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Petition to Soviet Authorities from a Group of Polish POW Colonels to Define Their Status and Observe International Standards for the Treatment of POWs

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By Group of Polish Prisoner-of-War Colonels

Katyn: A Crime Without Punishment

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Document 39

Petition to Soviet Authorities from a Group of Polish POW Colonels to Define Their Status and Observe International Standards for the Treatment of POWs

First published in Novy Mir, 2 (1991), pp. 213–215.

7 January 1940, Starobelsk

Copy

Town of Starobelsk

Colonels' Group

Starobelsk

32 Kirov Street

7 January 1940

I. General Matters

We request that you clarify for us the relationship of the USSR government toward us, specifically:

1. Are we considered prisoners of war?

If so, we ask to be treated according to the rules accepted by all governments regarding POWs, and above all: a) give us the possibility of freely contacting the embassy accredited to the USSR government that has taken upon itself the protection of the interests of Polish citizens and, consequently, of POWs as well;

The British Embassy in Moscow was theoretically looking after Polish interests and citizens in the USSR, for Britain, an ally of Poland, was not at war with the USSR. However, as Sir R. Stafford Cripps (British ambassador in Moscow, 1940–1942) told General Sikorski in June 1941, the “Bolsheviks” had refused all conversations with British representatives on assistance to Poles in Russia. They had even arrested six Poles, former officials of the British legation in Tallinn (Estonia), who had British passports, when they tried to leave the country; see DPSR, vol. 1, no. 85, p. 107.

b) make contact with the Red Cross in order to give us the possibility of corresponding with our families who are outside the frontiers of the USSR;

The prisoners were in touch with relatives in the former eastern Poland—now part of the USSR—but wished to contact relatives living elsewhere, especially in German Poland.

c) publish a list of POWs so that our families can learn where we are; d) release those in the reserves who were not mobilized and those who are retired; e) grant us an appropriate monetary allowance, as is due to us, for our immediate personal needs because, for example, our clothing and footwear

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are becoming useless, but we do not possess the necessary material means [money to replace them].

2. If we have been arrested?

If so, we ask that you inform us of the crimes for which we have been deprived of our freedom and present us with formal charges.

3. If we are detained (interned):

We request that you explain to us what actions of ours provoked this restriction of our freedom, especially since we were detained on Polish territory.

II. We request that you explain why the old and the infirm, who had nothing to do with the recent war, are being detained in the camp, and we ask that they be released to go home.

III. The issue of correspondence with our families has not yet been settled.

Normal human feelings demand that you enable us finally to contact our families and that they, in turn, can learn of our fate.

We request that you issue [the following] instructions:

Apply no restrictions to the correspondence [of those] conducting searches for their families.

Each person is to have the right to write a letter or postcard at least once a week, rather than once a month.

Correspondence with families—restricted to writing one letter or postcard per month—was granted in late November-early December 1939. The goal may have been to encourage Sikorski to recognize the Soviet annexation of the former eastern Poland in exchange for releasing the Polish POWs (see discussion at end of introduction to Part II).

Inform the sender if a letter is to be held back.

Give us the right to receive packages from our families with food, underwear, and other things that we need.

Give us writing paper and envelopes.

We request that you clarify whether our letters have gone to German-occupied territory and, if not, [that you] give us the opportunity to write them through the Red Cross.

IV. Medical assistance is inadequate.

In practice, it is limited to supplying [us] only with the simplest medications. Many officers are still awaiting treatment for their eyes, teeth, etc; in particular, we are painfully aware of the impossibility of providing appropriate diets for the sick.

In the event of illness of a more serious nature, there have been difficulties with sending the patient immediately to the hospital.

The cramped and damp quarters on the ground floor are having a disastrous effect on the health of the officers, especially since the food ration is barely sufficient for people who are not engaged in physical work, whereas we are all being made to perform heavy labor in the daily preparation of food.

The prisoners had to haul wood and water for the kitchen.

V. On our visits to the cinema, we request that we not be shown films or episodes that might insult our national feelings or the honor of our homeland.

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We request also, especially, that lower-ranking officials address us in an appropriate manner. Although we are POWs, we nonetheless remain soldiers and retain our military ranks.

VI. At the time when Polish zlotys were in circulation, we were not given an opportunity to exchange our money for rubles or to send it to our families, and in this manner we and our families have been deprived of all means [of subsistence]. In addition, it should be said that the existence of our families was supported by our labor, and here in the camp, despite our being deprived of monetary funds, we are required to pay in rubles for the satisfaction of our most essential needs (shoe repair, purchase of fats [beef or pork drippings or bacon fats], etc.).

We request:

[That you] exchange our zlotys for rubles and keep us steadily supplied with money in the form of an advance on the money due to us for our participation in the war.

[That you] allow us to send from the camp, and our families to send to the camp, zlotys as well as rubles and other currency.

VII. Finally, we ask that you grant the following [requests]:

Allow us to organize in groups for foreign-language lessons, and make it possible for us to purchase the necessary notebooks and aids, which we could order from Lvov.

Order a regular and frequent supply of books for reading (fiction, scientific, and military-historical) in various languages.

Allow us to take walks outside the camp in appropriate weather at least three times a week.

Allow us to meet with relatives and comrades who are in the main camp and on Volodarskaia Street.

Generals and their orderlies, eighteen persons in all, were held in buildings on Volodarskaia Street in town; colonels and lieutenant colonels, ninety-six persons in all, were held at 32 Kirov Street, while General F. Sikorski and his staff were held at 19 Lenin Street (information provided by Professor Materski).

Give us a list of those [held] in Starobelsk camp so that we can search for relatives.

Return the things and money taken from us.

Provide us with equipment for sports and indoor games.

Give me and the man in charge of our housekeeping the opportunity to speak at least once a week with you or the camp's deputy housekeeping director.

This letter was apparently delivered by Colonel Edward Saski. On 2 February 1940 the UPV executive sent Beria a report regarding a “Declaration” delivered by Saski in the name of a group of lieutenant colonels. Saski listed demands similar to those in the Declaration. Khokhlov and Vorobyev asked Beria for instructions, but no reply has been found; see KD1/160, n. 2; KDZ1/160, n. 2. On Saski, shot in Kharkov, see Biographical Sketches.

[Copy] Verified as correct: Administration Secretary Militia 2nd Lieutenant (Bashlykov)

Transcription

Document Details

Document TitlePetition to Soviet Authorities from a Group of Polish POW Colonels to Define Their Status and Observe International Standards for the Treatment of POWs

AuthorGroup of Polish Prisoner-of-War Colonels

RecipientUnknown

RepositoryRGVA

ID #f.3, op.1, d.1, ll.162-164

DescriptionN/A

Date1940 Jan 7

AOC VolumeKatyn: A Crime Without Punishment

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