What happened in POW camps as the allies started pushing towards Germany? Were there attempts to hold on to/execute prisoners. Or did the Germans simply leave them?
My Granddad was held in a camp that was liberated by a regiment(?) of African-American soldiers so I am particularly interested in accounts of that happening.
First things got really nasty. There was overcrowding and disease, and there were Allied bombings which occasionally occured on POW camps. The Germans did a forced march of 80,000 POWs in Jan-Apr 1945 westward to avoid the oncoming Soviet Army, which killed like 3500 POWs.
Do you know what camp your Granddad was held in?