The Russians
The Russians |
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The information below is mainly extracted from a History of Stalag 18A written by Barbara Stelzl-Marx of the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on War Consequences in Graz (Address: Schoergelgasse 43, 8010 Graz, Austria).
The photographs come from two sources: Peter Eastwood, son of Staff Sgt William Eastwood, RAC, and Mike Riddle, son of Private Alfred Riddle of the Black Watch.
It seems obvious to me that the majority of the photographs were taken on the same occasion: the arrival of a group of Russian POWs, possibly in late 1941. It also seems obvious that whoever took the pictures was certainly not a British POW.
| Peoter Leniz | died 1.11.41 |
| Vassili Mostovoi | died 1.11.41 |
| Grigorii Yevtoschenko | died 3.11.41 |
| Nikolai Ljealin | died 3.11.41 |
| Petro Vesolovski | died 6.11.41 |
| Petr Lotozki | died 7.11.41 |
| Vladimir Deryagin | died 8.11.41 |
| Feodor Nasarov | died 10.11.41 |
| Alexei Morosov | died 11.11.41 |
| Stefan Nemey | died 11.11.41 |
| Mikolai Vakuluk | died 13.11.41 |
| Grigori Levkov | died 15.11.41 |
| Ivan Yershov | died 18.11.41 |
| Timofei Selesniov | died 18.11.41 |
| Alexander Dietschenko | died 20.11.41 |
| Yemelyan Novikov | died 20.11.41 |
| Vladimir Bandarenko | died 21.11.41 |
| Ivan Kiss | died 22.11.41 |
| Ivan Rasputin | died 22.11.41 |
| Ivan Baranov | died 23.11.41 |
| Ivan Kiritschenko | died 26.11.41 |
Russian POW's began to arrive soon after Germany invaded Russia in 1941. These men were in a very poor state, most having traveled more than a thousand miles with very little food. On arrival at Stalag XVIII A, the Russian prisoners would be stripped and, despite the low temperature, showered in cold and hot water. In their already weakened state, many died.
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| Stripping for showers |
Unfortunately they brought typhus into the camp and many prisoners died of the disease before it could be brought under control by the British doctors. Russia was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention and so these prisoners received no Red Cross parcels or gifts from home. Every day a sack would be circulated around the British compound for any food that could be spared but this was far too little for so many. Sometimes the Russians would line up for food with a dead man held up in his coat, in order to get his ration.
Compared to the other nationalities the Russians were without exception more badly treated. For instance, the bread issued to the Russians, known as 'Russenbrot', was of inferior quality and quantity. Half of it consisted of red rye, the rest comprising 20% sugar waste, 20% mealie and 10% straw meal or foliage, resulting not just in malnutrition but deterioration of the digestive system. The 'soup' also provided, called 'Balanda', consisted of bone, buck-wheat, turnip and uncleaned, usually rotten potatoes.
The death rate in the Russian compound outstripped the supply of coffins. This problem was solved by putting two bodies into each coffin.
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| Two bodies to one coffin | Loading the coffins | Corpses |
The National Socialist ideology forbade any recognition of the Soviets as human beings and consequently no preparations were made for the injection of Russian work parties. Indeed, the heavy workload imposed, together with the lack of food, points to the intention to work them to exhaustion and death. As a result, 60% of the 3.5 million Russian prisoners died in 1941.
The arrival of the Russians was to have a long-lasting effect upon my father. One of these POW's
struck him on the head with a lump of wood, so severely that his life hung in the balance for some
days. Soon after the war, Dad began to suffer from epilepsy and required medication for the rest
of his life. He died at the age of 58 from a stroke.
