What is it about?
This article explores the little-studied issue of crime among South African prisoners of war (POWs) in Italy and Germany during the Second World War. It looks at both serious and minor offences committed in internment camps, showing how difficult camp life shaped behaviour. While official records suggest only a small number of cases, the article argues that these figures underestimate the real scale of criminal activity, which was often dealt with informally within the POW community.
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Why is it important?
The study highlights an overlooked dimension of wartime captivity: that POWs were not only victims of enemy control but also participants in complex social worlds where crime, punishment, and survival intertwined. By focusing on South Africans—a group often marginal in global POW histories—it broadens understanding of military captivity and reveals the limits of official reporting, as well as the influence of politics on whether crimes were prosecuted.
Perspectives
This article makes a fresh contribution to both South African military history and the wider field of POW studies. It moves beyond familiar narratives of endurance and escape to examine the moral and social tensions of captivity. By recovering stories of crime behind the wire, it opens a window onto how wartime societies functioned under extreme pressure, and it will be valuable not only for historians of the Second World War but also for readers interested in law, justice, and human behaviour in extraordinary circumstances.
Prof Ian van der Waag
Rabdan Academy
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Crime behind the Wire: South African Prisoners in Second World War Italy and Germany, South African Historical Journal, July 2024, Taylor & Francis,
DOI: 10.1080/02582473.2025.2465590.
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