There is an aspect of the North African campaign of 1940-1943, which "fell out" of the attention of researchers, did not find their proper assessment. This is E. Rommel's use of Soviet prisoners of war in fortification works to support combat operations: in the African theater of operations - more than 20 thousand people, in Italy - 10 thousand people. Key words: North Africa, Rommel, Soviet prisoners of war, repatriates. Arriving at the front, Rommel quickly became convinced that the personnel of the troops entrusted to him could hardly bear the African heat and the mercilessly blowing ghibli wind - a sandy drift that not only covered the eyes, ears and lungs with fine dust, but also made the optics opaque, and all military equipment unusable. The creation of any military infrastructure facilities in such conditions was out of the question. The soldiers didn't even have the strength to dig basic trenches, let alone equip combat positions. Rommel reported this to Berlin and asked the Stavka to select and place at his disposal more or less healthy Soviet citizens or prisoners of war who were in concentration camps or had been taken to Germany. E. Rommel's request was granted. In a short time, more than 20 thousand of our captured compatriots were transferred to the north of Africa, who began to build for Rommel's army everything that the war required: from trenches to deep-echeloned fortifications in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. "Russian slaves," as the Bedouins called them, were placed in sand ditches or hastily dug holes covered with tarpaulins. They were buried in sand, they died of hunger and disease, but under the muzzles of machine guns they did what was required of them, although every third person found their grave there. Field Marshal Rommel might not have lost the battle of North Africa so quickly if Berlin had not taken the best divisions from him and moved them to the Eastern Front, to Stalingrad. After the defeat at El Alamein, the fascist troops rolled bac ... Read more