Prizonierii de război români în lagăre germane din prima conflagraţie (I)
Romanian Prisoners in German Camps during the First World War (I)

Summary/Abstract: This article examines (in two parts) a lesser-known dimension of Romania’s participation in the First World War, namely the issue of the Romanian prisoners of war, more precisely the POW’s interned in various German camps. Based on archival sources, secondary literature as well as memoirs and war journals (many of them re-edited in the context of the Centennial of the First World War) of the former combatants that survived German captivity, the article brings forth a novel facet of Romania’s involvement in the First World War. The mortality rate among the Romanian POW’s interned in German camps was among the highest (over 31% of the prisoners, mainly soldiers) from all Central Powers POW’s camps. The reasons for this harrowing statistic varied. The harsh, often degrading and inhumane treatment applied to Romanian prisoners (especially soldiers) was rooted in German resentment towards Romania because of the government’s decision to join the war on the Entente side, against its former allies from the Central Powers. The article also connects the worsening economic situation in Germany, as the war dragged on, and the ever-growing number of the POW’s on German soil (at one point 2,5 million).

• Details
• Contents