Soviet Prisoners Of War Research Articles

The Extermination of Red Army Soldiers in German Captivity, 1941–1945: Causes, Patterns, Dimensions

ABSTRACT Captive Red Army soldiers made up the majority of victims of Nazi Germany’s starvation policy against Soviet civilians and other non-combatants and thus constituted the largest single victim group of the German war of annihilation against the Soviet Union. Indeed, Soviet prisoners of war were the largest victim group of all National Socialist annihilation policies after the European Jews. Before the launch of Operation Barbarossa, it was clear to the Wehrmacht planning departments on exactly what scale they could expect to capture Soviet troops. Yet, they neglected to make the necessary preparations for feeding and sheltering the captured soldiers, who were viewed by the economic staffs and the military leadership alike as direct competitors of German troops and the German home front for precious food supplies. The number of extra mouths to feed was incompatible with German war aims. The obvious limitations on their freedom of movement and the relative ease with which large numbers could be segregated and their rations controlled were crucial factors in the death of over 3 million Soviet POWs, the vast majority directly or indirectly as a result of deliberate policies of neglect, undernourishment, and starvation while in the ‘care’ of the Wehrmacht. The most reliable figures for the mortality of Soviet POWs in German captivity reveal that up to 3.3 million died from a total of just over 5.7 million captured between June 1941 and February 1945 — a proportion of almost 58 percent. Of these, 2 million were already dead by the beginning of February 1942. In English, there is still neither a single monograph nor a single edited volume dedicated to the subject. This article now provides the first detailed stand-alone synthesis in that language addressing the whole period from 1941 to 1945.

Soviet Prisoners of War in the “Technische Brigade Mineralöl” (Mineral Oil Technical Brigade)

Soviet Prisoners of War in the “Technische Brigade Mineralöl” (Mineral Oil Technical Brigade)

“We must fight!”. The resistance of the Jews to the genocidal policy in Kremenchuk (1941–1943)

The article examines an almost unexplored topic about the resistance of the Jews to the Nazi genocidal policy in Kremenchuk. The author reviewed historiographical developments on this issue, outlined terminology, and characterized the source base (a part of the sources is introduced into scientific circulation for the first time). The article analyzes the factors that influenced Holocaust flow in the city: the evolution of the “Final Solution to the Jewish Question” during the occupation of the town; events at the front that determined the priority of current tasks for rear structures; demands or the lack of demands for Jewish labor, etc. In accordance with this, the author researched the condition of local Jews and Jews-prisoners of war who got to the Kremenchuk due to the encirclement of parts of the South-Western Front and analyzed the dynamics of the implementation of the Holocaust in the city.The article considers the aspects that prevented the development of a purely Jewish resistance movement in Kremenchuk. Therefore the author explores the opposition of Jews at the individual level and their activities as a member of underground organizations that actively helped Jews (those who were prisoners of war, local people, and those who arrived in the city during the occupation). Consequently, it was investigated that thanks to the cooperation of leaders from among the Soviet prisoners of war and local activists, it was possible to create an effective infrastructure for providing help and rescue to persecuted groups, including Jews. For example, in the «Patriot of the Motherland» underground organization, this infrastructure consisted of a prisoner of war camp, the first city hospital, a Red Cross station, and underground apartments. This enabled those persecuted within the framework of underground organizations to effectively resist the Nazi genocidal policy. The article also analyzes, on an individual level, how both local and Jewish prisoners of war, as well as those who arrived in Kremenchuk, resisted the genocide.

Camp in Pravieniškės near Kaunas in 1941–1944

The camp in Pravieniškės was located within the administrative boundaries of Pravieniškės, located about 25 km from Kaunas. It was established during the period of the Republic of Lithuania, as a correctional facility. In August 1941 the Germans established the Pravieniškės Transitional Labour Camp (Zwangsarbeitslager Provenischken) there, which from 1943 was a branch of the Kaunas Concentration Camp (KL Kaunas) and continued to serve as a labour camp. Detainees were brought to this camp from the prisons of the General Commissariat of Lithuania, i.e. the Lukiszki Prison in Vilnius, the Kaunas Prison and Ponevezh (Panevėžys). People of various nationalities were held in Pravieniškės (Prawieniszki): Lithuanians (60%), Poles, Russians, Roma and Jews (mainly from the Kaunas ghetto). About 1,000 prisoners could be held in this camp at a time. People were sent here for a variety of offences: political prisoners, violators of forced labour orders, Soviet prisoners of war with their families, and those convicted of common crimes. Also incarcerated in Pravieniškės by administrative decision were deserters from the German army convicted of evading military service in the German army. People of Polish nationality placed in Pravieniškės were mainly accused of belonging to the resistance movement, communist activity, listening to the radio, possession of weapons, sabotage, escape from forced labour and communist activity. Guards executed prisoners on the camp grounds and in nearby forests. About 280 Jews were shot there in August 1941, and another 253 Jews in September 1941. Also, many attempts to escape from the camp were punished by execution. As the Eastern Front approached the borders of the Reich, the process of obliterating the traces of the crimes committed began. Due to the relatively small number of those murdered, it was not necessary for the notorious Sonderkommando 1005 to arrive in the area. A few dozen men directed to burn the corpses of those murdered in the nearby forest were enough. Members of the Pravieniškės camp crew were tried after the war by various organs of the Soviet justice system: courts, tribunals and collegia. Also in Poland, at the Institute of National Remembrance in Gdansk, an investigation was conducted into the case. Beginning in mid-July 1944, people convicted by Soviet tribunals were incarcerated in the camp in Pravieniškės: former camp guards, as well as members of the Vilnius Home Army arrested after Operation ‘Ostra Brama’. The prisoners were again employed to work on the peat bog and in the camp greenhouse. Today, every Lithuanian associates the name of Pravieniškės with the prison. A penitentiary facility still operates on the site of the former camp with places for 2,500 inmates, including those sentenced to life imprisonment.

Another forgotten genocide. Review of the book: Soviet Prisoners of War in the Second World War on Polish Soil: Collected Articles / Edited by J. Wojtkowiak; translated by M. A. Krysan. St. Petersburg: Aletheia, 2018. 196 p

Another forgotten genocide. Review of the book: Soviet Prisoners of War in the Second World War on Polish Soil: Collected Articles / Edited by J. Wojtkowiak; translated by M. A. Krysan. St. Petersburg: Aletheia, 2018. 196 p

ГЕРМАНИЯДАҒЫ КЕҢЕСТІК СОҒЫС ТҰТҚЫНДАРЫНАН ЖАСАҚТАЛҒАН ӘСКЕРИ БӨЛІМДЕР

There are problems in the history of World War II that at certain periods of modern history have been a stumbling block for researchers seeking impartial study and objective interpretation of historical events and phenomena. Someof these problems, in particular the history of the creation of military units from Soviet prisoners of war, served as a pretext for political repression during the Stalinist period. In Soviet historiography, the initiative to create military formations from Soviet POWs was prescribed to emigrants who had left for European countries in the early years of the establishment of Soviet power in the former Russian Empire. In reality, a variety of historical factors influenced the creation of volunteer formations from POWs.

Dėmėtosios šiltinės epidemija Lietuvoje Antrojo pasaulinio karo metais (1941–1944 m.)

ANNOTATION. The article dwells on cases of typhus in Lithuania in 1941–1944, offers an analysis of the spread of the disease, the number of cases, and the preventive measures applied by German and Lithuanian officials. It was established that during the German occupation, typhus spread in Lithuania in two ways. The disease was first spread by Soviet prisoners of war, and later by civilians who were evacuated from the Soviet Union. The largest number of cases was recorded in parts of Lithuania where typhus was most often detected before the Second World War. KEYWORDS: typhus, epidemic, prisoners of war, evacuated civilians, sanitation, prevention.

Prestupleniya nacistov i ih posobnikov na okkupirovannoj territorii Severo-Zapada Rossii (1941—1944 gg.)

The leadership of the Third Reich viewed the North-West of Russia as a region that was supposed to become part of “Greater Germany”. This determined the specificity of the region. From the summer of 1941 to January 1944, the frontline was not far from both Leningrad and Novgorod. Under the conditions of the Nazi occupation regime, monuments of material culture were to be destroyed; local residents and Soviet prisoners of war were to be killed. From the beginning of autumn 1943, the invaders began the mass deportation of the population of the North-West of Russia to the West, behind the Panther line: to the Baltic states and Germany. Latvian and Estonian collaborators were active assistants of the Nazis in the implementation of their criminal policy.

СОВЕТСКИЕ ВОЕННОПЛЕННЫЕ В ГЕРМАНИИ, 1941–1945 ГГ. – НЕЖЕЛАТЕЛЬНАЯ ДЛЯ НЕМЕЦКОГО ОБЩЕСТВА ТЕМА?

In German and Russian historiography, the tragic fate of the Soviet prisoners of war in Germany during the Second World War has not been suffi- ciently explored. Very few researchers have addressed this topic in recent times. In the contemporary German society, the subject remains obscured. There are attempts to reflect this tragedy in documentary films. The author analyses the destiny of the documentary film “Keine Kameraden”, which was shot in 2011 and has not yet been shown on the German television. It tells the story of the Soviet prisoners of war, most of whom died in the Nazi concentration camps in 1941– 1945. The personal history of some of the Soviet soldiers who died in the German captivity is reflected, their lives before the war are described, and the relatives of the deceased and the surviving prisoners of war are interviewed. The film features the German historians who have written books about the Soviet prisoners. All the attempts taken by the civil society organizations and the historians to influence the German public opinion so that the film could be shown on German television to a wider audience were unsuccessful. The film was seen by the viewers in Italy on the state channel RAI 3. Even earlier, in 2013, the film was shown in Russia on the channel “Kultura” and received the Pushkin Prize.

Запобігання героїзації військових злочинців та легалізації нацизму: практичні аспекти

The content of the legal norms enshrining the concepts of Nazism, Holocaust is determined in the research via the use of hermeneutic approach and formal and legal method. Broad and narrow approaches to interpreting these concepts in scientific doctrine have been identified. Their relationship with each other and with the concepts of crimes against humanity and international crimes has been clarified. The countries where Holocaust denial is a criminal offense have been identified. It has been established that jurisdiction of these cases has is not governed in the national legislation of Ukraine. It is concluded that there is no regulatory definition of the concept of the Holocaust at either international or national level. It is proposed to consider the concept of Holocaust as a form of genocide. In order to prevent corruption-causing factors in the regulatory governance of the issue and discrimination against the rights of any racial group, it is proposed to define the concept of Holocaust via a broad approach. The need for the legislator to take into account the intention of Nazis to completely exterminate not only Jews but also Roma, Poles, to take into account the facts of abuse, inhumane medical experiments on Soviet prisoners of war, murders and slave labor of the Slavs, the intention of assimilating civilians of the USSR with German racial group or relocate them beyond the Urals or exterminate when defining the concept of the Holocaust has been substantiated. It has been established that in violation of Article 1, paragraph 1, subparagraph 20 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status and Honoring the Memory of Fighters for the Independence of Ukraine in the Twentieth Century” No. 314 dated 09.04.2015 the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine did not approve the list of organizations, structures and formations existing during the twentieth century aimed at obtaining, restoring or protecting the independence of Ukraine. It has been established that the legislation does not define specific forms of legal and illegal fighting for independence of Ukraine. There is no regulatory definition of fighters for the independence of Ukraine (specific individuals, organizations, other formations) related to the National Socialist Workers’ Party of Germany and its units (SA, SD, SS, Gestapo). A number of recommendations have been provided. In particular, to open access to information about the persecution and mass extermination of Jews, Roma and Slavs during the Second World War, to approve the list of legal and illegal forms of fighting for independence, fighters for independence in the twentieth century.

СОВЕТСКИЕ ВОЕННОПЛЕННЫЕ В ГЕРМАНИИ: КОММЕМОРАТИВНЫЕ ПРАКТИКИ ПЕРВЫХ ПОСЛЕВОЕННЫХ ЛЕТ

The paper presents an important part of the Soviet memory policy in Germany in 1945–1949 – the activities of the Soviet military to identify and record the graves, as well as to establish the identity of the Soviet citizens who have died in captivity – the prisoners of war and the so-called “Eastern workers”. It was also of great importance to record the atrocities committed by the Nazis against Soviet citizens. The article shows the process of forming a system of interaction between the Soviet military and the German local self-governing authorities, as well as the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition; the establishment of the system was necessary for the implementation of the above mentioned objectives. The specifics of the activities of the Soviet military missions in the western zones of occupation in Germany is pointed out, with the emphasis laid on the zone of British occupation, where the infamous Nazi camps for the Soviet prisoners of war were located, and the death toll was extremely high. Special attention is paid to the change in the position of the Soviet military missions in West Germany in connection with the escalation of the Cold War. The present paper displays the position that the Soviet prisoners of war who have died in captivity and the “Eastern workers” have taken in the modern culture of memory of Russia. The conclusion is made about the need for their commemoration as a kind of return to their homeland after many years of silence and oblivion.

Through Thorns of Concentrations Camps: Unknown Pages in the Fates of Soviet Prisoners of War of 1941-1945 (A Case Study of Inductees from Izhevsk)

Through Thorns of Concentrations Camps: Unknown Pages in the Fates of Soviet Prisoners of War of 1941-1945 (A Case Study of Inductees from Izhevsk)

New archival documents on the history of Soviet prisoners of war in Norway during the Great Patriotic War

New archival documents on the history of Soviet prisoners of war in Norway during the Great Patriotic War

The Historical Memory of Soviet Prisoners of War and Ostarbeiters in the Exposition of the Kaliningrad History and Art Museum in 1960s-1980s

The Historical Memory of Soviet Prisoners of War and Ostarbeiters in the Exposition of the Kaliningrad History and Art Museum in 1960s-1980s

Nacistična rekrutacija in urjenje sovjetskih vojnih ujetnikov na primeru 162. turkestanske divizije (1942–1943)

Članek bo na primeru pripadnikov 162. turkestanske divizije prikazal kako so nemški nacisti na območju Operacijske cona Jadranskega Primorja (OZAK) uporabljali kolaboracioniste, ki so bili pripeljani iz Sovjetske zveze. Raziskava, ki temelji predvsem na nemškem arhivskem gradivu, bo opisala kako je do rekrutacije Turkestanov sploh prišlo, potek njihovega urjenja, zapleten odnos med nemškim in turkestanskimi vojaki, ki je pogosto mejil na rasizem in nacistično uporabo te enote v boju proti partizanom na območju OZAK.

Hungarian Troops in World War II: The Bitter Truth of Archival Documents and an Attempt at Revision

This study analyses how Hungarian historiography reflects the revision of the results of the Great Patriotic War. From the position of the ideas of totalitarianism, Hungarian historian Krisztián Ungváry equals the roles of Nazi Germany and the USSR played in World War II, thus equating the two regimes. A number of Hungarian historians distort the role of the Hungarian occupation army in the genocide on Soviet territory and falsify the history of the partisan war, ignoring the peculiar annihilative character of the Nazi war in the East. Ungváry completely overlooks the fundamental differences between the fates of German and Soviet prisoners of war. This study aims to provide a brief overview of the reasons for this distorted approach. The second part of the publication mostly focuses on the falsification of sources and the neglect of objective statistics. The neglect of documents from Russian archives in national Hungarian historiography, caused by misunderstood patriotism, is capable of not only splitting public opinion but is also very distant from the principles of academic scholarship.

The Espionage Connected to the Soviet Prisoners of War Graves in Northern Norway 1945-51

ABSTRACT When the war ended in Norway in May 1945, Norwegians and liberated Soviet prisoners of war celebrated together. Six years later, in 1951, the bodies of the 8,000 buried Soviet prisoners of war in Northern Norway were dug up, bagged and shipped to a collective war cemetery at Helgeland in Nordland. The relocation of the Soviet war graves was named “Operation Asphalt” and the authorities tried to keep it secret. The operation was not uncontroversial. The Soviets, who had been tortured and mistreated by the German occupiers in Norway during World War II, were met with sympathy by Norwegians. This paper examines how the Cold War era and foreign affairs affected the collection of the Soviet war graves, following the process from 1945 to 1951. Further, the paper discusses how Norway’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from 1949, and the threat of escalating Soviet activities in response to the war graves in Norway contributed to suspiciousness and dramatically changed the Norwegian war graves policy.

On the Question of Using the Civilian Population of the USSR by German Intelligence in 1941–1944

During 1941–1944 the German occupation and intelligence services created an extensive network of training centers (schools and courses) in the occupied territories of the USSR. Mostly Soviet prisoners of war were involved in reconnaissance and sabotage work, although a significant number of agents were recruited from the civilian (non-military) population. First, people who were in active or passive opposition to the Soviet regime were attracted: former emigrants, those repressed or dispossessed, ideological opponents, criminals, and others. At the same time, a significant number of agents were recruited from the civilian population who remained in the occupied territories, especially from its most vulnerable categories (women and children). The recruited agents were used to carry out reconnaissance and sabotage missions, both in the rear of the USSR and in parts of the Red Army, and against the resistance movement. On the territory of the BSSR occupied by the Germans, sixteen training centers were opened where saboteur children were trained, and more than twenty were opened to train “agents in skirts”. Similar schools and courses were opened in Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states. The Soviet secret services and partisan counterintelligence bodies were well informed about such work of the German secret organs. The performance of agents trained from among the civilian population was low. There were some tactical successes and actions by enemy agents (especially on the eve and during the period of punitive operations), but strategically this work by the Germans actually failed.

From comprehension of the system to reconstruction of a separate fate: About the book of R. Otto and R. Keller «Soviet prisoners of war in the system of concentration camps»

From comprehension of the system to reconstruction of a separate fate: About the book of R. Otto and R. Keller «Soviet prisoners of war in the system of concentration camps»

Solidarity and Animosity among Sonderkommando Prisoners in Auschwitz-Birkenau

ABSTRACTA detailed analysis of testimonies of the survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau’s Sonderkommando (Special Squad), which had to assist the SS murderers in perpetrating their crimes of mass murder conducted in Birkenau’s gas chambers, delivers a new insights in the social structure of that very special work Kommando. Differing social, national, cultural and religious backgrounds, as well as the different languages spoken by the members of the Sonderkommando, let to the establishment of different groups within the Kommando. Within and in-between these groups arose a special social dynamic, that oscillated between solidarity and animosity. Central conflicts arose between Polish and Greek Jews and with the Soviet prisoners of war, or between Greek and Hungarian Jews. Another source of conflict was that in order to form the social structure within the camp and the Kommando, the SS established a system of ‘Functionaries.’ As in other parts of the camp, the functionaries of the Sonderkommando made use of their privileges in very different ways: while some supported other prisoners, the resistance movement and the uprising, others are remembered by the survivors as cruel. However, despite all the conflicts and the dreadful reality of the Sonderkommando’s work, the analyzed testimonies of the survivors belonging to different of the groups within the Kommando show, that solidary relations played an important role for the members of the Sonderkommando; not only within the Kommando but also towards prisoners from other parts of the camp. The testimonies show that the solidarity among the Sonderkommando prisoners had many forms: the support of religious Jews to live according to their belief, friendships, the support of weaker or younger prisoners within or without the Kommando, the establishment of a set of rules for the daily conduct and last but not least: the courageous resistance activities that led to the uprising of 7 October 1944.