The Russian Prisoner of War
by Captain Billy Bingham, 34th Inf. Div.
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by Captain Billy Bingham, 34th Inf. Div.
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We had one barracks of Russian Prisoners of War located right next to the White House in Oflag 64. The
Russians were in horrible physical condition. They were starved and looked like 'walking death.' The
Germans made them work 14 to 18 hours a day in all different types of weather conditions: rain, snow,
sleet, it made no difference.
At one time, the Germans put a lone fat Russian soldier into the barracks. He was well fed and had a new
German uniform with insignia that read, Free Russia. The purpose of this Russian intruder was to enlist
other Russians to join the German Army.
I became very good friends with a Russian First Sergeant. He could speak five or six different languages
fluently: German, Polish, Russian, two or three different Soviet languages, and some English.
He showed me where a German soldier had bayoneted him in the stomach. He pulled up his soiled, dirty
tunic and said, "This is my passport back to Russia." Unfortunately, Stalin had said that he never wanted
any Russian POWs to enter Russia again. Stalin had the sergeant's son killed in a POW camp that I was in
near Frankfurt.
After a bit, we no longer saw the fat enlisted man that had entered the Russian barracks. Since I had a
good relationship with the Russian First Sergeant, Colonel Algers asked me to find out what had happened
to him. I asked and the reply was, "We ate him."
The next morning that Russian soldier's uniform was neatly folded on the barracks steps. Make no mistake
about it, the Russians ate him! He was never seen again.
Russians were in horrible physical condition. They were starved and looked like 'walking death.' The
Germans made them work 14 to 18 hours a day in all different types of weather conditions: rain, snow,
sleet, it made no difference.
At one time, the Germans put a lone fat Russian soldier into the barracks. He was well fed and had a new
German uniform with insignia that read, Free Russia. The purpose of this Russian intruder was to enlist
other Russians to join the German Army.
I became very good friends with a Russian First Sergeant. He could speak five or six different languages
fluently: German, Polish, Russian, two or three different Soviet languages, and some English.
He showed me where a German soldier had bayoneted him in the stomach. He pulled up his soiled, dirty
tunic and said, "This is my passport back to Russia." Unfortunately, Stalin had said that he never wanted
any Russian POWs to enter Russia again. Stalin had the sergeant's son killed in a POW camp that I was in
near Frankfurt.
After a bit, we no longer saw the fat enlisted man that had entered the Russian barracks. Since I had a
good relationship with the Russian First Sergeant, Colonel Algers asked me to find out what had happened
to him. I asked and the reply was, "We ate him."
The next morning that Russian soldier's uniform was neatly folded on the barracks steps. Make no mistake
about it, the Russians ate him! He was never seen again.
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