German POWs March on Moscow’s Garden Ring, July 17, 1944

August 14, 2025 - Reading time: 5 minutes

German POWs march through Moscow’s Garden Ring in July 1944 after their capture in Operation Bagration, with street-cleaning trucks symbolically following to cleanse the city of their presence.

The photograph depicts a vast column of German prisoners of war (POWs) marching along Moscow’s Garden Ring on July 17, 1944. Organized in groups of 600 men, twenty across, the procession involved approximately 57,000 POWs, including 19 generals, most captured during the crushing Belorussian Offensive (Operation Bagration).

This orchestrated march, known as the "Parade of the Vanquished", served as a public demonstration of Soviet military supremacy—not only for Moscow’s population, but also for the Allied nations and global observers. As the columns passed, street-washing trucks followed behind, symbolically "washing away the Nazi filth" from the city streets — a powerful mix of literal and propagandistic impact.

This moment remains one of the most visually and politically striking scenes of the Eastern Front—blending human procession, symbolic cleansing, and the tangible triumph of the Red Army over Nazi Germany.

Technical photo data:
📝 Source of information: Historical accounts of the “Parade of the Vanquished”
📍 Location: Garden Ring, Moscow, USSR
📅 Date of photo: July 17, 1944
📷 Photographer: Unknown

German POWs in Moscow 1944
Parade of the Vanquished USSR
Operation Bagration POW march
Garden Ring parade Moscow
Soviet propaganda photos WWII
Red Army Belarusian Offensive
July 17 1944 Moscow march
Street cleaning Nazi filth
Battle of Moscow Soviet display
WWII POW procession Moscow