In 1945 the U.S. built one of the many enclosures on the west bank of the Rhine–the so called Rheinwiesenlager– close to Remagen. The camps were used by the Allies to house captured Germans, often under very poor conditions. Several thousand prisoners are estimated to have died in the various camps, including 1,212 who are now buried in the Bad Bodendorf Cemetery. They were deprived of the legal protection that the Geneva Convention provides prisoners of war by being called Disarmed Enemy Forces. The International Red Cross was not permitted to investigate conditions in the camps.