Me410 14/KG2 20th December 1943

[Laurent Rizzotti]

Originally Posted by John Vasco

Well, your first paragraph flies in the face of all that I have been told by several German pows regarding their status.

Also, tell me how you arrive at the end of the war in the west being 1950-51.

Diplomatically, 1950 or 1951 is the date where the Western countries declared the end of the state of war with Germany. So until this date, they were technically at war with it.

There was no peace treaty with Germany at the end of WWII, due the Cold War starting soon. The Treaty on the Final Settlement With Respect to Germany was finally negociated in 1990.

To return to the German POWs in 1945, I know mostly the situation in France where Germans POWs were used to rebuild the country and clean minefields (with French experts) until the end of 1948. And they had a POW status. At least for French it was normal, as in 1940 France capitulated and more than 2 000 000 men were sent in POW camps in Germany, most of them until being liberated in 1945 by the Allies.

I know that in 1945 and 1946, hundred of thousands of German POWs were delivered to the French by Americans. 600 000 should be delivered in 1946 but these "deliveries" were stopped in 1946 by the Americans, that say they needed manpower in Germany. This seems to indicate that Americans did not release all POWs available in Germany. But another source says that numerous German POWs delivered to French were returning from USA to Europe. I guess they were excepting to return to Germnay and were heavily disappointed.

Great Britain itself did not start to send back its German POWs to Germany in September 1946 and ended in 1948. By late 1947, almost all restriction on German POW movement and extra camp activities were lifted... which means that they existed before this date.

The fact that in most countries after 1945 German POWs could work outside POW camps and even life in farms with local families did not cancel their POW status, meaning that they couldn't return to their home country. French POW in Germany live the same situation in 1940-1945 (and at least some effectively replaced German farmers completely in this period).