Throngs of German Prisoners of War (POW), captured from destruction of its Army Group Center in Byelorussia (present-day nation of Belarus), being marched past spectators in Soviet capitol Moscow. Tradition was initiated when Soviets forced mass surrender of 90,000 Germans in Stalingrad pocket in Feb 1943. These POWs, along with others captured in Baltic States, Balkan region, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, eastern Germany would be sent to labor camps in eastern Europe, Ural, and Siberia regions. German POW - www.historylearningsite.co.uk/german_pow.htm

Inset 1 : From 1941-1944 when Germans fought on Soviet territory, elaborate graves and cemeteries were constructed by Germans for their Gefallen Kameraden (fallen comrades). This example had German 1939 Iron Cross cemetery marker with inscriptions akin to "Germany with always be with us". German War Graves - pathsofglory.co.uk/German%20war%20graves.htm

Unfortunately, German defeats in Ostfront forced them to exhume deceased senior officers for reburial in Germany (such was the case of SS-Division Totenkopf commander Theodor Eicke, killed in action Feb 1943 during recapture of Kharkov-Ukraine, buried in Ukraine, but exhumed for reburial in Germany by late-1943). Remaining graves only had their grave markers removed since it was common Soviet practice to destroy these cemeteries.

Volksbund Deutscher Kriegsgraberfursorge (VDK), German War Graves Commission, is postwar agency responsible for maintaining these cemeteries across German wars from Franco-Prussian War of 1870 to WW2-era. Only after 1991 Soviet Union collapse was VDK permitted to recon and assess German war cemeteries in Eastern Europe, but with over 3.2 million German dead across these battlefields, task is absolutely monumental in locating cemeteries lost over 50 years and re-identifying the deceased. VDK's work is hampered by Eastern European grave robbers exhuming the dead to remove German uniforms - rank insignia - military decorations for resale in US and Western Europe markets as bonafide WW2-era collectibles. Volksbund Deutscher Kriegsgraberfursorge (German) - www.volksbund.de

Most German POW were in these camps for about 10 years before release in mid-1950s, although some senior German commanders would be retained about 20 years, last Soviet-held German POW was released in 1964. However, Rudolf Hess : last 4-power (US, Soviet, British, French) Allied-held German POW was never released and by 1966 became the only prisoner within Berlin Spandau prison. Hess was Reich Minister without Portfolio and 2nd in succession line to Chancellor Adolf Hitler when WW2 commenced. Sentenced in 1947 Nuremberg War Crimes trial, Soviets consistently rejected his humanitarian release. Rudolf Hess - www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/biographies/hess-bio.htm

It is officially documented that he committed suicide in 1987 by hanging in Spandau Prison at age of 92, yet conspiracy theorist retort that an aged senior with arthritics in his upper body could hardly have raised his arms, lifted his body onto a platform, placed his head in noose, and jumped off. Hence, some charged Allied cover-up in the former Reichminister murder. Affidavit of Abdallah Melaouhi (Male Nurse of Rudolf Hess at Spandau Prison) - www.gnosticliberationfront.com/death_of_rudolf_hess_page_ii.htm

Rationale for Hess's alleged murder varies, but most poignant perpetrator points toward the Soviets since they feared his release would shed additional world attention on infamous 23 August 1939 German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (also called Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact after Soviet/German foreign ministers who signed the agreement) when secret protocols were signed between Germany and Soviet Union in carving up territorial claims and political spheres of influence. Two weeks after protocols were signed, WW2 commenced in which Soviets invaded eastern Poland in mid-Sept 1939 and seized a third of Polish territory, along with conquest of Baltic States and Romania's Bessarabia (also written Basarabia, Besarabya, Bessarabiya) enclave in 1940. In summation, Soviet Union was an accomplice to WW2 instigation as much as Germany was, but since Soviets ultimately became part of Allied coalition, this was conveniently forgotten by western Allied powers. Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi-Soviet_Pact

Not being the first Hess controversy, on 10 May 1941 Hess flew to Scotland in an unilateral attempt to forge a peace treaty with Great Britain, but was imprisoned by British until war's end. Controversy abounds that Hess was either killed in the plane crash, tortured to death by British Intelligence, or executed outright and replaced by a Body-Double (or via British slang Doppelganger). Hence person convicted in 1947 Allied war crimes trial was allegedly a drug-induced Hess replacement, thus covered-up via Cold War antics. Rudolf Hess Replacement Conspiracy - www.taivaansusi.net/historia/Hess.htm

Rollover : ( Rollover JPG link ) Summer 1944, steady Soviet advance in Ukraine, acting as southern pincer in destroying German Army Group Center. Photo depicts horse-drawn Soviet ZIS-3 anti-tank gun passing destroyed German Panzer IV tank with track-bolted applique armor and Schurzen (armor side skirts). Although German Wehrmacht was only 30% mechanized, Soviet forces had even lesser extent. Hence, Soviets eagerly impressed operational German halftracks and APCs during their WW2 campaigns. Schürzen (Aprons or Side Skirts) - www.balagan.org.uk/war/crossfire/history/armour.htm

Inset 2 : German rearguards examine defunct German-Soviet border marker in partitioned Poland after Operation Barbarossa : Summer 1941 German invasion of Soviet Union. Note Eastern European rolling plains were excellent for armor battles which both sides exploited. Germans expected complete Soviet conquest by winter 1941, not realizing it would be a 4-year struggle resulting in utter defeat. Germans also did not fully appreciate Soviet manpower reserves, Germans and her Allies deployed about 1.5 million men, but Soviets had at about 14 million in reserves. Even when Soviets lost nearly 1 million men by late-1941, Germans could not fathom how a nation could absorb such a loss and keep fighting.

Related Model and History : 1941 Operation Barbarossa and Horch FLAK PKW vehicle of Hermann Goering regiment - UweMilitaria.org/1-Wheel/HorchFlak30/9.html

Inset 3 : Panzer Voran (tanks forward) ! Image of by-gone era in 1941 when German armor advanced across eastern Poland as they invaded Soviet Union (eastern Poland annexed by Soviets in their 1939 invasion in coordination with Germany). This was also last instance of German Blitzkrieg (Lightning Warfare) as executed in 1939 Polish Campaign and 1940 France / Low Countries Campaign. Note German tanks such as Panzer II on left, BMM-built Panzer 38(t) upfront, and Skoda-built Panzer 38(t) in rear, were deployed as main battle tanks, but their light armor and weak firepower against Soviet T-34 tanks forced their withdrawal from frontline service by end of 1941. These tanks were reassigned to Stab (headquarter) protection, Eisenbahn (armored train) echelons, and rearguard anti-partisan defense.