From February 1st to March 8th, 1945, the 59th Collection and transit point (SPP) of the 31st Army sent 1,072 liberated POWs and 669 liberated civilians (654 men and 15 women) to the 199th Reserve Rifle Regiment. More civilians and liberated POWs were sent to various rear services of the army, a phenomenon which seems to have been common everywhere during this period:
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=450263191Directive of the Military Council of the 1st Belorussian Front No. 00469
By orders to the Front’s troops No. 035, 052, and 075 and by Order 020 -1945, exhaustive instructions were given on the issue of collecting and sending repatriates to collection-transit points [SPP) and commandant's offices, these same orders strictly forbid to arbitrary arrest of repatriates, enrolling them in units without checking at the SPP and use in any work without special permission from the Military Council of the Front.
Despite this, a number of violations of the established procedure for the repatriation of Soviet and Allied citizens and prisoners of war have recently been revealed.
Facts of illegal detention of repatriates by army and front units and unauthorized use of them in various jobs still take place, in particular such facts are available in 61st Army, where the number of illegally detained is up to 5,000 people. Similar violations were identified in 27 UOS RGK [ Defense Construction Department Number 27 of the Reserve of the High Command] and UVVR 20 [Department for Military Reconstruction Work Number 20].
The established procedure for the collection and management of certain categories of repatriates at army collection and transit points is violated. These checkpoints should only contain Soviet military personnel of the Red Army released from prison and freed from captivity, but in fact in many cases it is permitted to keep Soviet citizens and prisoners of war together with citizens and prisoners of war of the Allied countries.
Accounting for repatriates at army SPPs is poorly set up. Registration cards for Soviet citizens of military age and soldiers of the Red Army who passed through the points, released from captivity - are not filled out. There is no data on where, and how many of these persons were sent from the points.
At the additional assembly points created at the road units of the army, the joint detention of Soviet citizens together with citizens and prisoners of war of the allied countries is allowed (134th ODZB [Seperate Road Provisioning Battalion] of the 47th Army and others).
Some commanders and chiefs, especially of rear units and institutions, as well as military commanders of cities and regions, arbitrarily detain repatriates on their way to collection points and use them for work.
Over 9,000 repatriates were detained by the military commanders of cities and districts just during the period of the January offensive.
There are also individual cases when repatriates are subjected to illegal searches at the checkpoint, where their belongings and horses are taken from them.
Concerning this:
1) Establish proper order at the army collection and transit points, ensuring accurate accounting of the passing contingents and data on the further direction of each of them.
Do not allow the admission to the army SPP and contain in them any category of repatriates except for former Red Army soldiers and Soviet citizens of military age, released from captivity and imprisonment.
2) The Military Councils of the Armies of the Commanders and Chiefs of the Armed Forces and Services of the Front, will organize inspections of rear units and institutions, especially trophy and road-building ones.
All repatriates who are illegally detained or arbitrarily enlisted in these units and institutions must be taken and sent to the front-line SPP and commandant's offices, in accordance with orders to the front troops Number 020 and 023 - 1945.
The officials responsible for this will be severely punished.
3) For the required number of laborers from among the liberated Soviet citizens, submit substantiated applications to the Military Council of the front.
I categorically prohibit the employment of repatriates from among the military prisoners of war and citizens of the Allied countries for any work, these categories of repatriates can only be involved in work related to their personal service inside the commandant's offices, front-line collection points.
4) At all army and front SPPs, immediately separate Soviet citizens from foreigners and in the future do not allow them to be kept together, and even more so when both are kept together with German prisoners of war.
5) Shut down unauthorized illegal searches of repatriates and seizing of their property and means of transportation (oxen and horses).
6) Bringing repatriates on the way through the army subsidiary points at the road units is to be carried out in strict accordance with the Order of the Chief of the Rear of the Front Number 33-1945.
7) To the head of the rear of the front, ensure the uninterrupted supply of repatriates at the front-line SPPs and commandant's offices, with all types of provisions and the creation of established unreduced food supplies in commandant's offices and SPPs.
8) On the implementation of the directive by the Military Council of the Army, report implementation to me by May 7th.
9) I entrust the control over the implementation of this directive to the head of the repatriation department - Colonel Kurovsky.
https://pamyat-naroda.ru/documents/view/?id=130462076
Liberated POWs/civilians who couldn't be deployed for frontline service were still utilized as labor for the rear, especially in repair and construction, on a legal and illegal basis.