The book was presented to Mr Putin by Carl Lange, president of the German War Graves Association, in the presence of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
It was the first collection of photographs and documents dealing with a thousand and a half Soviet prisoners of war who died in Hammelburg. The authors of the book hoped that from the photographs relatives could identify loved ones who were reported missing.
In the preface to the book, Mr Schroeder noted that it marked the beginning of a massive project to establish the names of the Soviet and German servicemen who died in imprisonment during the Second World War.