Picture of the day

Field Marshal Ewald von Kleist ( 1881- 1954 )

The German Field Marshall who was imprisoned by the Soviets, for grievous war crime of being too kind:

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...extradited to Russia and charged with having " alienated through mildness and kindness the population of the Soviet Union." For this so called crime, Ewald von Kleist remained a captive of Russia for the rest of his life.
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http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/GermanFieldMarshalsWW2/EwaldvonKleist.html

Interesting chap. One of the "Old School" Prussian generals, who tried to retire when the Nazis took power, but was pressed into service in 1939. Rose to Field Marshal during the war, only to be sacked in 1944 (various reasons, including humane treatment of prisoners, using withdrawals to consolidate positions and save the lives of his men, and just generally being a professional and doing his job instead of always doing as he was ordered by Hitler).

He was a stalwart, and trustworthy enough, General, that he actually commanded a large force of White Russian Cossacks at one point. No mean feat that, the Cossacks often fought alongside, but seldom under, German leadership.


This last bit was probably what upset the Soviets so much.
 
Sharps '74 said:
Probably the same ratio as did our alien internees. Our hands aren't clean either. We had internment camps in BC as well.
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I was born quite a bit earlier than a lot here.

Back in the late fifties when my parents moved to a small sawmill town in the North Okanagon just east of Vernon, there were still many remnants of the work camps the internees were allowed to stay at in lieu of the internment camps around Penticton and Kamloops. Living conditions were horrendous to say the least. Basically clapboard row shacks without insulation 15 meters long by 5 meters wide with one partition between sleeping quarters and and living area. There was a large stand up stove in each section. They ate in a communal shack where it looks like they prepared their own food. Beds were bunk style, made of local lumber. No electricity, but that wasn't much different from the rest of the folks that lived in the area at the time. Nor were the living conditions of many much different.

By the time I saw these places they had been used to house "pickers" in the summer and fall. I'm not really sure what happened to the internees other than many of them stayed in the area and became respected members of the community. The supposedly were all given some sort of compensation for the property that was confiscated from them but is was pennies on the dollar. One fellow I spoke with, whose daughter I was trying to impress, told me they received $100 for a new deep water capable fishing boat with all of its gear and another $100 for their small far on the outskirts of Tofino on Vancouver Island. I don't remember whether they were paid before or after the war.

Those that were my age knew about the camps but hadn't experienced them. Most didn't carry grudges and didn't know any other lifestyle than what they had lived.

Understand, right after WWII, Canada was accepting hundreds of thousands of displaced persons from all over the world. DEE PEE was the derogative connotation applied to these people. Most were suffering from some sort of PTSD and some really showed it. The Japanese didn't have the same issues and during the war had earned a lot of respect from the people in the area. That, of course, didn't stop greed/manipulative BUREAUCRATS from taking financial advantage of them by refusing to reinstate their property as was their right.

It was rumored that back in the Trudeau I era, when the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was being negotiated with the Provinces, that property rights had to become the mandate of the Provinces because of the claims in the courts by Japanese internees. Many politically motivated and connected people had made fortunes on the confiscated properties and weren't about to give those fortunes up.

It was only after most of the makers of those claims were dead that the Canadian government apologized to the offspring of the internees for this transgression of their rights. To my knowledge no other reparations were paid.

Take into account the times and conditions back in the late thirties, when all of this started. Mindsets were heavily racially oriented.

First Nations people were looked upon as sub human, Orientals were almost as low. BC, not many years before WWII, still had laws on their books concerning the size of the stick that could be used to beat Orientals with. If you think recent Displaced Persons, Asylum Seekers are having a tough go of it in Canada today. Realize that there weren't any Social Nets to help them out in those days. Often they were just brought in by a labor broker and turned loose when the job was finished, often without pay.

Supposedly, at the beginning of WWII a couple of fishing boats, belonging to Japanese immigrants and their Canadian born offspring were caught transmitting sensitive security information. Likely someone else can confirm. It may have been a good excuse for the PROFITEERS of the time to legally steal all of their property. And many here think it only happened in Europe. It couldn't happen in Canada. Can it happen again. Likely, if we aren't diligent.

TURF THE LIBERALS IN 2019

Liberals really like POOR people, they're making more of them every day.

If you can't vote CPC, stay at home in protest.
 
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I believe that there was a mutiny amongst some Legionnaires over leaving Sidi Bel Abbes and the 10th Colonial Parachute Reg't. over ceding Algeria to the Algerians.
 
Light Infantry said:
The Legion and the French Army are two very different groups. I am surprised you don't know the difference.
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I know the difference, hence the question. I haven't looked it up, but if I recall correctly, when the Legion 'surrendered' at Camaron, (a pitiful handful, if that) they were allowed to do so without laying down their arms as a sign of respect. Otherwise they were prepared to die to the last man. This after the third offer to surrender. That's a far cry from the total capitulation of a demoralized army.

Killed in the battle, Capitain Danjou was not even a combat officer, but a paymaster or some such admin type. His wooden hand is one of the Legion's most sacred relics, paraded annually. This incident only added to the mystique of the Legion.
 
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