Editing Disarmed Enemy Forces (section)

==Aftermath==
{{further|Rheinwiesenlager|Prisoner of war}}
After the DEF designations were made in the early summer of 1945, the International Red Cross was not permitted to fully involve itself in the situation in camps containing German prisoners (POWs, DEFs or SEPs), some of which initially were [[Rheinwiesenlager]] transit camps, and even though conditions in them gradually improved, "even the most conservative estimates put the death toll in French camps alone at over 16,500 in 1945".<ref name=MacKenzie-487-520/>

The Geneva Convention was amended. Articles 6 and 7 of the [[Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War (1929)|Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Geneva July 27, 1929]], had covered what may and may not be done to a prisoner on ''capture''. The wording of the 1949 [[Third Geneva Convention]] was intentionally altered from that of the 1929 convention so that soldiers who "fall into the power" following surrender or mass capitulation of an enemy are now protected as well as those ''captured'' in the course of fighting.<ref>[[International Committee of the Red Cross|ICRC]] [http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebList?ReadForm&id=375&t=com Commentaries on the Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War] [http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/COM/375-590008?OpenDocument Article 5] "One category of military personnel which was refused the advantages of the Convention in the course of the Second World War comprised German and Japanese troops who fell into enemy hands on the capitulation of their countries in 1945 (6). The German capitulation was both political, involving the dissolution of the Government, and military, whereas the Japanese capitulation was only military. Moreover, the situation was different since Germany was a party to the 1929 Convention and Japan was not. Nevertheless, the German and Japanese troops were considered as surrendered enemy personnel and were deprived of the protection provided by the 1929 Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War."</ref><ref>[[International Committee of the Red Cross|ICRC]] [http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebList?ReadForm&id=375&t=com Commentaries on the Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War] [http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/COM/375-590008?OpenDocument Article 5] "Under the present provision, the Convention applies to persons who "fall into the power" of the enemy. This term is also used in the opening sentence of Article 4, replacing the expression "captured" which was used in the 1929 Convention (Article 1). It indicates clearly that the treatment laid down by the Convention is applicable not only to military personnel taken prisoner in the course of fighting, but also to those who fall into the hands of the adversary following surrender or mass capitulation."</ref>

Most captives of the Americans and the British were released by the end of 1948, and most of those in French and Soviet captivity were released by the end of 1949, although the last big release occurred in 1956. According to the section of the [[German Red Cross]] dealing with tracing the captives, the ultimate fate of 1,300,000 German POWs in Allied custody (mostly American) is still unknown; they are still officially listed as missing.<ref>[http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/537667.html?eid=537265 stern-Serie: Besiegt, befreit, besetzt – Deutschland 1945–48]</ref>