Focus on Heimkehrerdenkmal and discuss the Association of Returnees, Prisoners of War and Relatives of the Missing (VdH).
Verband der Heimkehrer, Kriegsgefangenen und Vermisstenangehörigen Deutschlands translates to the Association of Returnees, Prisoners of War and Relatives of the Missing (VdH).  The VdH had the primary goal of  “working more effectively than before for the interests of homecomers.”  By 1961, the VdH had 160,000 members advocating for German prisoners of war and veterans.  The VdH spread its messages and posted missing soldier ads through the newspaper Der Heimkehrer: Stimme der Kriegsgeneration (roughly translated to “The Homecomer: Voice of the War Generation”).  The VdH requested compensation for soldiers whose return had been delayed by the Soviet Union and successfully advocated for the release of prisoners of war who remained in the Soviet Union. Because of the VdH, Chancellor Adenauer traveled to Moscow in 1955 to negotiate the release of and bring home 10,000 German prisoners of war.  The association also collaborated with other German organizations such as the German Red Cross to bring home German soldiers.
prisoners of war