Побеги военнопленных из тамбовских лагерей в годы Второй мировой войны. 1942–1946 гг.
Escapes of Prisoners of War from Tambov Camps during the Second World War. 1942–1946

Summary/Abstract: The article describes escapes of war prisoners of German army and its allies from Tambov camps. It is based on unpublished archival sources. The author separates the main periods, the reasons and objectives of the flights, the national structure of the fugitives. Initially, the prisoners tried to escape to the front line, hoping to return to their military units. Since 1944 the flight had given the prisoners possibility to get away from the camp daily, hard conditions of life and work at least for a short period of time. The leadership of the camps paid special attention to the prevention of escapes, improving the guarding system, control over the prisoners at work, collecting information on their moods. In 1944–1945 there was a growing number of flights from the places of work where it was impossible to ensure the necessary control. The author points out that the government of the USSR fulfilled all the international obligations on the maintenance and punishment of fugitives.

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