What happened to the Italian troops on the Russian Front?

When Italy surrendered in 1943, there must have been many Italian soldiers still on the Russian Front. What happened to these men? Did the Germans make them prisoners or did they continue to fight on under duress?

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I recommend you read the book “Sacrifice on the Steppes.” The soldiers suffered horribly in captivity, but many were released by the Russians after the war in order to go back and convince the Italians to support the Italian Communist Party. That did not work.

Sadly for them, they were not welcomed back with open arms by a country that was suffering economically and seemed to want to forget what happened.

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Excellent insights, thanks for post!

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