ostashkov. They went missing in 1940, and some of them (4,500 people) were exhumed in 1943 near Katyn.

Similar monuments to the victims of Katyn were erected in other countries of the world:

• in Toronto (Canada);
• in Johannesburg (South Africa);
• in New Britain (USA);
• at the Military Cemetery in Warsaw (Poland).

The fate of the 1981 monument at the Military Cemetery was tragic. After installation at night, unknown people took it out using a construction crane and cars. The monument was in the form of a cross with the date "1940" and the inscription "Katyn". Two pillars with the inscriptions "Starobelsk", "Ostashkovo" adjoined the cross. At the foot of the monument were the letters "V. P.", meaning "Eternal memory", as well as the coat of arms of the Commonwealth in the form of an eagle with a crown.

The memory of the tragedy of the Polish people was well illuminated in his film "Katyn" by Andrzej Wajda (2007). The director himself is the son of Yakub Vaide, a career officer who was shot in 1940.

The film was shown in different countries, including Russia, and in 2008 it was in the top five of the international Oscar awards in the Best Foreign Film nomination.

The plot of the picture is written based on the story of Andrzej Mulyarchik. The period from September 1939 to autumn 1945 is described. The film tells about the fate of four officers who ended up in the Soviet camp, as well as about their close relatives who do not know the truth about them, although they guess the worst. Through the fate of several people, the author conveyed to everyone what the real story was.

"Katyn" cannot leave the viewer indifferent, regardless of nationality.

The fate of Western prisoners of war sometimes developed tragically. The facts of their execution immediately after being taken prisoner are also known.

The first massacre of Western prisoners of war took place on May 27, 1940, at the Le Paradis farm (France). The company of Lieutenant Fritz Knochlein from the SS division "Totenkopf" faced stubborn resistance from the English soldiers of the 2nd Norfolk Royal Regiment. Covering the withdrawal of their troops, the British soldiers fought to the last bullet. When the cartridges ran out, 100 British soldiers, raising a white flag, surrendered. However, on the orders of Knochlein, they were lined up along the barn wall and shot. The British who survived were finished off with bayonets. Only two soldiers survived .

Another well-known massacre of Western prisoners of war took place in December 1944, when the German troops launched a powerful offensive in the Ardennes, during which several tens of thousands of British, American and French soldiers were captured.

December 17, 1944 1st Panzer Regiment of the SS Panzer Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" under the command of Oberststurmbannführer Joachim Peiper captured more than 150 American soldiers near the city of Malmedy (Belgium). Fire was immediately opened on them from tank machine guns and machine guns of the SS men. . As a result of this crime, 100 American soldiers were killed, many seriously injured. 41 people survived .

Another case of the execution of captured soldiers of the American army. According to the London Times, several bodies of Negro soldiers were found with bullet wounds to the head. One of the witnesses said that two SS men ordered the Negro prisoner to run, and when he ran, they shot him. .

The facts of the murders of Western prisoners of war, committed both on the road and in the camps themselves, have been established. There is evidence of murders in April 1940 ... of Yugoslav prisoners of war during their transfer to a camp in the city of Nis .

It is known about the murders of Yugoslav officers in the Oflag Osnabrück in the period 1942-1944. Moreover, we are talking about regular military personnel who were captured in April 1940, since later the military personnel of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia, who embarked on the path of fighting fascism, were not recognized by the German side as prisoners of war, and the Geneva Convention did not apply to them.

In Buchenwald, according to the memoirs of Soviet prisoners of war, in the crematorium “they burned British pilots of war, in the amount of 36 people. 8 of them died in the hospital, and 28 people who were allegedly taken to another camp were actually hanged in the basement that night. .

According to A. M. Ioselevich, when the Americans entered Buchenwald on April 5, 1945, “they first of all asked: are there Americans and British here? They were told that there were two British pilots in the bunker. The Americans carried out two living skeletons from there. .

There is also information about the execution of Polish officers in Buchenwald in 1941.

A group of Polish officers in July-August 1942 was shot in the Flossenbürg camp. They behaved courageously. The officers marched to the place of execution. An SS officer who saw this picture said, addressing one of the Polish officers: "I envy you and would like to die with the same dignity as you." The Polish officer answered him: “This is the only thing left for us in life.” .

On August 4, 1942, the OKW publishes a memo signed by Keitel "The fight against individual groups of paratroopers." It states that captured paratroopers should be handed over to the SD security service.

Hitler found these measures insufficient and 18 October 1942, the Fuhrer gave a secret order that enemy agents performing commando tasks in Europe or Africa and participating in hostilities against German troops, "regardless of whether they wear military uniform and weapons or not, whether they operate on the field combat or in the rear, are subject to extermination to the last man" . The appendix to the order specified: “Under no circumstances can they count on the treatment prescribed by the Geneva Convention ... If it is necessary to delay the destruction in order to interrogate one or two people, then they should be shot immediately after interrogation” .

The instruction, which was developed by the head of the operations department of the OKW, General Jodl, emphasized that "the order is intended only for senior officers and under no circumstances should fall into the hands of the enemy" . Field Marshal Keitel noted in his memoirs that "officers acting contrary to this order were threatened with severe punishments" .

This was confirmed by the commander of the 75th Army Corps, General Dostler, who appeared before the American military tribunal after the war on the charge that, on his orders, on March 26, 1944, 15 American commandos captured on March 22 in military uniform were shot in Italy. At the trial, Dostler, justifying himself, stated that otherwise he himself would have appeared before the tribunal. .

Another case of similar execution of the “commando order”: in January 1945, an Anglo-American military mission of 15 people, among whom was an Associated Press war correspondent, all in military uniform, were captured on the territory of Slovakia and sent to Mauthausen concentration camp, where they were shot .Applying similar measures to its opponents, the German side at the same time demanded in relation to its own "commandos", after capturing them, recognizing their status as prisoners of war .

At the end of 1943, the “commando order” began to be applied to officers who had fled from German camps. However, on March 4, 1944, SS Gruppenführer Chief Gestapo Müller signed a special order, according to which recaptured fugitive prisoners of war officers or non-commissioned non-commissioned officers (who refused to work for Germany), with the exception of British or American prisoners of war, are handed over to "the chief of the security police and the SD with a note in the file – III degree". All recaptured officers are transferred to the Mauthausen concentration camp for destruction in accordance with Operation Kugel (bullet). The order states that other prisoners of war should not know anything about the capture of fugitives. When asked about the fate of a fugitive, representatives of the Red Cross are ordered to answer as “those who fled and were not caught” .

Operation Kugel was carried out in secret, and therefore Müller asks “the OKW to instruct the leaders of the prisoner of war camps that, in order to disguise the recaptured, they should not be transferred directly to Mauthausen, but to the competent department of the state police ...” .

Soon an event occurred that led to actions that are regarded as one of the most famous crimes committed by the Nazis against Western prisoners of war. On the night of March 24-25, 1944 . 76 officers of the British Air Force (British , Belgians, French, Greeks, Norwegians, Poles and Czechs) fled from Stalag-backlash III. Runaways used a tunnel dug from the barrack outside the camp. A few days later, 73 people were caught: 50 of them (37 British and 13 prisoners of war from other countries) were shot, 15 were returned to the camp, 8 were transferred to Sachsenhausen .

This massacre still arouses the interest of researchers: by whom specifically Was the order given to shoot? Until now, no documents or orders that would say where and how the fugitives should be killed have been found. Only according to the testimony obtained during the trial in the case “On the murder of officers - citizens of the anti-Hitler coalition (Stalaga-luft- III )”, which took place in September-October 1946 in Hamburg, it was found out that the orders had been signed by Gestapo chief Müller. One of them said that “the English did not keep their word of honor and attempted to escape, therefore their execution is necessary and fair. The corpse must be burned in the nearest crematorium, and the ashes placed in an urn. .46 urns 4 boxes with the ashes of 50 officers on May 25 and June 14, 1944 were delivered to the camp and buried in the camp cemetery .

Already in the summer of 1944, the Red Cross tried to investigate the killing of the pilots, but the German authorities prevented this, stating that all the prisoners of war were shot while trying to escape. Although in fact the pilots were killed after being detained .

At the end of 1944, the Nazis carried out an operation to intimidate the French generals who were in captivity and prevent them from escaping. It was decided to provoke an attempt to escape by several generals, as a result of which one or two of them would be killed. To carry out this provocation, the Gestapo transferred several people from Oflag to the Colditz penal camp. V I - B ( Königstein fortress), where 75 French generals were kept. The chief of the Main Directorate of Security Kaltenbrunner himself was responsible for the operation, and the German Foreign Minister Ribbentrop had to prepare justifying answers to possible requests from the Red Cross and the French government about the fate of the generals. When discussing the details, it was decided to kill one general.

On January 19, 1945, five French generals, two in two cars and one - General Mesny - in a third car were sent to Colditz. General Mesni did not arrive at the camp. The next morning, Pravill, commandant of Oflag 4-C (Colditz), informed the four generals who arrived that General Mesny had been killed in Dresden while trying to escape and was buried in Dresden by Wehrmacht soldiers with military honors. .

The German Nazi leadership repeatedly tried to justify itself and even legally justify its actions in relation to the fugitive pilots and the murder of the French general; tried to hide their crimes against Western prisoners of war from the International Red Cross.

The fate of many Italian soldiers after September 8, 1943, when Italy officially withdrew from the war, was also tragic. On September 11, 1943, the OKW issues an order to disarm and send to prisoner of war camps Italian soldiers and officers who refused to go into the service of Germany. As a result, tens of thousands of Italian soldiers and officers were sent to prisoner of war camps located on Polish territory in the cities of Chelm, Byala Podlaska and Deblin. .

Italian prisoners of war, especially at first, were treated in the same way as Soviet prisoners of war, and sometimes even worse. .

Former prisoner of war I.Ya. Volkind recalls that in the fall of 1943, about two thousand Italian prisoners of war were brought to camp No. 304 - Zeithain, they were brought to such a state, so hungry, that "in front of our eyes, undigested oat grains were picked out from horse feces and ate these grains" .

The Nazis do not stop before the destruction of the Italians, their former allies. The first executions began already in mid-September 1943 on the Balkan Peninsula and the islands of the Mediterranean, where the Italian units were deployed. Mass executions these days are taking place in Epirus, in Greece. On September 28, 28 Italian officers were shot on the island of Corfu. In Albania, in the city of Saranda, in early October - 130 officers of the Perugia division. The total number of Italian soldiers and officers shot in the Balkans is 6300 people, and more than 17 thousand were sent to prisoner of war camps . To this day, the exact number of Italian officers who were shot and then burned in the crematorium of the Majdanek concentration camp in the autumn of 1943 is not known.

N. E. Petrushkova, who worked during the German occupation of Lvov as an interpreter in the Italian team “Retrovi Italiano”, said that “after the fall of Mussolini, the Nazis demanded from the Italian soldiers who were in Lvov an oath of allegiance to Nazi Germany. Many refused and were immediately arrested. In total, more than 2,000 people were arrested and shot. Among the executed were 5 generals and 45 officers of the Italian army, whom I knew personally. . The list of Italian officers shot in Lviv was presented at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946.

In 1965, the KGB of the USSR investigated the crimes committed by a certain Litvinenko, a former guard of the Yanovsky camp in Lvov. During the investigation, one of the former prisoners of the camp, Polish citizen L. Zimmerman, told how the execution of Italian soldiers took place: “In the morning, cars arrived and stopped along the camp road. The Italians were pushed off the cars. They were ordered to lay down their weapons in the goats and step aside. Then they were driven by the back side of the gorge of death and shot. There were also officers among the soldiers.” .

The destruction of Italian soldiers was also carried out in Demblin, Chełmno, Torun, Biala Podlaska, Přemysl and other camps. In total, about 22,600 Italian soldiers and officers were destroyed on the territory of Poland. .

Italian prisoners of war were also shot in Germany. According to former employee of the mission for the repatriation of Soviet citizens (Paris) B. M. Goglidze, in the fall of 1943, in the empty artillery depots and bunkers located near the city of Ohrdruf, in the direction of the village of Krawinkel, they brought and placed 3-4 battalions of Italians, who were soon shot. In the spring of 1944, they decided to destroy the remains of the executed, and instructed prisoners from the Buchenwald branch located nearby to do this. When opening the graves, the prisoners saw corpses dressed in Italian military uniforms. .

However, it must be emphasized that the executions of Western prisoners of war are the exception rather than the rule.

In 1943, the Nazis commit another crime against Western prisoners of war. During the period of especially active bombing of Germany by the Anglo-American Air Force, the German command is looking for ways to protect cities and military installations and finds a unique solution. Thus, in a document dated August 18, 1943, sent by the High Command of the Luftwaffe to the High Command of the Wehrmacht, it is said: “The colonel of the headquarters of the air force proposed the creation of prison camps in residential areas of cities in order to achieve some protection in this way ... the question arises of the immediate creation such camps in cities under the threat of air raids" .

On September 3, 1943, the decision was made, and a document comes from Hitler's headquarters, which refers to the creation of new camps for British and American prisoners of war pilots inside residential areas of cities, which "will at the same time be a measure to protect the civilian population ..." . Thus, British and American POW pilots are used as a "human shield".After the devastating Allied bombing of Dresden on the night of February 14-15, 1945, which resulted in tens of thousands of civilian casualties,in the leadership of Nazi Germany, the idea appears of retribution by shooting 10 thousand Anglo-American prisoners of war, mostly pilots. Judging by the memoirs of Ribbentrop, written in prison during the days of the Nuremberg trials, only his intervention prevented this tragedy. . Ribbentrop was probably able to convince Hitler that adequate measures against German prisoners of war would follow.

All of the above destroys what at first glance seems to be a fairly prosperous picture of being in captivity of Germany's Western opponents. However, a Western prisoner of war who carried out all the orders of the camp authorities, observed the camp routine, satisfactorily worked where he was sent, and did not participate in any kind of protest or resistance to the authorities in whose hands he found himself, could count on a relatively prosperous life in captivity.

"Images des Grandes Vacances" - (" Image of a big vacation”), this is how the former French prisoner of war Francis Ambrière named his photo album dedicated to his almost 5-year stay in German prisoner of war camps. . For the majority of Western prisoners of war, being in captivity turned out to be just such “holidays”, much safer than being at the front.

After returning to their homeland, they were recognized as war veterans, enjoyed honor and respect. Moreover, in the United States, former prisoners of war received monetary compensation for malnutrition, inhuman treatment and the use of unpaid physical labor in German captivity . On November 8, 1985, a special Prisoner of War Medal was established in the United States, which is awarded to all those who are in the service of the US Armed Forces, were captured.

On April 29, 1945, American troops occupied the Dachau concentration camp. Then there was a story that is not too well known.

The soldiers found 39 wagons in Dachau, TO THE TOP full of the corpses of prisoners - some half-decomposed. Many bodies lay around on the grass. The Americans walked on and saw crematoria full of burnt bones and gas chambers that had been working this morning. A new commandant came out to them (the old one fled) with a proposal for surrender - SS Untersturmführer Heinrich Wicker. They did not discuss it for long - one soldier came up from the crematorium, and with the words - "Here's your surrender, SS creature!" shot Vicker in the eye. The evening immediately ceased to be languid.

Half an hour later, American soldiers kill 122 of the surrendered SS soldiers. Another 40 SS prisoners are beaten to death with shovels, sticks and stones. The American officers order the firing to stop and line up the prisoners in the yard. A machine gunner nicknamed "Bird's Eye" says with a smile - "Can't you see? They're trying to escape!" - opens fire, and kills 12 more Germans. Lieutenant Colonel Felix Sparks pushes him away from the machine gun with the words - What the hell are you doing? Further, the soldiers explain to the authorities that they will kill all the prisoners right now. And no one tells them. Senior officers leave the camp.

At 2:45 p.m., the American military begins killing SS men throughout the camp. At least 346 prisoners were shot in the so-called "coal yard". Wounded SS soldiers, nurses and doctors are dragged out of the SS hospital by the hair, and immediately put against the wall. The wounded who cannot walk are finished off: Lieutenant William Walsh personally shot four German soldiers who surrendered to him, Private Albert Pewitt shot the Germans lying in the ambulance from a machine gun, saying - "this is mercy for them."

The senior officers returned with reinforcements, but it was already too late. In total, 550 people were killed (this is not counting the "capos", camp assistants, who were simply torn to pieces) - soldiers of the local SS guard, wounded in the hospital, and, in fact, the hospital staff. It is no longer surprising that none of the Americans was later brought to justice, and was not punished in any way - the case was simply put on the brakes.

So what am I for? I understand Americans very well. I understand perfectly. Somehow I don’t feel sorry for either the soldiers of the SS troops, or the doctors of the hospital, or even the nurses. In general, it’s absolutely absolute - they were still lucky that they died a quick death, got off cheaply. I mean that US cities escaped occupation, bombing, concentration camps. And, despite this, the people who saw SUCH in the camp went crazy with rage, and could not restrain themselves, dragging the prisoners to the wall. On the eve of May 9, reading that our people are in Germany, they say, this and that, it would be good to remember this moment.

This is a fairly widespread copy-paste on the Internet, Google gives 129 results. It is also a great example of pro-Nazi propaganda. Yes, you read the previous sentence correctly - despite the bravura tone of the "Hitlerkaput" pasta, this text is precisely pro-Nazi propaganda, or at least based on it.

Reality

Let's start with what most likely happened in the camp in reality. The best primary source here is the Investigation of Allied Mistreatment of German Guards at Dachau report. Shortly after the liberation of Dachau, the command of the Seventh Army ordered an investigation into the murders of German prisoners of war in this concentration camp. The authors of the report inspected the camp and interrogated the following participants or witnesses of the events under the protocol:

Rank Name Unit Testimony Describes
Capt. Richard Taylor Mil Govt Detachment I-13, G-3 May 2nd incident, 3 SS killed
1st Lt. Rene Giraud OSS Compound Liberation
May. Carl Woost AGD May 2nd incident, 3 SS killed
Lt. Bill Walsh I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID Death train, coal yard
2nd Lt. Donald Strickland I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID coal yard
Pfc William Competielle I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID coal yard
Pfc George Larson I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID prior to coal yard
Pfc Charles Boaz I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID coal yard vicinity
Lt. Jack Bushyhead I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID coal yard
Pfc John LeKanites I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID coal yard vicinity
Pfc John Lee I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID coal yard
Lt. Daniel Drain M Co, 157th IR, 45th ID coal yard
Cpl Martin Sedler M Co, 157th IR, 45th ID coal yard
Pvt William Curtain M Co, 157th IR, 45th ID coal yard
Lt. Howard Buechner 3rd Bat, 157th IR coal yard - aftermath
Pfc Frank Eggert HQ, 3rd Bat, 157th IR coal yard
Pvt Carlton Johnson HQ, 3rd Bat, 157th IR coal yard
KZ inmate Marion Okrutnik Tower B
KZ inmate Walenty Lenarczyk 4 SS men killed by inmates
Brig Gen Henning Linden Asst. Div. CO, 42nd ID Compound liberation
Lt. Col. Walter Fellenz HQ, 1st Bat, 222nd IR, 42nd ID Tower B (2x interview)
Pfc John Veich HQ Co, 42nd ID Tower A, Tower B (2x interview)
T/5 John Bauerlein HQ Co, 42nd ID
Lt. William Cowling Div HQ, ADC, 42nd ID Tower B
T/3 Henry Wells HQ MIS, 42nd ID
Pvt Chester Domanski HQ Co, 42nd ID
Sgt Robert Killiam C Co, 222nd IR
T/4 Anthony Cardinale HQ Co, 222nd IR
Pfc William Mentch HQ Co, 222nd IR
Pfc Peter De Marzo L Co, 157th IR, 45th ID rifle taken by inmates, 2 SS shot
Lt. Lawrence Stewart L Co, 157th IR, 45th ID rifle taken by inmates, 2 SS shot
T/Sgt Raymond Wyle I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID Tower B
Pvt Henry Crouse I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID Walsh - box car shooting
Pvt Fred Randolph I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID Tower B & rail car
Lt Harold Moyer 3rd Bat HQ, 157th IR boxcar, SS prisoners safe
Pfc John Edwards I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID possible first GI to reach KZ compound
Pvt Albert Pruitt I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID Boxcar, death train
Pfc Donald Dunlap I Co, 157th IR, 45th ID Linden firing his .45, KZ jourhaus gate

Unfortunately, there is no full text of the report on the Internet, but there is an abstract of it.

HEADQUARTERS SEVENTH ARMY
Office of the Inspector General, Seventh Army (CP)
APO 758, US Army

SUBJECT: Investigation of Allied Mistreatment of German Guards at Dachau.

TO: Commanding General, Seventh Army (CP), APO 758, US Army.

I. AUTHORITY
1. This investigation was conducted by Lt. Colonel Joseph Whitaker, IGD, Assistant Inspector General, Seventh Army, pursuant to the directive of the Commanding General, Seventh Army, issued by the Chief of Staff 2 May 1945.

II SUBJECT MATTER
2. German guards at the Concentration Camp at Dachau, Germany, were alleged to have been mistreated at the hands of American troops, and such is the subject matter of this report (Exhibit "A")

III FACTS
(NOTE: Numbers in parenthesis at ends of paragraphs refer to supporting evidence, a list of which follows the last page of this report.)

3. The German Dachau Internment Camp was overrunn 29 April 1945 by elements of the 3d Bn, 157th Infantry, 45th Infantry Division. A small party of the 42d Division also entered the area from the front at approximately the same time. (one)

4. At the entrance to the back area of ​​the Dachau prison grounds, four German soldiers surrendered to Lt William P Walsh 0-414901, in command of Company "I" 157th Infantry. These Prisoners Lt. Walsh ordered into a box car, where he personally shot them. Pvt Albert C. Pruitt, 34573708, Company "I", 157th Infantry, then climbed into the box car where these Germans were on the floor moaning and apparently still alive, and finished them off with his rifle. (2)

5. After entry into the Dachau Camp area, Lt Walsh segregated from surrendered prisoners of war those who were identified as SS Troops. (3)

6. Such segregated prisoners of war were marched into a separate enclosure, lined up against the wall and shot down by American troops, who were acting under the orders of Lt Walsh. A light machine gun, a BAR, carbines and either a pistol or a submachine gun were used. Seventeen of such prisoners of war were killed and others wounded. (4)

7. Lt Jack Bushyhead, 0-1284822, executive officer of Company "I" participated with Lt Walsh in the handling of SS men and during the course of the shooting personally fired his weapon at the prisoners.

8. Lt Daniel F Drain, 0-2006047, acting under the orders of Lt. Walsh, directed men under his command to set up the machine gun which was used, but did not personally fire or give orders to fire. (6)

9.Lt. Howard E. Buechner 0-435481, Battalion Surgeon, visitied the area and saw the bodies after the shooting. He observed that some were still alive, but made no examination to determine whether or not their lives could be saved, and did nothing to aid them. (7)

10.Lt. Drain witnessed physical abuse of prisoners of war by released inmates of the Camp and did nothing to stop it. (eight)

11. After entry into the camp, personnel of the 42d division discovered the presence of guards, presumed to be SS men, in a tower to the left of the main gate of the inmate stockade. This tower was attacked by Tec 3 Henry J. Wells, 39271327, Headquarters Military Intelligence Services, ETO, covered and aided by a party under them by the guards in the tower. A number of Germans were taken prisoner; after they were taken and within a few feet of the tower from which they were taken, they were shot and killed. (nine)

12. Considerable confusion exists in the testimony as to the particuars of this shooting; however Wells, German interrogator for the 222d Infantry, states that he had lined these Germans up in double rank preparatory to moving them out; that he saw no threatening gesture; but he shot into them after some other American soldiers, whose identities are unknown, started shooting them. (ten)

13. Lt Colonel Fellenz was entering the door of the tower at the time of this shooting, took no part in it, and tested that he could not have stopped it. (eleven)

14. After the camp was taken and was somewhat settled down, two Germans were shot by inmates who used the service rifle of Pfc Peter J. Demarzo, 42175967, Company "L", 157th Infantry, 45th Division, who was then on guard duty . Although his company commander, Lt. Lawrence R. Steward, Jr, 0-1060658, was informed of such a happening, no investigation has ben made in the company to determine the facts or whether or not such soldier or other members of the guard should receive disciplinary action. (12)

15. Troops entering this camp area passed the famous train with its cars of dead bodies. Inside the camp other indications of Nazi treatment were evident. The sight of these numerous victims would naturally produce a strong mental reaction on the part of both officers and men. Such circumstances are extenuating, but are the only extenuating facts found. (thirteen)

16. Lt Walsh tested that the SS men were segregated in order to properly guard them, and were then fired upon because they started moving towards the guards. However, the dead bodies were located along the wall against which they had been lined up, they were killed along the entire line, although Lt Walsh only claims those on one flank moved, and a number of witnesses tested that it was generally "understood" that these prisoners were to be shot when they were being segregated. These facts contradict the defensive explanation given by Lt Walsh (14)

17. The bodies of the dead Germans in two instances showed severed finger, in other instances crushed skulls. There is no evidence that the SS men were multilated before they were shot. When the Inspector viewed these bodies numerous inmates of the camp had access to yard and grounds where they were; it is probably that they had such access at all times subsequent to the liberation of the camp and possible that the crushed skulls and severed fingers observed by the Inspector resulted from visits of such persons after the shooting. (fifteen)

18. It is obvious that the Americans present when the guards were shot at the tower labored under much excitement. However, Wells could speak German fluently, he knew no shots had been fired at him in his attacj on the tower, he had these prisoners lined up, he saw no threatening gesture or act. It is felt that his shooting into them was entirely unwarrantedl the whole incident smacks of execution similar to the other incidents described in this report (16)

19. The Inspector was unable to identify other persons who also fired in this killing. The confusion of evidence surrounding the tower incident also extends to the number killed there, and the witnesses gave widely varying estimates. The Inspector counted six bodies in a group at the tower on 3 May 1945, and at least one other body in accounted for as having been washed away in the canal, making a tentative total of seven. (17)

20. It is felt that a distinction should be made between the enlisted men who shot prisoners of war while acting under orders of a responsible officer and those two enlisted men, Pvt Pruitt and Tec 3 Wells, who acted under their own volition.

21. The evidence as to the shooting of two Germans by inmates using the rifle of PFC De Marzo indicates a failure of such soldier in his duties as a sentry, an apparent lack of training and discipline in guard duty on the part of such soldier, his associate and the sergeant of the guard; and neglect on the part of the company commander to make any inquiry or fact finding investigation into the circumstances also reflects upon the administrative functioning of such a company (12)

22.Lt. Col Felix L. Sparks, 0-386497, now with Assembly Area Command, was in command of the 3d Battalion, 157th Infantry, during the Dachau operation. There is testimony that at the beginning of this operation he fired his pistol into the body of a German lying on the ground; there is testimony that he was present or nearby when Lt Walsh ordered four prisoners of war into a box car where they were shot; later when Lt Walsh segregated from other prisoners those identified as SS, Lt Colonel Sparks was in the immediate vicinity and according to testimony was the one who stopped the shooting of those segregated. The Inspector was unable to find any confirmation of the statement of one witness that Lt Col Sparks fired his pistol; there is no proof that he had actual knowledge of the box car shooting although nearby; nor that he knew of the segregation of the SS men or the purpose thereof. Because it has been impossible to contact him for his testimony conclusions as to his responsibility are not drawn in this report. (eighteen)

23. German soldiers after their surrender as prisoners of war to American troops were summarily shot and killed by such troops.

24. Four of such prisoners of war were shot by Lt William P. Walsh, 0-414901, Hq, 157th Infantry, 45th Division, and by Pvt Albert C. Pruitt, 34573708, Company "I", 157th Infantry, 45th Division.

25. Germans identified as SS were segregated from other prisoners of war, marched into an enclosed yard, lined against the wall, and summarily executed under the personal supervision and orders of Lt Walsh. Seventeen of those segregated were killed.

26. Lt Jack Busheyhead, 0-1284822, Company "I", 157th Infantry, 45th Division, an executive officer to Lt Walsh, assisted such officer, and in addition personally participated in the execution of the seventeen.

27. Lt Daniel F. Drain, 0-2006047, Company "I", 157th Infantry, 45th Division, assisted by directing his men to set up the machine gun used in the execution, knowing the unauthorized purpose to which it was to be put .

28. Lt Drain witnessed abuse of prisoners of war without taking steps to stop or prevent it.

29. Lt Howard E. Buechner, 0-435481, 3d Bn, 157th Infantry, 45th Division, violated his duty both as a physician and a soldier in ignoring the possibility of saving the wounded by still living prisoners who had been shot.

30 Tec 3 Harry J. Wells, 39271327, Headquarters Military Intelligence Services, ETO, wantonly shot and killed prisoners of war in his custody.

31. Inmates shot and killed two guards, using a service rifle which they took from a soldier on guard duty, one Pfc PeterJ. De Marzo, 42175967, Company "L", 157th Infantry, 45th Division. No investigation of the circumstances was made in such soldier's company although his commanding officer, Lt Lawrence R. Steward, Jr., 0-1060658, Company "L", 157th Infantry, 45th Division, was informed of the incident.

VI RECOMMENDATIONS

32. In view of the transfer of the 42d and the 45th divisions, it is recommended that this report be forwarded to the Commanding General, Third Army, for such action as he may deem appropriate.

(signed)
Joseph M Whitaker
Lt. Colonel, IGD,
Asst. Inspector General,
Seventh Army

9 Incl:
9-Ex "A" to "I" incl

APPROVED: (signed)
C. K. Leerer
Colonel, IGD,
Inspector General,
Seventh Army

APPROVED
WADE H. HAISLIP
Lieutenant General, USA
Commanding.

The report cites three documented cases of killings of POWs by American soldiers:
1) The incident at the "death train" standing near Dachau, which, shortly before the events described, came from Buchenwald. The train consisted of thirty-nine roofless cars filled with emaciated prisoners. By the time the Americans approached, almost all of these people, more than two thousand people, were dead. Here is one of the few survivors:

After inspecting the train, Lieutenant William P. Walsh, commander of "I" Company, 157th Infantry Regiment, herded four surrendered SS men into one of the cars, and shot them with his pistol. Private Pruitt climbed into the car and finished off these Germans with shots from his rifle.

2) Incident in the coal yard. The same Walsh with his people then took out all the people who were in the camp hospital (which was a five-minute walk from the train filled with dying and dead people), and separated the SS from the rest. Several SS men who managed to change their uniforms were pointed out by the prisoners of the camp. The Americans stopped beating one of the Germans with a shovel; as it turned out, he personally castrated the prisoner who beat him. After that, a group of SS men was taken out into the courtyard and placed along the wall. At Walsh's signal, machine gun fire was opened on them (several bursts, 30-50 rounds in total); also fired from a BAR, several carbines and either a pistol or a submachine gun. This is captured in a famous photograph by USASC front-line correspondent Arland Musser. Left to right: Hammorski (?), Pvt. "Birdeye" Bryant (holding a machine gun box), Cpt. Sedler (standing, looking left), Pvt. Curtain (kneeling at machine gun), PFC John Lee (with BAR):

Lieutenant Colonel Felix L. Sparks came running to the sounds of machine gun fire, kicking Private Curtain away from the machine gun and lifting him up by the collar. He said to Sparks, sobbing, "they were trying to escape." After that, the latter immediately removed Lieutenant Walsh from command. In total, seventeen of the approximately sixty Germans in the yard were killed in ten seconds.

3) Incident at tower B. The German guards were taken prisoner and lined up at the foot of the tower. In the course of circumstances not fully clarified, all of them were shot dead by the Americans. Apparently, the guards were being searched for weapons when one of them made a sudden movement, and the soldiers opened fire - however, it is also possible that this is also a planned murder of prisoners of war. Six corpses were found at the foot of the tower, and one more was found in a ditch with water.

Also, some time after the camp was liberated, one of the released prisoners killed two German prisoners of war with a rifle provided by Private DeMarzo.

And now back to the copy-paste at the beginning of the post. First, let us note that there we are talking about a completely different number of killed prisoners of war - 550 (in various revisionist sources, this figure ranges from 520 to 560). There is absolutely no evidence that such a number of people were killed; what’s there, there’s not even evidence that so many Germans were taken prisoner in and around the camp. As stated above, the commission found only 30 corpses of Germans directly killed by the Americans. In the eyewitness accounts given by the commission of inquiry, such a number of those killed are also nowhere mentioned. The same Buchner, whose book the revisionists like to refer to, in 1945, under the protocol, said only about 15-16 wounded and killed Germans in the coal yard:

369 Q Describe to me what you saw when you visited this yard.

A We learned that one of our companies had gone through the camp and that it was something to see out there. So, we got on one of the peeps to visit there and we were delayed for some time by the commanding officer of the 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry, because he didn't know whether the place had been cleared. When we got there we saw a quadrangular enclosure, there was a cement wall about ten feet high and inside this enclosure I saw 15 or 16 dead and wounded German soldiers lying along the wall.

Moreover, this copy-paste does not have this, but the sources she refers to often mention that the entire German staff of the camp was killed. This is also not so - about one hundred and thirty people remained alive, who then dug mass graves for the corpses of dead prisoners. Also, these sources often mention that among the dead were many soldiers who were transferred from the Eastern Front to guard the camp two days earlier - but there are no documents confirming this. Moreover, the available partial list of Germans killed does not in any way support this point of view:

Partial list of SS Personnel MIA at Dachau
Compiled by the German Red Cross Tracing Service
Deutsches Rotes Kreuz – Suchdienst Munchen – Vermisstenbildelist
SS Lager and SS Bekleidungswerk Dachau
p.155

Name: Streke, Kurt
Occupation: Arbeiter
Date of Birth: July 5, 1922
Place of Birth: Naumberg/Saale
Rank: Sold
Posted to Dachau: January 1945

Name: Timmermann, Hans
Occupation:Pormer (? - type hard to read)
Date of Birth: Oct 8, 1922
Place of Birth: Landringsen/Westf.
Rank: SS-Man

Name: Tente (Tonte?), Martin
Occupation:Arbeiter
Date of Birth: November 1, 1895
Place of Birth: Yugoslavia
Rank: SS-Rottf.
Posted to Dachau: February 1945

Name: Totterer, Hans
Occupation:Landwirt
Date of Birth: September 2, 1917
Place of Birth: Rumania
Rank: SS-Man
Posted to Dachau: April 1945

Name: Uboda, Willem
Occupation: Arbeiter
Date of Birth: October 20, 1916
Place of Birth: Arbeiter
Rank: Sold. 2.Kp. (soldier, second company)
Posted to Dachau: April 1944

Name: Veen, Lambertus
Occupation:Handler
Date of Birth: May 22, 1921
Place of Birth: Netherlands
Rank: SS-Mann
Posted to Dachau: Feb 1944

Name: Vokel, Heinrich
Occupation:Kraftfahrer
Date of Birth: November 12, 1913
Place of Birth: Zwickam
Rank: SS-Rottf.
Posted to Dachau: March 1945

Name: Wald, Johann
Occupation:Landarbeiter
Date of Birth: 1905
Place of Birth: Yugoslavia
Rank: Sold.
Posted to Dachau: 1944

Name: Weber, Walter
Occupation:Schlesser
Date of Birth: October 11, 1906
Place of Birth: Bruchaal/Baden
Rank: SS-Unscha.
Posted to Dachau: 1945

Name: Wellesen, Jacobus
Occupation: Weber
Date of Birth: Feb 27, 1922
Place of Birth: Netherlands
Rank: SS-Strm.
Posted to Dachau: August 1944

Name: Wicker, Heinrich
Occupation:Kaufmann
Date of Birth: 1921
Place of Birth: Karlsruhe
Rank: Ustuf.
Posted to Dachau: April 1945

Name: Woelki, Heinz
Occupation:Bergmann
Date of Birth: June 5, 1925
Place of Birth: Golsenkirchen
Rank: SS-Mann
Posted to Dachau: March 1945

Name: Wolke, Willy
Occupation:Fleischer
Date of Birth: Oct 23, 1926
Place of Birth: Neuwedell/Pommern
Rank: SS-Mann
Posted to Dachau: December 1944

Name: Zink, Karl
Occupation:Schlosser
Date of Birth: Nov 6, 1922
Place of Birth: Austria
Rank: SS-Rottf.
Posted to Dachau: April 1945

Name: Zusker, August
Occupation:Arbeiter
Date of Birth: August 29, 1899
Place of Birth: Berkheim/Wurtt
Rank: o.A. (means “unknown?”)
Posted to Dachau: February 1945

Name: Zwann, Frederik de
Occupation:o.A.
Date of Birth: April 27, 1921
Place of Birth: Netherlands
Rank: SS Mann.
Posted to Dachau: August 1944

Further, there was no "higher officers leaving the camp" and there was not close - on the contrary, as we see, Sparsk put an end to the execution of the Germans in the coal yard ten seconds after it began. Well, a lot more lies on the little things: the machine gunner actually said "they tried to escape" after Sparks pulled him away from the machine gun. Pruitt did not kill some of the wounded in the "ambulance car", but finished off the Germans whom Walsh shot in the car of the "death train". There is no evidence that the nurses were dragged into the yard by their hair and that they were shot there.

However, is it the little things? And here we return to my phrase at the beginning of the post, that this copy-paste is actually natural Nazi propaganda. And it's even perhaps not only and not so much about a twenty-fold overestimation of the number of victims. No, it's about certain moments, with which the text is so generously strewn, and which are designed to evoke quite certain emotions in the reader. The execution of the wounded in the ambulance car - and it is not clear from the text what kind of wounded they were, and one might easily think that there was simply a train with wounded front-line soldiers standing nearby, who had nothing to do with the camp. Thus, the innocents killed appear on both sides: KZ prisoners on one side, and front-line soldiers who are unfortunate enough to be on this particular station. Or take nurses pulled by the hair towards execution; moreover, the reader will present at the same time women, men with a drill haircut, I suppose you can’t drag it by the hair. Or arguments about the "highest" American commander who allegedly washed his hands and allowed his soldiers to continue killing prisoners without interfering in the process, i.e. exactly the same thing that SS Konchlein did with American prisoners at La Perdi, SS Diekmann at Oradour, SS Piper at Malmedy.

Do you understand? Written on the basis of real events, the revisionist text is designed to arouse superficial approval from people who are deeply disgusted with Nazism. And at the same time, he presses on emotions with fictitious crimes of Americans with "fried" details. Classic "shit sandwich":

Hitlercaput!
all participants in the conflict were beasts and killed innocents
Hitlercaput!

Fine work, bastards. The above-mentioned bike is being pedaled with might and main by neo-Nazi revisionists, for example, by the author of a book with a very eloquent title "The Hitler We Loved and Why?". In Runet, on portals where the Holocaust is denied with might and main, this myth is also popular (I will not give links, there is nothing for them to generate traffic).

The data is mainly taken from

The execution of Ukrainian prisoners in Donbas is an obvious fact, according to Amnesty International. One of the Russian TV companies even conducted an investigation into the systematic executions of Ukrainian prisoners in the Donbass.

Amnesty International on the killings of Ukrainian prisoners

On the website of Amnesty International, an entire article is devoted to the issue of the execution of prisoners of war of the Ukrainian army. The article says that the human rights organization has long suspected that Ukrainian soldiers were being shot and only now received proof of this. No matter how surprising it may sound, but all the evidence is based on a video from youtube. We will watch these videos below.

The article talks about torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian servicemen, but for some reason this is not confirmed by the facts. All this hype began after the death of a Ukrainian soldier, the defender of the Donetsk airport, Igor Branovitsky. In the Ukrainian media, this death was described as the murder of Branovitsky by the brutal Russian terrorist Motorola. Again, the Ukrainian media describe in detail the brutal torture of the persistent "cyborg", the defender of the Donetsk airport, as if the journalists were present at these same tortures.

Execution of Ukrainian prisoners, video

Returning to the facts, returning to the video, it is worth noting some of the nuances of the "murder of Ukrainian prisoners." The video you watch below does not contain a single scene of the actual execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Conclusions are drawn based on the assumptions of Amnesty International - “there is a shot heard there”, “and this separatist said the word “do not fall” and the like. The Zvezda TV channel of the Russian Federation decided to dot the Yo, you can see how they did it. But the opinion of the journalists of the Zvezda TV channel does not differ much from the “facts” of Amnesty International, which looks sad.

If the main argument in this investigation remains the audio recording of a conversation with the Motorola militia, who said that he killed more than one Ukrainian soldier and he doesn’t give a damn about the fact that someone doesn’t like it. Most surprising of all, it was this phrase of Motorola that everyone believed: Amnesty International, the Ukrainian media and the Zvezda TV channel. All other statements of Motorola are not credible, because it is a "Russian terrorist". Not funny?

Amnesty International article original

Shocking new evidence of "killing execution in style" by pro-Russian armed groups in Donbas, in eastern Ukraine, highlights the urgent need for action to address the escalating human rights and humanitarian crisis in the area, Amnesty International said.

“New evidence of these brief killings confirms what we have suspected for a long time. The question now is: what are the separatist leaders going to do about this,” said Denis Krivosheev, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director of Amnesty International.

New evidence from these brief murders confirms what we have long suspected. Now the question is: what are the separatist leaders going to do about this?

Denis Krivosheev, Europe and Deputy Director of Central Asia, Amnesty International.

“Torturing, ill-treating and killing captured, surrendered or wounded soldiers are war crimes. These claims must be promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigated, and those responsible brought to justice in a fair trial by recognized authorities."

Footage reviewed by Amnesty International shows Ukrainian soldier Igor Branovytsky, one of the Donetsk airport defenders, being taken prisoner and interrogated. A video posted on YouTube shows signs that he was shot in the face. He remained in captivity until he was killed.

A number of individuals claim to have seen Igor Branovytsky shoot and kill the point-blank separatist commander. His body was returned to his family earlier this month and he was buried in Kyiv on 3 April. The Ukrainian special services opened an investigation into his murder.

Amnesty International has also seen video documentation of the captivity, and photos of the corpses of at least three other members of the Ukrainian armed forces, reportedly held in a mortuary in Donetsk. There are signs of gunshot wounds to the head and upper body, apparently as a result of the killings by firing squad. The soldiers were captured by pro-Russian forces in Debaltseve between 12 and 18 February 2015, when the defending Ukrainian forces were surrounded there.

The revelation follows a report to the Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post on April 6 involving a telephone interview allegedly done by Arseniy Pavlov, better known by his mon de ger "Motorola". Pavlov, reportedly a Russian citizen and leader of a pro-Russian armed group known as "Sparta Battalion" operating in eastern Ukraine, said he "killed" 15 soldiers captured from the Ukrainian armed forces. He claimed to have killed Igor Branovytsky.

"This chilling 'confession' from the separatists, along with video evidence and eyewitness accounts, and growing evidence of abuse by prisoners on both sides, highlights the urgent need for an independent investigation of this and all other allegations of abuse in this conflict that began a year ago," said Denis Krivosheev.

“Basic killings are a war crime, plain and simple. The leaders of the self-styled "Donetsk People's Republic" in eastern Ukraine must send a clear message to their members: those who fight against them or on their behalf must respect the laws and customs of war. They must urgently withdraw from their ranks those suspected of being responsible for ordering or committing grave violations of international abuses of humanitarian law and human rights, and cooperate fully with any independent investigation."

As parties to an armed conflict, armed groups such as the "Sparta Battalion" are legally bound by international humanitarian law - the Laws of War - which prohibit, among other things, torture and other ill-treatment and killing of prisoners.

And another interesting video, left without much attention. This video, filmed by the militia of Donbass, shows the new patches (chevrons) of Ukrainian soldiers: “Slavovlasnik”, which means “Slave owner” in Ukrainian. More without comment... to be aware of the most interesting news in the world.

"Slave owners" - chevrons of Ukrainian soldiers