In the early morning of July 17, 1944, when prisoners of war from the German Army Group Center woke up and saw their breakfast, they were startled. Somehow, the Russians, who had always been less friendly to the captives, generously prepared a hearty breakfast for them. Although the guards did not say anything, the prisoners of war naturally thought of the "severed head meal", and it was estimated that after eating this meal, they would be executed. Sure enough, the prisoners of war were then ordered to line up in the direction of Dynamo Racecourse on the outskirts of Moscow. The German prisoners thought they were going to finish the game, but what they didn't expect was that what happened next was worse than being shot.
In mid-1944, under the personal planning of the master strategist Meretskov, the Soviet army launched the huge "Battle of Svery-Perozavodsk". This was the fourth of the "Ten Stalin Assaults", this time the German army was severely damaged, from the front of the Soviet army to the deepest depth of 250 kilometers; the latter concentrated superior forces to try to carry out a devastating attack on the enemy, in the summer of 1944 alone, the Soviet army launched five consecutive offensives, of which on June 22, 1944, Zhukov personally operated the "Bagration Offensive", the Soviet army gathered more than 100 divisions totaling more than 2.4 million people, launched a fierce attack on the German Army Group Center.
The strategic importance of the battle in the mid- to late-World War II was extraordinary, with the German military historian Hermann Kagenholtz calling it "an extremely painful war fought in the East", with a total of 200,000 German casualties or captives, a figure that surpassed the Soviets, making the inferior Germans more passive on the battlefield. In turn, the victory greatly delighted Moscow, how to maximize its symbolism and disgust the Germans fiercely? Soon, the former had the answer.
It is noteworthy that after the October Revolution, the newly established Soviet Russia refused to recognize all the international treaties signed during the Tsarist period, including the Geneva Conventions as we know them. This meant that the Soviets had shot German prisoners of war in the streets, and the international community condemned them at best, without substantive punishment. Moreover, some of the actions of the German army in World War II were indeed too excessive, the Soviet Union did sacrifice too much, the old hatred and the new hatred were counted together, even if the Soviet army was more ruthless, the United States and Britain and other countries may only be able to express "understanding". However, I still have to admire that "Big Brother" can play, although not a shot was fired, but it made the prisoners of war worse than dead.
At about 11:00 a.m. on July 17, 1944, about 57,600 German prisoners of war were assembled around the Dynamo Racecourse, marching in two directions towards the Kursk and Savilovsko-Riga railway stations, and at noon the army "advanced" into Moscow. In order to humiliate the prisoners of war, the Soviets deliberately divided the prisoners into 90 squares and required them to wear uniforms and medals neatly. At the front of the line were 19 generals, and the Soviets forced them to look up and stride forward, not knowing that they had won the battle. This was followed by an official formation of 1,227 officers of the rank of colonel, who, like the generals, were required to dress straight and wear medals.
Before the prisoners of war paraded the streets, the authorities deliberately informed the citizens of Moscow in advance of the matter. So on the day of the parade, a large number of citizens gathered on both sides of the road to watch. Seeing the prisoners of war approaching, I don't know who shouted "The German devils have entered the city", and people's emotions were immediately mobilized. The women immediately took out the guy they had prepared first, and beat and scolded the prisoners of war near the roadside. Most of these prisoners of war were Wehrmacht soldiers, and in their view, fighting for the country was the duty of soldiers and should not be treated in this way, they tried to return the mouth, but in exchange for more fierce beatings, and even by the crowd of onlookers spitting. Of course, there were also some kind Soviet people who could not bear to see the German youth in the queue being beaten, and there was a little sympathy in their eyes.
During the clashes, many German prisoners of war were wounded, but the Soviet guards pretended not to see it, standing on the sidelines and watching with a smile, allowing the citizens to vent their anger at the invaders. As the party marched to the center of Moscow, the "finale" finally came — the prisoners of war suddenly felt that something was wrong. It turns out that where is the good thing that the pie falls from the sky? The Soviets mixed a large amount of laxatives into the sumptuous breakfast prepared for the German prisoners of war, and at this time the medicine was so strong that the prisoners of war could not resist at all, and they poured out of the country. Suddenly, the street became stinky, but this did not affect the interest of Moscow citizens in the slightest. The "parade" lasted about 6 hours before being disbanded after passing through the Kremlin.
The parade was officially dubbed the "Great Waltz" by the Soviets, which, of course, was deliberately used to satirize the Germans. The story doesn't end there: after the parade, German prisoners of war were stuffed into trains in batches and then sent to various POW camps. Authorities brought in large numbers of sprinklers to clean the streets of filth. Because the mode of transport was too simple and crude, it made the prisoners of war mistakenly think that they were going to be dragged to the shooting range. Many prisoners of war recalled that moment years later and expressed their despair; but when they learned that the train's destination was a prisoner-of-war camp and not a place of execution, they were relieved, after all, they had the hope of returning home until they were alive. Some even said that they were sincerely grateful to the Soviet army for its "grace of not killing".
From the perspective of a bystander, this street parade was extremely humiliating, not only making the Soviets fiercely vicious, but also destroying the dignity of the German army to the greatest extent. As the saying goes, "a soldier can kill without shame", some people may ask, is this a bit excessive? Today, under the domination of public opinion in Western countries, the Soviet army in World War II also seems to be somewhat "cruel" in dealing with prisoners of war, and at the end of the war, a large number of German prisoners of war would rather cross thousands of miles to surrender to the Allies than be disarmed by the Soviet army. The performance of prisoners of war in the streets of Moscow has also been interpreted by some as "failure is still gentlemanly". In fact, although the Soviet Union did not sign international conventions, what they did was by no means as extreme as western countries accused.
On April 18, 1945, the Soviets surrounded a small group of German soldiers in the forest on the banks of the Oder River. The Germans refused to surrender, and a fierce battle ensued on the spot. In the end, the Soviets suffered some casualties, and the German army was annihilated, leaving only 17 people to survive, all of whom became prisoners. According to one of the young men named Lauman, after the battle, the Soviets did not rush to deal with the prisoners of war, but privately discussed something. After about a cigarette, the Soviets ordered the prisoners of war to walk toward the forest. Lauman thought he was finished, and the Soviets would shoot them in the back. However, after waiting for a long time, what he feared did not happen in the end. It turned out that the Soviets had no intention of executing them at all, but asked them to help persuade the Germans who were still resisting, hoping that they would not pay any more senseless casualties.
If we want to talk about the "evil deeds" of the Soviet army, I am afraid that the only "evil deeds" done to Lauman and his comrades are to snatch all the cigarettes from the other side after the battle. However, according to Lauman, the wounded comrades were not only subsequently sent to a nearby Soviet ambulance station, but the Soviet soldiers also kindly distributed some cigarettes and food to the German officers and men. In soviet labor camps, things were pretty much the same: although the prisoners of war in the camps ate poorly and had to do high-intensity labor, the Soviet guards were not much better fed. At that time, the Soviet Union was really poor, and the authorities did not bully each other because of the hatred of the past, and they played tricks on food and other aspects.
In this way, although the "great waltz" of that year was aimed at humiliating people, it was not too excessive, at best, it was just a little willfulness of the Soviet army as a "victor".