12/6/07 - History professor examines treatment of war prisoners

A new book by Texas A&M University History Professor Arnold Krammer looks at the rules for and treatment of prisoners of war.

Prisoners of War: A Reference Handbook explores how these changes have evolved from biblical times until the present war in Iraq. The book came out Nov. 30, 2007 and was published by Praeger Security International.

In a description about the book the publisher said, “ The issue of prisoners of war is of more immediate concern now than ever before, and an examination of the history of their treatment and current status may well influence foreign policy.”

Prisoners of War is comprised of four topical chapters: "War Prisoners through the Ages," "A Search for Legal Protection," "The Best and the Worst" and "The Rules Have Changed." It also contains a lengthy appendix of primary source documents from 1625 to the present.

The final chapter discusses war practices in the current War on Terror and in Iraq.

“It seems that nations have reverted to the worst practices of the past when society accepted uncivilized treatment of war prisoners, thereby destroying the very reciprocity that has historically protected prisoners of war,” said Krammer.

Krammer has been a member of the Texas A&M history faculty since 1974, after earning his doctorate in German history at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and has been a full professor since 1979. He specializes in modern Europe, modern Germany, Third Reich, and the Holocaust. He has directed study abroad trips to Italy, Normandy, Germany, and Poland.

Over the years Krammer has published six books in both English and German, as well as nearly 50 scholarly articles. In addition, in recent years, he has co-edited three books in a series about the Holocaust: Children and the Holocaust (2003), The Holocaust Through National Perspectives (2005) and Women and the Holocaust (2007). The next volume, which Krammer will also co-edit, is called The Holocaust: Before and After (projected for 2009).

-30-