[Lazamataz]

In that picture: Are the last few seconds of life SO PRECIOUS that the fellow sitting on the edge of the pit couldn't try -- failing, but trying anyways -- to grab the executioners gun?

[Poohbah]

OK, moral dilemma for you, Laz:

The situation, from what I've read, is that the large number of people behind the officer and the soon-to-be-dead partisan are (a) being shown what happens when you dis the Wehrmacht, and (b) are being covered by a few MG42s.

Try for the gun, and your fellow countrymen, most of whom are your resource base for being a partisan (and thus enable future ops by your comrades) are going to get mown down like wheatstalks at harvest time.

Get shot, and the good folk go back to their homes, and many look for a way to stick it to the Hun bastards at a more propitious time.

Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when the come for you? (Bad Boys Bad Bad Boys) Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

[elfman2]

"In that picture: Are the last few seconds of life SO PRECIOUS that the fellow sitting on the edge of the pit couldn't try -- failing, but trying anyways -- to grab the executioners gun?"

My guess it he'd been through hell, and I don't have a clue where his mind was at that moment.