 In 1941 alone, two million of the 3.3 million German-held Soviet POWs—about 60%—died or were executed by the special SS "Action Groups" (Einsatzgruppen).By 1944, only 1.05 million of 5 million Soviet prisoners in German hands had survived.Of some 2–3 million German POWs in Russian hands, more than 1 million died.