01-28-2009, 08:40 PM
Great post. But how sad they lost their precious freedom so quickly after being liberated. From the frying pan, into the fire.
Included in that group, all soldiers of the Red Army who had been captives of the Germans, for they were treated as traitors when the war ended. Many ended up in Soviet Gulags in Siberia and elsewhere if they were not executed by NKVD troops immediately. Another unfortunate group was Vlasov's Army, (otherwise known as "Army of the Damned") which was made up of former Soviet soldiers who had become German POWS but were given the opportunity to fight against Red Army soldiers who were loyal to Stalin . In the final week of the war in Europe they actually turned on the SS troops in Prague to save the people of that city from being killed by the Germans. General Vlasov was returned to Stalin and executed a few months later.
Dogdaddy 