Stalingrad 1947

**xinhui** · 20 Feb 10,, 04:44

Five years after the battle.

**xinhui** · 20 Feb 10,, 04:44

...........

**xinhui** · 20 Feb 10,, 04:45

/////////

**xinhui** · 20 Feb 10,, 04:46

nnnnnnnnnn

**xinhui** · 20 Feb 10,, 04:46

vvvvvvvvvvvv

**xinhui** · 20 Feb 10,, 04:46

////////////

**zraver** · 20 Feb 10,, 07:02

They are still burying the dead....

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tra...cle2840154.ece

**jlvfr** · 21 Feb 10,, 21:23

Judging by the uniforms, some of the "workers" look like captured german soldiers... or am I wrong?

**sappersgt** · 22 Feb 10,, 17:34

Originally Posted by jlvfr

Judging by the uniforms, some of the "workers" look like captured german soldiers... or am I wrong?

You're right. Hopefully some of the "five percenters".

**jlvfr** · 22 Feb 10,, 17:41

Originally Posted by sappersgt

You're right. Hopefully some of the "five percenters".

Most likely: it's 2 years past 1945, they aren't in a siberian gulag and actually look in more-or-less good shape.

**Stitch** · 22 Feb 10,, 20:46

What amazes me is that they are still wearing their feldgrau uniform five years after having been captured (maybe less); it seems to me that after so many years of hard labor that they would need new clothes, no?

**jlvfr** · 22 Feb 10,, 21:34

Originally Posted by Stitch

What amazes me is that they are still wearing their feldgrau uniform five years after having been captured (maybe less); it seems to me that after so many years of hard labor that they would need new clothes, no?

Maybe they are not their own... but of dead comrades that the russsians gave them...

**cape_royds** · 23 Feb 10,, 00:51

They did well to get most of the rubble off the streets that quickly, considering much of the work probably had to be done without heavy machinery. I recall reading that in some of the bombed-out cities of Central Europe it took a few years just to clear the debris. What a lot of work.

Labour to build a city, labour to ruin it, labour to rebuild it. War is a sick joke played on humanity. We and our works are mortal enough already, without such little extra reminders.

The Axis POW's on that sort of detached duty were considered "specialists" and given passcards and some cash wages, as well as bonus rations.

The photo of the bricklayers reminded me of Hans von Luck's memoirs (Panzer Commander), which include a very interesting chapter about his time spent as a masonry "specialist" in the Caucasus. According to him, as a favoured "specialist" food and working conditions were roughly on par with the Soviet civilian norm at the time, i.e. bare subsistence. Regular labour camp conditions, of course, were below subsistence--a real-life micro-economy with sub-Ricardian wages!