Archive of Hans Beissmann: WW2 Russian Prisoner of War from 3rd July 1944 to 31st December 1953 Approximately three million German prisoners of war were captured by the Soviet Union during World War II. The POWs were employed as forced labour in the Soviet wartime economy and post war reconstruction. By 1950 almost all had been released. In 1956 the last surviving German POW returned home from the USSR. This achieve consists of release documents and statements from other POWs together with a 162-page proof copy of the Book / TV film Hans Beissmann produced great reference into this subject (please note all contents are in German)