German POWs in Russia, Tracing

[Burkhard45]

Hello everyone,

Not sure where to post this, but I figure this might be the best spot.

Any chance I could trace which camp a German POW was sent to? Would the Soviets have kept records of where they buried the POW if they died in the camp? This soldier was a regular Luftwaffe ground troop, a Gefreiter captured sometime between January and May of 1945. I know he never returned home upon capture.

I know its a extremely long shot, likely impossible, but a fella has to start somewhere.

Thanks.

[Ironcrown]

What I know regards italian POWs but I presume it's the same with germans.
Yes, russians registered the prisoners, but very often transcriptions mistakes were made so the resaearch may be very difficult.

Also, usually the registrations were made at the arrival to the POW camp; if a prisoner died "on the road" probably there won't be any trace of him.

After the war the russian authorities gave the registers of the prisoners to the countries of provenance (at least to Italy this happened), so there should be something in Berlin. In Italy exists a private association of Russia's veterans and prisoners that gives some form of assistance to the families in these kind of researches. Of course this works just for italian POWs / MIAs. I wonder if there's something similar in Germany, probably yes. If not, you may try asking to the WaSt.

[Jean-Loup]

If he died, he may be buried in a Volksbund cemetery, or his location of death may be known to the Volksbund, try looking for him on volksbund.de

JL