A Prisoner of War Returns Home (1947) For many German POWs, imprisonment in a Soviet camp during and following World War II meant years of separation from home and family. The last German prisoners of war returned to the Federal Republic in 1955, right after Konrad Adenauer's trip to Moscow. In this photo, Franz Maier, who had just returned home after many years of Soviet imprisonment, enjoys his first family dinner in years. Photo by Hilmar Pabel.