The Problem of Mortality among Soviet Prisoners of War in Finland (1939–1944)

Abstract

The article examines the problem of mortality among Soviet prisoners of war in Finland in the period between 1939 and 1944. Memoirs of former prisoners of war and documents from the State Archives of the Russian Federation were used as the main sources. The fonds dedicated to the repatriation of Soviet citizens (F-9526) contains information about war crimes against Soviet soldiers in Finnish captivity. The first part of the article examines the issue of the number of Soviet prisoners of war in the territory of Finland from 1941 to 1944. An analysis of historiography and a complex of historical sources revealed that during the initial period of the conflict some of the prisoners of war were not recorded. The status of Soviet prisoners of war in Finnish camps depended on compliance with Finnish legislation, since none of the international agreements, such as the Fourth Hague Convention and the Geneva Convention of 1929, were ratified by the Soviet Union in full. This resulted in a harsh system of punishments against Soviet prisoners of war and also to difficulties in providing them with the necessary medical care, food, etc. In the period between 1941 and 1944, the number of Soviet prisoners of war in the Finnish territory was significantly higher than during the Winter War, for which the Finnish side was not ready. During the first months of the Continuation War, the camp and administrative organization of prisoners of war had to be expanded at an accelerated pace, and the resulting confusion indicates a lack of preparation and indifference to the problem of prisoners of war, since it was not a priority of the offensive war. The final part of the article highlights a set of factors that influenced the high mortality rate of Soviet prisoners of war in Finnish camps in the initial period of the Soviet-Finnish war of 1941–44. Among them were malnutrition, unacceptable living conditions, backbreaking toil, harsh climate, lack of attention to the health of prisoners of war, and the policy of the leadership of a particular camp.

Keywords

• finland
• ussr
• concentration camps
• prisoners of war
• captivity
• imprisonment
• finnish administration
• winter war
• continuation war