Historia provinciae: журнал региональной истории (Dec 2023)
Yaroslavl Aviation Cadets in Enemy Captivity (1942–1945)
Abstract
The article is devoted to the analysis of the German and Romanian captivity of the cadets of the Yaroslavl Military Aviation School of Fast Bombardiers. There is no special research devoted to this group of prisoners of war in Russian and foreign historiography. The author has determined the time, place, and circumstances of taking the cadets captive; counted their number; found out the location of the camps where they were held. Based on sources of personal origin, the author has established survival strategies in difficult conditions of captivity, forms of resistance, the fate of cadets after their release as well as the names and dates of death of some cadets who died in captivity. The author concludes that Yaroslavl cadets differed from the vast majority of Soviet prisoners of war in their level of education and intelligence, unconditional adherence to communist ideology, good physical fitness, and a sense of camaraderie. They were captured as a result of the defeats of the Red Army in the battles of May–July 1942 at the Crimean and Southern fronts. Like other Soviet prisoners of war, Yaroslavl cadets became victims of the Nazi genocide. Some of them died during the first months in captivity of starvation and diseases caused by it, targeted executions, and suicides. Some improvements in nutrition and accommodation of Soviet prisoners of war, made by the Nazis in order to maximize the use of their labor, increased the cadets’ chances for survival. They spent more than two years in Romanian captivity, and almost three years in German captivity. Maintaining friendly relations with former co-servicemen and other prisoners of war turned out to be a successful survival strategy for the captured Yaroslavl cadets. Along with this, they resorted to concealing their military rank and the presence of a special military education from the enemy. The main forms of anti-fascist resistance of cadets were sabotage at workplaces, escapes, and the continuation of armed struggle with the enemy in Soviet and foreign partisan detachments. Like other Soviet prisoners of war, they were subjected to checks by Soviet security agencies after their release and then tried to prove their loyalty to the Motherland on the war fronts. Nevertheless, for decades, the fact of having been held captive created obstacles to continuing education, career growth, and normal life.
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