Kerry, I found this in the Schiffer publication Russian T-34 Battle Tank by Horst Scheibert (1992):
"With the great numbers of destroyed and captured T-34's--especially form 1941 to 1943--it was only natural that many units of the German army filled their gaps with them. the tank and antitank units in particular utilized them, but so did the grenadiers, in the form of whole companies and platoons, but also as individual tanks. They all lasted as long as ammunition and spare parts were available--usually only a couple months--and always were used on the initiative of the troops. Whole units were never officially equipped with captured T-34 tanks.
Because of its 'hostile' silhouette, its crews were often more or less a suicide squad in poor visibility. The German crosses therefore painted on them considerably larger than on German tanks.
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