there were a lot of german service personnel held over in captivity well into 1946.
Especially if you just happened to reside on the eastern side of Germany in mid 1945.
Erich Hartmann - highest scoring fighter ace was held by the Russians and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment. Fortunatly he was released by diplomatic means after 10 and a half years in Russian captivity.
The crew of U-505 was not repatriated to Germany until well into 1946 i believe.
the problem with the retirment note on your commander is that it doesnt say whether or not he was tried for war crimes, interogated as a witness in war crimes trials, held over by the russians, he could have been taken prisoner as the allies advanced into germany. there are any number of possibilities - some of these men did not return home until the mid 1950's others were forced to adapt to a life in russia from which there was really no escape and never saw their homes again others died in solitary confinement just for being on the "wrong team".
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