The sons of combatants in the trenches, omnipresent figures between the two world wars, the defeated soldiers of 1940 are mainly remembered as prisoners of war. When the armistice entered into force on June 25, 1940, 70,000 French soldiers were killed in action and two million were captured.
To read also: "The armistice of June 22, 1940 does not divide France into two zones but into seven"
Many escape, taking advantage of opportunities still possible. In the summer of 1940, 1.6 million French soldiers were taken to Germany, most often by freight train. In addition, the Germans left 100,000 soldiers from the colonies in prison camps in France. On the territory of the Great Reich, the prisoners will find themselves dispersed over a hundred Stalags (troops and non-commissioned officers) and forty Oflags (reserved for 45,000 officers). For the most part, these camps are found in Germany, the others in annexed Austria and in Poland. They depend on the Wehrmacht.
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This massive captivity
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