Finnish prisoners of war in the Soviet Union

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There were two waves of the Finnish prisoners of war in the Soviet Union during the World War II: POW of the Winter War (1939-1940) and prisoners of the Continuation War. [1]

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[edit] Winter War

The main camp for Finnish POW was established within the former monastery near Gryazovets in Vologda Oblast, Russia. NKVD planned much more POW in the Winter War and planned 9 camps to handle about 25,000 men, however during the whole Winter War there were about 900 Finnish POW, about 600 of which were placed in the Gryazivets camp. A total of 838 Finnish POWs were returned to Finland. The last party of Finns left Russia on April 20, 1940.[2]

[edit] Continuation War

During the Continuation War (1941-1944) Finland lost 3401 men as prisoners of war.[3] From those, 2476 were registered by NKVD, of which 1972 were handled by POW camps with the majority handled by Camp no. 158 in Cherepovets, Vologda Oblast, and its subcamps.[2]

From all captured, 582 were captured during the Finnish offensive at 1941, 506 during 1942-3 and 2313 during the Soviet offensive of 1944. In addition 289 persons switched sides voluntarily, and 76 of those returned to Finland as spies during the war.

1954 prisoners were returned after the war. Nearly all of them were returned home by the end of 1945, with the exception of convicted and several men who decided to stay in the Soviet Union.[2]

[edit] Aftermath

In 1992 a memorial monument was established at the Cherepovets cemetery, where the Finnish POW were buried.[2]

[edit] See also

  • Soviet prisoners of war in Finland (in Russian)[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ V. Galitsky (1997) "Finnish Prisoners of War in NKVD Camps (1939-1953)" ISBN 5-7873-0005-X (Russian)
  2. ^ a b c d Finnish POW during the World War II, Viktor Konasov, North magazine (“Север”) no. 11-12, 2002 (Russian)
  3. ^ Timo Malmi and Teuvo Alava:Jatkosodan sotavankitilasto, Tampere, 1994