Beginning in 1944, the Soviet Union seized the initiative on the battlefield and began to launch a counteroffensive against the German army, and won successive victories. On the morning of July 17, 1944, a shocking news suddenly came from the city of Moscow: "The German devils have entered the city!" As soon as the news came out, the Muscovites immediately fell into panic. In fact, this time, the "German devils" were escorted into the city by the Soviet army to "parade", and then they were taken to various prisoner of war camps.
Soviet casualties during World War II were more than 26 million, all of which were caused by the Germans, so the Soviets hated the Germans. Many Soviets believed that all German prisoners of war should be shot, but before they could be shot, they were sent to Siberia for hard labor and then shot. In this photo are German prisoners of war working as coolies, guarded by Soviet soldiers with guns. In the camps they could only eat some brown bread every day, barely managing to maintain their physical strength, and sometimes punished by the Soviets.
More than 3 million German prisoners were held in Soviet prisoner-of-war camps, and while doing coolies, a group of serious German prisoners of war would face trial by the Soviet government. This photograph is of the Soviets' trial of German prisoners of war in Kiev Square on February 2, 1946.
The photo shows the scene of the 1946 Trial of German prisoners of war by the Soviets. The outcome of the trial was almost unsettling: hanging, collective hanging. In fact, most of the Japanese war criminals in China in those years were executed by shooting, including the perpetrator of the Nanjing Massacre, Gu Shoufu, the "hundred people beheading" demon head Xiang Jing Toshiaki, and Noda Takeshi were all executed by shooting. Hangings are more painful than shootings, and collective hangings are more powerful than shootings.
The collective hanging of the German prisoners of war by the Soviets was public, and they were taken to the gallows with their hands tied upside down, waiting for the order to execute. To prevent them from shouting slogans during executions, Soviet soldiers blocked their mouths with cloths in advance. Soviet soldiers can be seen blocking the mouths of German prisoners of war.
In order to facilitate the onlookers to watch, the gallows are set up relatively high. Soviet soldiers boarded the truck carriages, and the German captives stood on the truck planks before the execution. When everything was ready, the executioners gave orders, the trucks started, and the war criminals struggled on the gallows.
The scene of the hanging was densely packed with people who came to watch, and 12 war criminals were hung on the gallows in unison. With so many onlookers, even the wide squares were crowded, and many civilians stood on dirt slopes or climbed up buildings to watch the hanging of German war criminals.
A close-up of a German war criminal on the gallows, with a look of anguish on his face. These war criminals, such as the Attorney General of the Police, the Major General, the Local Commander or the officers of the prisoner-of-war camps, committed numerous crimes against the Soviet people during their lifetime, all of them committing the most heinous crimes.
The war was brutal, and the Germans probably could not have imagined that they would one day after inflicting harm on the Soviet people. The war destroyed the homes of the Soviets and seized their loved ones, and the Soviets hated the Germans so much that they believed that all those who wore Nazi uniforms should be shot. After the hanging, seeing that these extremely evil war criminals were no longer struggling, the crowd at the scene showed a happy expression.