the Great Escape--worth it?

[Yarddog]

were 50 lives murdered worth the Great Escape of WW2?
the POWs were not thinking they would get murdered
IMO, I think any escaped POWs should've been shot...I know it's against the Geneva Convention--but the ''host'' country is providing medical/food/housing/etc ...the POWs have given up --been captured
World War Two - The Great Escape - History

yeah well the Nazis were not following the Geneva convention in many aspects.... so they are disqualified.
Any resistance to them would have been justified.

 

[harmonica]

were 50 lives murdered worth the Great Escape of WW2?
the POWs were not thinking they would get murdered
IMO, I think any escaped POWs should've been shot...I know it's against the Geneva Convention--but the ''host'' country is providing medical/food/housing/etc ...the POWs have given up --been captured
World War Two - The Great Escape - History

yeah well the Nazis were not following the Geneva convention in many aspects.... so they are disqualified.
Any resistance to them would have been justified.

you can say that again
yes---they were breaking a lot of laws/etc

 

[Markle]

very, very few escaped
the escapes did not alter battles at all

Of course, the escape attempts altered battles. The Nazi's were forced to divert more troops than they would have to keep prisoners from escaping.

Of course, so they knew they would be executed if captured. Adolph Hitler caused the deaths of 60+ million people. His troops had murdered prisoners rather than taking them to POW camps.

 

[harmonica]

very, very few escaped
the escapes did not alter battles at all

Of course, the escape attempts altered battles. The Nazi's were forced to divert more troops than they would have to keep prisoners from escaping.

Of course, so they knew they would be executed if captured. Adolph Hitler caused the deaths of 60+ million people. His troops had murdered prisoners rather than taking them to POW camps.

..that was the movie
..I doubt those troops were allocated for battles and/or deterred long enough to affect the war/battles/etc
..unless you have other information

 

[Markle]

For the real thing they didn't know the SS would outright murder them.

I vehemently disagree. POWS knew they would be murdered instantly if they stepped out of line or were unable to keep up on a march.

 

[harmonica]

very, very few escaped
the escapes did not alter battles at all

Of course, the escape attempts altered battles. The Nazi's were forced to divert more troops than they would have to keep prisoners from escaping.

Of course, so they knew they would be executed if captured. Adolph Hitler caused the deaths of 60+ million people. His troops had murdered prisoners rather than taking them to POW camps.

they had a Replacement/Home Army that could round up escapers
they also had Demonstration Units and Semi-Military units available
Lone Sentry: Germany's Replacement Army May Be in Last Battle (WWII Tactical and Technical Trends, No. 51, October 1944)

 

[harmonica]

For the real thing they didn't know the SS would outright murder them.

I vehemently disagree. POWS knew they would be murdered instantly if they stepped out of line or were unable to keep up on a march.

maybe on a march--but not on an escape
Bushell escaped twice and was returned to POW camps both times

 

[IsaacNewton]

For the real thing they didn't know the SS would outright murder them.

I vehemently disagree. POWS knew they would be murdered instantly if they stepped out of line or were unable to keep up on a march.

They captured most of them and killed 50.

 

[McFury]

Escape attempts from Japanese camps were rare.. In some camps the Japanese also executed ten other prisoners as well.

World War Two - Japanese Prisoner of War Camps - History
of course, the Japanese abhorred POWs/those who surrendered/etc

The Japanese were the worst, they decapitated the POWs on the spot at the battlefield once caught. They only took few of the American prisoners to war camps.
The Germans were supposed to be more civilized toward the western POWs, but they were as bad.
The escape in the movie was based on a real story, but most were Australian, British and American officers.
Not simple soldiers.
High ranking officers.
The Nazi SS murderers executed them in cold blood.
Against the rules of the Geneva Convention.

 

[Picaro]

Nazis treated American and British and western European prisoners far differently than they treated Soviets and Jewish prisoners for the most part; they knew who was going to win the war by 1943. You can think of the years after Feb. 1943 as wanting to inflict maximum damage on Soviets. Looking at causalities in 1943-1945, the Germans did an excellent job of killing Russians.

 

[WheelieAddict]