August 1941. Captured Soviet soldiers sit behind barbed wire in a German transit camp, just weeks after the start of Operation Barbarossa — Hitler’s massive invasion of the Soviet Union. These were among the millions of Red Army troops taken prisoner during the first phase of the war in the East. For many, captivity meant a slow death. German plans did not treat Soviet POWs as regular soldiers, but as expendable enemies of the Reich. Deprived of food, shelter, and medical care, millions perished

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