World War I Prisoners of War Graves in the Urals: Modern State

Abstract

This article examines the death rate among foreign POWs held captive in the Urals during World War I and the contemporary state of their burial sites. The author studies the conditions in which POWs were kept in the Urals during World War I, reveals the causes and rate of deaths among the POWs, and characterizes the condition of military cemeteries surviving to the present day. The analysis is based upon documents in regional archives, data from parish registers and field expeditions. The article also describes the memorials for POWs remaining in various parts of the region, such as in Kirov, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, and Kurgan regions. The high death rate was primarily caused by the region’s severe climate and hardships of adaptation. Additionally, many deaths were caused by exogenous factors (typhoid, pneumonia and scurvy). The authores conclude that intensive work needs to be carried out to reveal, maintain and refurbish the burial sites of the POWs of World War I.