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Russian soldiers ‘blow themselves up’ to avoid capture
(www.telegraph.co.uk)
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this post was submitted on 08 Oct 2026
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Ukraine
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I'd hazard a guess individuals being punished for surrender was not a common theme since WW1, at least for the allies.
Cowardice on the other hand was an issue. Do you have some data to backup your claims on the losing side executing more people?
Ya know I was thinking about it some more, and I wonder how this ties in with Umberto Eco's 11th point. "Heroic" death on the battlefield.
I found this: https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=222008 claiming around 15k germans executed for desertion. Disclaimer: I am VERY skeptical of any forums that focus on axis military history. Same reason that I'm EXTREMELY skeptical of dudes that are "really into history" but only WWII and the roman empire. However, the books they mention do in fact exist.
Whenever I search for allies executing soldiers for desertion, I get a shitload of articles about Eddie Slovak, and that is making it difficult to find specific numbers for other allied nations. Similarly, the focus on the wehrmacht makes it difficult to find exact numbers for Italy and Japan, although Japan had the shattered jewel policy.
Basically I'm extrapolating from the magnitude of those numbers. Although, WWI numbers do seem to show the opposite--More british and french soldiers executed than germans. That being said, the official count of 49 german executions seems. Undercounted.