Mourning the Dead of the Great Escape
POWs, Grief, and the Memorial Vault of Stalag Luft III
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12914816 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kristen Alexander (0000-0002-2550-9562, UNSW Canberra, corresponding author), Kate Ariotti (0000-0003-4941-7141, The University of Queensland) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 332-353 |
| Publication date | 2022-07-09 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of War and Culture Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1752-6272 • E-ISSN: 1752-6280 |
| Publisher | Routledge (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17526272.2022.2097774 |
| OpenAlex | W4284977163 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 16 |
In March 1944 seventy-six Allied prisoners of war escaped from Stalag Luft III. Nearly all were recaptured; fifty were later shot. This article examines what happened in the period between recapture and the interment of the dead prisoners' cremated remains at Stalag Luft III. It positions what came to be known as ‘the Great Escape’ as an event of deep emotional resonance for those who grieved and reveals the dual narrative they constructed to make sense of their comrades’ deaths. In discussing the iconography of the vault constructed by the camp community to house the dead POWs’ ashes, this article also suggests a dissonance in meaning between that arising from personal, familial grief and the Imperial War Graves Commission’s standardised memorial practice. Focusing on the Great Escape’s immediate aftermath from the perspective of the POWs themselves provides a more nuanced understanding of the emotional impact of this infamous event
Art · Art history · Grief · Iconography · Literature · Meaning (existential · Narrative · Psychiatry · Psychoanalysis · European history and politics · History · Italian Fascism and Post-war Society · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Psychology
War and Remembrance in the Twentieth Century
Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning
Captives of War
The Work of the Dead
Nutrition in warfare
Between Death and Commemoration
Beyond Surrender
The Soul of the City’? Sound Performances and Community in Cape Town’s Two Minutes of Silence During the First World War
Nazi Atrocities Against Allied Airmen
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |