US PoWs Held by the USSR

[GFH]

The Germans had PoW camps in lands liberated by
the USSR, possibly in occupied areas of the USSR.

I have read comments that many of these US PoWs
(mostly army air corp?), never came back. Some
seem to claim, without any documentation, that
there were 10,000 or more.

Is there any 'real' information on this subject?

The return of Japanese and German PoWs from the
USSR is quite well documented.
Zemke's Stalag provides a good picture of Stalag
Luft I.

GFH

[Geoffrey Sinclair]

Post by GFH
The Germans had PoW camps in lands liberated by
the USSR, possibly in occupied areas of the USSR.
I have read comments that many of these US PoWs
(mostly army air corp?), never came back. Some
seem to claim, without any documentation, that
there were 10,000 or more.

Incorrect.

Post by GFH
Is there any 'real' information on this subject?
From Richard Anderson,

" the actual figures, as given by "Army Battle Casualties and
Nonbattle Deaths in World War II, Final Report, 7 December 1941 - 31
December 1946," Department of the Army, Office of the Adjutant
General, are as follows:

Total number of US Army (including USAAF) personnel captured /
KIA while POW (by air bombardment or while trying to escape) /
died of wounds or injuries while POW (wounds suffered in action or
while POW) /
died of other causes (nonbattle) /
returned to military control were:

ETO 73,759 / 224 / 194 / 532 / 72,809
MTO 20,182 / 64 / 63 / 44 / 20,011
PTP 27,465 / 2,473 / 182 / 8,452 / 16,358
All other theaters 2,673 / 341 / 14 / 70 / 2,248
Total 124,079 / 3,102 / 453 / 9,098 / 111,426

Definitions:

Died of other causes (nonbattle) - "other causes" (where have we heard
that phrase before?, but note here that "died" is clearly indicated,
as it is not in the other case) in this case included those who "died
of disease or other nonbattle cause while in a captured, interned or
missing in action status."

Other theaters include Alaska Department, CBI, USASAF (20th AF), and
theater unknown.

This means that in the theaters of war versus Germany, 92,820 of
93,941 (98.8 percent) survived to return to military control. Thus,
just 288 were KIA after capture (either by enemy or friendly action),
257 DOW (wounds received either before or after capture), and 576
died of other causes. "

End quote.

Post by GFH
The return of Japanese and German PoWs from the
USSR is quite well documented.

Noting the large numbers reported to have been taken prisoner
who did not return.

Geoffrey Sinclair
Remove the nb for email.

[a425couple]

Post by GFH
The Germans had PoW camps in lands liberated by
the USSR, possibly in occupied areas of the USSR.
I have read comments that many of these US PoWs
(mostly army air corp?), never came back.

I do recall reading a report from a US General whose
assignment was to facilitate (via Crimea & Iran??) the return
of the US servicemen that had been held by Germany
and 'liberated' by the USSR.
He was 'bitter' at the slowness of the USSR's
process and it not seeming to be of the importance
to them that he felt it should have been.

Later larger numbers made it through the slow process.
I can not now recall what source, or even what general topic
it was.

[Stephen Graham]

I do recall reading a report from a US General whose assignment was to
facilitate (via Crimea & Iran??) the return of the US servicemen that
had been held by Germany and 'liberated' by the USSR. He was 'bitter' at
the slowness of the USSR's process and it not seeming to be of the
importance to them that he felt it should have been.
Later larger numbers made it through the slow process. I can not now
recall what source, or even what general topic it was.

There's some discussion of this in Plokhy's _Yalta_, mostly tied to
concerns about how repatriation affected other negotiations. John Deane,
head of the US military mission, was the US general involved.

[Don Phillipson]

I do recall reading a report from a US General whose assignment was to
facilitate (via Crimea & Iran??) the return of the US servicemen that had
been held by Germany and 'liberated' by the USSR. He was 'bitter' at the
slowness of the USSR's process and it not seeming to be of the importance
to them that he felt it should have been.

Leverage available to Russian authorities after VE Day
exploited the acute shortage of shipping space (when
railways from Russia to France had been for practical
purposes destroyed.) The Russians said they had no
ships thus could load Allied detainees only onto Allied
ships at Russian ports (preferably arriving full of repatriated
Russian PoWs, put aboard by force if necessary.)

[GFH]

Post by Don Phillipson

I do recall reading a report from a US General whose assignment was to
facilitate (via Crimea & Iran??) the return of the US servicemen that had
been held by Germany and 'liberated' by the USSR. He was 'bitter' at the
slowness of the USSR's process and it not seeming to be of the importance
to them that he felt it should have been.

Leverage available to Russian authorities after VE Day
exploited the acute shortage of shipping space (when
railways from Russia to France had been for practical
purposes destroyed.) The Russians said they had no
ships thus could load Allied detainees only onto Allied
ships at Russian ports (preferably arriving full of repatriated
Russian PoWs, put aboard by force if necessary.)

Does anyone know of estimates of how many
US PoWs were in the hands of the USSR --
excluding the Soviet Occupation Zone in
(the former) Germany?

GFH

[Don Phillipson]

Post by GFH
Does anyone know of estimates of how many
US PoWs were in the hands of the USSR --
excluding the Soviet Occupation Zone in
(the former) Germany?

One place to start looking might be
http://darbysrangers.tripod.com/id67.htm
which quotes some official US documents e.g. " report from the
Headquarters of the United States Forces in Austria, to the
Director of Intelligence, the General Staff of the U.S. Army,
dated June 15, 1946" but gives no source.

[Rich]

Post by Don Phillipson
One place to start looking might be
http://darbysrangers.tripod.com/id67.htm
which quotes some official US documents e.g. " report from the
Headquarters of the United States Forces in Austria, to the
Director of Intelligence, the General Staff of the U.S. Army,
dated June 15, 1946" but gives no source.

Don, I'm afraid that is the usual conspiracy nuts mishmash of
random data points, "recollections", and innuendo that add up
into a giant, steaming pile of...

You first have to ask where these "20,000" or - GASP! - MORE!
US personnel in Soviet hands came from?

In the ETO and MTO there were a total of 93,941 recorded as
captured or interned...92,820 of whom were returned to military
custody. There were also 23,015 MIA, of whom 20,660 were
returned to military custody.

Yes, there are still 73,547 personnel from all theaters who are
declared dead, but whose bodies have never been recovered/identified
(excluding burials at sea). To make the conspiracy work, you
basically have to assume that the deaths of one-in-four of all
those whose bodies were not found were doctored in a grand
cover-up by the U.S. Government, Army, and Navy...at the least.
And, given that most of the unrecovered/unidentified deaths were in
the Pacific, it actually may be more like one-in-two.

This is part and parcel with the "Eisenhower Ran Death Camps
on the Rhine because he Wanted to be President" school of
deranged thinking.