We hear time and again of the numerous battles, conflicts, and fates of the people living during the time of the Second Great War. They are stories of hardship, horror, and usually an eventual triumph. However, of all these stories there is one we have not heard, the repatriation of Russian prisoners of war that fought for the German Army. Unlike the countless tales we have heard of in this war, this one has no triumph or celebratory outcome. The fate of these men was that of death, imprisonment, and hopelessness. In the documentary film Between Two Fires by International Historic Films, we get a rare glimpse into this unsung story of the Second World War, in particular the fate of 153 Russians held at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The director and producer, Douglas Smith, touched by previous knowledge of this incident, attempts to convince an audience of historical enthusiasts that the outcome of this situation was un-American and immoral according to international law. He does this by presenting direct experiences from survivors, the opinions of experts, and by using music and staged scenes to show the viewer that not only was it unjust politically, but morally as well shown by the fate of these survivors and their friends.
The film begins with the use of parallelism with a scene portraying the prisoner exchange between the Romans and the Huns. This scene reveals that prisoners were merely pawns in the game of politics and war. This situation parallels with the Americans and the Russians during their post-World War Two prisoner exchanges, appealing to the targeted audience’s knowledge of history. The purpose of the documentary also helps to persuade the viewers of the argument presented in the film. The film’s purpose is to inform and argue a viewpoint according to the experiences of those that went through the hardships of the event presented. Most history enthusiasts enjoy discussions such as this and the presentation of a less known event like the repatriation of Russian soldiers fighting for Germany gives them new subject matter to discuss. The context of later to post-World War Two also helps to pull in the viewer. World War Two is a popular topic among professional historians and the average person alike and the presentation of subject matter relating to World War Two is sure to grab their attention. But the films introduction is not the only thing that aids the persuasion of the viewer. The producers are thorough with their presentation of evidence and the sources from which they come, assuring the viewer that the situation genuine and tragic.
The producers gather evidence from multiple survivors of Russian repatriation, as well as through the events of the riot at Fort Dix. The survivors recount their lives in Russia, giving the viewer an idea behind their reasoning for fighting for the Germans. These stories are then backed up by historical evidence of the situation in Russia presented by the narrator. This helps the viewer to sympathize with the survivors’ views and experiences. The viewer is then presented with what happened when the survivors were captured. The survivors recount their experiences as prisoners to the Americans and their journey to the United States. The survivors reveal that they rioted when news arrived that they were to be returned to Russia. This, backed up with the narrator’s presentation of the riots at Fort Dix, reveal that the survivors would rather die than return to Russia. This visual and historical evidence presented by the survivors and the narrator help to show the reader that this was a tragic situation that affected real people resulting in countless deaths. However, the producers also appeal to the viewers’ morals and whether obeying a political agreement or looking out for the welfare of prisoners of war is what the United States should have stood by.
The narrator also presents the viewer with the situation regarding Stalin’s manipulation of the Yalta Accord with the United States in order to show that even though the US was abiding a political agreement, they were sentencing thousands of Russians to their imprisonment or death. The film presents Stalin as a deceptive negotiator whose main concern is to get the most out of all negotiations for the Soviet Union. This is used to show the viewer that the prisoners of war were justified in their actions and that their return to the Soviet Union would only result in their death or suffering. The film also made it clear that Stalin and the government of the Soviet Union did not view the prisoners as Russian, through the inclusion of a public statement issued by the Russian foreign minister Molotov saying “there are no such Russians” (Vyacheslav Molotov, Between Two Fires), showing that they would be treated as enemy prisoners should they be returned to the Soviet Union. Again this affirms the producer’s beliefs that the prisoners’ return to the Soviet Union was blatantly unjust, considering the evidence the United States had that these men would be sent to their death or a life of work.
Between Two Fires shows us the dilemma faced by the United States as they struggled with deciding what to do with thousands of Russian prisoners who fought for the Germans, in particular the fate of the Russian prisoners at Fort Dix and how they started a riot or commit suicide in order to avoid return to Russia. Through the film’s use of centralizing its argument around this event, interviews from the survivors, and a strategic use of music and scenery, it is able to argue that the decisions made by the US were against the American way of thinking and that the US doomed these men to their deaths.
Works Cited
Between Two Fires. Dir. Douglas N. Smith. International Historic Films, 2000. DVD.