Return of the first soldiers from Russian imprisonment

At the end of the war in May of 1945 ca. 3.3 million German soldiers were in Soviet prisoner-of-war camps, mostly in Siberia. These men suffered a grim fate. Many die from the hard forced labour and the adverse conditions of survival which they endure – the constant struggle against hunger, cold , disease and uncertainty.

© Lehmann  Only few of them will survive the murderous russian winter - German prisoners-of-war in Stalingrad at -8°F

On 22 July 1946 the first released prisoners-of-war return to Germany from the Soviet Union – a moving moment for them, their families and relatives. The last of the prisoners will not be sent home by Moscow until January of 1956.