Dunno which camps you are talking about, but as far as prisoners of war are concerned it might be worth peeps being aware that only officers POWs in our armed forces were not given work to do, as by the Geneva convention they were not allowed to do any. That didn't cover other ranks and NCOs who, poor sods, often ended up working for the Nazis.
But as you can see from this,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner_of_war#Western_Allies'_POWs
It all depended on who you were and which country you fought for as to how you got treated.
I've read extensively on this subject and it a sad but fascinating one.
Just one factoid, the three Brits who escaped via the Wooden Horse, ALL made it back to Blighty.
Of the many who escaped from the
same camp, in the Great Escape, only three made a home run and none were Brits or Yanks, one was Dutch and two were Norwegian, both races that were basically allowed to move around in occupied territories anyway, with the right papers. So much easier. and they had the German language skills.
The other 73 escapees got recaptured and 50 of them got shot.
But life for the Russians, the Jews, the other eastern nations and lots of other "untermenschen" or resisters in other camps or not was terrible and all too often short. To say nothing of the "death marches".
, but I believe you
