The aim of this paper is to study the selection effects of mortality among Italian prisoners in German and Austro Hungarian camps in WW1. To achieve this goal, I use the individual-level data of around 3,500 soldiers born between 1884 and 1899 in Military District of Rovigo (north-eastern Italy). Almost 12% of these soldiers died in captivity. A data set was constructed using the Ruoli matricolari (army’s muster roles). In this paper, I consider, as explanatory variables, the military corps which the soldiers belonged to, some individual demographic characteristics, such as age, socio-economic factors, such as occupation and literacy, and anthropometric factors, such as stature. The results of my analyses show that in captivity there were individual characteristics that increased and others that decreased death risks. These characteristics depended partly on the soldier’s career into the army and partly on his individual characteristics.