In Citizen Soldiers (by Stephen Ambrose) a statistic is cited claiming that Americans in German camps faced a 0.7% death rate while Germans in American camps faced 1%, it also went on the describe that American POWs faced atrocious conditions due to widespread shortages in Germany, while German POWs had much more agreeable conditions, with rations equal to American soldiers (as required by the Geneva convention), and generally fairly simple and/or menial labor taking the place of Americans off in the war (in contrast to American POWs cleaning up in the wake of bombings). So why did the Americans fair so much better in deplorable conditions than the Germans in conditions so comfortable they dreaded the end of their "imprisonment?"
If I have posted any false information or assumptions please let me know for future reference.
Well, it is important to remember that German death rates were not always the result of “bad” treatment. German on German violence, various sicknesses, and other ailments all resulted in the death of German PWs in the United States throughout the war. Moreover, while that statistic indicates that American PWs in Germany were more likely to survive their tenure as prisoners, I highly doubt that was the case. In an article that appeared in War and History in 2004, Niall Ferguson argued that German POWs in American hands faced 0.15 percent chance of dying in captivity. Americans did not face such favorable odds, as their chance of dying in German captivity was around 1.2 percent. While there is undoubtedly value to Ambrose’s work, I think many would agree when I say it should be taken with a grain of salt.
Ferguson, Niall, Prisoner Taking and Prisoner Killing in the Age of Total War: Towards a Political Economy of Military Defeat. War in History, 11(2), 148-192.