British Character and the Treatment of German Prisoners of War, 1939–48

Download or read book British Character and the Treatment of German Prisoners of War, 1939–48 written by Alan Malpass and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-08-19 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines attitudes towards German held captive in Britain, drawing on original archival material including newspaper and newsreel content, diaries, sociological surveys and opinion polls, as well as official documentation and the archives of pressure groups and protest movements. Moving beyond conventional assessments of POW treatment which have focused on the development of policy, diplomatic relations, and the experience of the POWs themselves, this study refocuses the debate onto the attitude of the British public towards the standard of treatment of German POWs. In so doing, it reveals that the issue of POW treatment intersected with discussions of state power, human rights, gender relations, civility, and national character.