There were two waves of the Finnish prisoners of war in the Soviet Union during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

: POWs during the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

and the Continuation War.

Winter War

Before the

(1939–1940), the Soviet Union established the main camp for Finnish POWs within the former monastery near Gryazovets in Vologda Oblast,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

. The

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

expected the war to result in many POWs and planned nine camps to handle about 25,000 men. However, over the whole of the Winter War there were only about 900 Finnish POWs, about 600 of who 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.Finnish POW during the World War II
Viktor Konasov, ''North'' magazine ("Север") no. 11–12, 2002

Continuation War

The number of Finnish prisoners of war during the Continuation War (1941–1944) is estimated from 2,377 to 3,500 persons.

Soviet and Russian views

According to the official Soviet statistics, Finland lost 2,377 men as prisoners of war, and their

mortality rate Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of d ...

was 17 percent. According to Russian historian Viktor Konasov, 2,476 Finns were registered by the

(People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs), of which 1,972 were handled by POW camps with the majority handled by Camp no. 158 in

Cherepovets Cherepovets ( rus, Череповец, p=tɕɪrʲɪpɐˈvʲɛts) is a city in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the west of the oblast on the banks of the Sheksna River (a tributary of the Volga River) and on the shores of the Rybinsk Reservoir. ...

, Vologda Oblast, and its subcamps. Of all captured, 582 were from the Finnish offensive in 1941, 506 during 1942–1943 and 2,313 during the Soviet offensive of 1944.

Finnish historians

Finnish historians estimate the number of prisoners was around 3,500 persons, of whom five were women. The number of deceased is estimated around 1,500 persons. Approximately 2,000 persons returned home. It is estimated that the mortality rate was even 40 percent. The result is different from the Soviet statistics, where officials mainly checked only prisoners who survived to reach a prison camp. Finnish studies have tracked individuals and their fates. Most common causes of death were hunger, cold and oppressive transportation. In the beginning of capture, executions of Finnish prisoners of war were mainly done by the Soviet partisans. The partisans operated deep inside Finnish territory and they mainly executed their soldier and civilian POWs after a minor interrogation. Usually Finnish officer POWs had a chance to survive until arriving for a major interrogation at the headquarters of Soviet Karelian partisans or the Karelian Front, or quarters of the

. After this, a Finnish POW had a much better chance to stay alive until the end of the war. The high mortality rate of prisoners of war had objective issues, such as huge territory losses in the beginning of the war and high number of POWs. There were shortages of food and medicine, and POWs had to work exhausting duties in labor camps. Furthermore, medical treatment was of a very low standard. However, overall the treatment of Finnish POWs was humane being war time.

Aftermath

In 1992 a memorial monument was established at

cemetery, where Finnish POWs were buried.

References

External links

* Soviet prisoners of war in Finland (in Russia

{{World War II Finnish prisoners of war Military history of Finland during World War II *Finnish Continuation War Winter War Unfree labor in the Soviet Union Finland–Soviet Union relations