and after May 5". The motive was twofold: both an unwillingness to follow the Geneva convention now that the threat of German reprisals against Allied POWs was gone, and also they were "to an extent unable to meet the high standards of the Geneva code" for the large number of captured Germans. Following the surrender of Italy to the Allies in September 1943, German forces took around one million Italian military personnel prisoner. These personnel were designated "Italian military internees" and not granted the rights of POWs under the Geneva Conventions, as the German government claimed that they were not POWs as the two countries had not been at war. This continued, despite Italy’s subsequent declaration of war on Germany on October 13th, 1943. Approximately 600,000 of the captured Italians were subsequently transported to Germany and required to work as forced labourers in generally harsh conditions. See also Debellatio (destruction of a sovereign state after war) Surrendered Enemy Personnel (the UK equivalent) Surrendered Italian personnel (Italian military personnel treated as forced labourers by Nazi Germany) Japanese Surrendered Personnel Foreign forced labor in the Soviet Union Forced labour under German rule during World War II Food and agriculture in Nazi Germany Prisoner of war Enemy combatant (designation used in early 21st century to similarly circumvent Geneva Convention protections) Notes References Further reading Colonel Harold E. Potter. First year of the Occupation, Occupation Forces in Europe Series, 1945–46, Office of the Chief Historian, European Command ICRC Commentaries on the Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War Article 5 Lee Smith, Arthur. Die"vermisste Million" Zum Schicksal deutscher Kriegsgefangener nach dem zweiten Weltkrieg, Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 1992, External links France's Deadly Mine-Clearing Missions Surviving German POWs Seek Compensation. Georg Bönisch, Der Spiegel Online, international edition August 25, 2008. Germans forced to run across minefields ("Tvang tyskere til å løpe over minefelt") Video Extract from Norwegian documentary on Germans forced to clear minefields in Norway. Note: German protests that forcing POWs to clear mines was against international law, article 32 of the Geneva conventions, were rejected with the assertion that the Germans were not POWs; they were disarmed forces who had surrendered unconditionally ("avvæpnede styrker som hadde overgitt seg betingelsesløst"). Mine clearance reports received by the Allied Forces Headquarters state: June 21, 1945; 199 dead and 163 wounded Germans; 3 Norwegians and 4 British wounded. The last registration, from August 29, 1945 lists