Heer 10-Day POW Reports

AOK/Ic Figures (East)

GenQu Figures (East)

The number of POWs captured by the German Heer was reported on a daily, 10-day, and monthly basis by the Intelligence Officer (Ic) and the Supply Officer (OQu) of the armies (AOK). Ic figures were compiled and analyzed by organizations such as Fremde Heere Ost (FHO) to assess enemy strength and losses. OQu data, used for example to calculate food ration strengths, were reported to OKH/Generalquartiermeister (GenQu) who prepared 10-day and monthly POW compilations. The latter were incorported in the monthly report of the Wehrmachtführungsstab (WFSt) "Verlust-, Verbrauchs- und Bestandszahlen der Wehrmacht", issued on items such as casualties, consumption and stock of ammunition, POWs, etc.

Between 5.25 (GenQu) and 5.5 (AOK/Ic) million Soviet POWs were taken by the German Heer througout the war. A figure of more than 5.7 million as frequently found in the literature (eg, Dallin, German Rule in Russia; Streit, Keine Kameraden) is the result of an error in the FHO summaries for June 1942 when appr. 300000 POWs were counted twice. For the variation of figures in the German documentation and the Western and Russian literature see the following table.

OKH 10-Day POW Reports

Soviet POWs in German Captivity According to Various Sources (in 1000)