Masculinity and Soviet POWs in World War II: Gendered Experiences of Captivity in German-run POW Camps on Soviet Soil

• In Event: Soviets in Axis Captivity

Abstract

This paper examines ways that POW camp conditions interacted with Soviet wartime conceptions of masculinity during World War II, cutting Red Army prisoners of war off from Soviet ideals of masculinity, and rendering them unable to present themselves as either heroic soldiers or men damaged in service of the Soviet state. To do so, it draws on POW camp survivor accounts, both written and visual, created in 1943-1945, and found in the Extraordinary State Commission’s documentation.

Author

• Maris Rowe-McCulloch, U of Regina (Canada)