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The issue of child POWs was not addressed in the Geneva Convention. American soldiers had to deal with it in the final year of the War. We belive that it was usuallybdealtwith on an ad hoc basis. We have read that American GIs in the front lines disarmed and sent the younger boys home. Thus was most likely for the pre--teen boys caughtbup in the War. Older teenagers were probably processsed as normal POWs. This depended on the attitudes of individual soldiers. We also note some teenage HJ boys being caught spying and engaged in espionage. Some were apparently tried and executed. There were no summary executions. And as far as we know the youngest boy shot for spying was 17 years old. We have not been able to find any actual regulations on this. It would have been something that the Western Allies only began encountering after they actually entered the Reich. There were youths in the regular Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS units, but these were older teenagers. Omv thevfighting moved intothe Reich, the Allies began encountering younger boys, many younger teeagers and even pre-teens. We have heard that the general Anerican approach to German POWs aged 15 and younger was to disarm them and send them home, but have no reliable source. This would have been possible when the boys were mobilized close to home. But this was not always the case, espeially for Volksstrum units. Sending the boiys home vwould have been mostly iikeky by front line units. The boys involved in mass surrenders would have taken some time to process and arrange for a safe way of getting the youmger boys home.
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