Italian Prisoners of War in The Soviet Union - The Way To The POW Camps

The Way To The POW Camps

Travel to the destination camps in captivity covered hundreds of kilometres and was done mainly on foot. They were reported by survivors as the “davai” marches. “Davai!” is a Russian expression of urging, in this context meaning “keep moving!”. The prisoners were escorted by Red Army, and often, partisans without mercy for those who fell down frozen or exhausted (Revelli, 1966). The transfer was completed by using goods trains, where many prisoners died as a consequence of the extremely cold temperatures and lack of food.