The Saber and Scroll Journal Volume 8, Number 3, Spring 2020 | Page 50

The Saber
“Liberation” of the
Death Camps
When the Nazi war machine
invaded the Soviet Union
in 1941, orders were carried
out with the understanding that
all communists (and especially Soviet
commissars) were to be treated ruthlessly
and without fear of the penalties
resulting from international law violations.
German soldiers understood the
enemy to behave barbarically and inhumanely;
their response could then only
be to treat any subhuman opposing Nazi
advances “immediately and with maximum
severity.” 10 This response resulted
in atrocities, rapes, and summary murder
of all types of individuals the Germans
encountered: men, women, children;
Poles, Ukrainians, Russians; and
anyone considered a threat to the Reich.
After the German retreat following
Stalingrad and Kursk in early 1943
and the increasing momentum of the
Soviet push toward Berlin, these atrocities
were repaid on German civilians in
the conquered territories (and eventually
in Germany proper). When it came
to the concentration camps, these atrocities
sometimes continued depending
on the circumstance. The notion of
prisoners going from one hell to another
(i.e., rape, murder, and oppression of
various kinds by those who freed them)
is why the word “liberation” in this section’s
heading is in quotations. This reality
partially fueled the Soviet hatred of
the Germans while simultaneously acting
as a justifiable retaliation for atrocious
actions against the Soviet people
(Jews excluded).
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