P.O.W. Camp Correspondence

This correspondence constitutes an extraordinary record of the final months and days in the lives of prisoners of war. It offers insight into the emotions of both the prisoners and their loved ones. As Dr Ewa Kowalska observed, when we read these notes, beyond the numbers and statistics of this terrifying crime we begin to see people — the faces of the victims and their families (E. Kowalska, Refleksje o listach, kartkach, dokumentach i przedmiotach wydobytych z dołów śmierci w Katyniu w 1943 r., [in:] D. Jastrzębska-Golonka, E. Kowalska (eds.), Gdy nieme groby przemawiają… Spuścizna katyńska, Warsaw 2023, p. 60).

Prisoners of war held in the camps at Starobelsk, Kozelsk and Ostashkov had only limited opportunities to send postcards, letters and telegrams. It was not until the end of November 1939 that they were permitted, via the camp authorities, to send one letter or postcard per month (and occasionally, in Starobelsk, a telegram too). At the same time, prisoners were instructed not to mention that they were being held in a prisoner-of-war camp or describe conditions there. They were allowed to write only about their health and personal or family matters. Prisoners made use of this right, informing their relatives about their wartime fate. Families replied to the letters they received, often indicating their own whereabouts.
Correspondence helped to maintain contact despite enforced separation, provided news of loved ones, and expressed care and concern. However, it was also ruthlessly exploited by the Soviets for “operational” purposes. Address data from outgoing and incoming correspondence were collected by NKVD officers, who also acted as censors. The information obtained in this way was used by political officers to intimidate prisoners during interrogations and also facilitated the deportation of prisoners’ families from the special camps, which took place on 13 April 1940.

Before the Katyn decision came into effect, after a series of logistical meetings, the Soviets imposed a correspondence ban on March 16 to prevent the dissemination of information about Soviet repression against P.O.W. families. Correspondence in the Kozelsk and Ostashkov camps ceased as early as mid-March 1940. From Starobelsk, mail stopped being sent around 10 April, though deliveries continued until about 26 April; in some cases, telegrams reached families even later. Postcards and letters written by prisoners were no longer forwarded. This caused concern among families. From mid-1940 onwards, postcards sent by relatives to the camps began to be returned with annotations such as “addressee not found” or “departed”.
The Katyn Museum holds the largest collection of postcards and letters sent from Soviet prisoner-of-war camps to families. The collection currently comprises over two hundred items, including more than 120 letters and postcards sent by prisoners from Kozelsk, over 150 from Starobelsk, and around 50 from Ostashkov. This most valuable and unique part of the Museum’s holdings continues to grow, primarily thanks to donations from families.

During exhumations in Mednoye and Kharkiv, several dozen postcards, letters and telegrams sent to the victims by their families were excavated on the bodies. The names recorded on them made it possible to identify the victims. Some of these letters remain legible to this day. Undoubtedly, among the documents recovered from the mass graves at Katyn, Kharkiv and Mednoye, the correspondence addressed to the victims — as well as the unsent letters they carried with them — is not only the most personal but also the most moving testimony of longing, especially for the Katyn families.
What is striking in these letters and postcards recovered from the mass graves is the profound concern shown by families for the prisoners. Senders sought to reassure their loved ones in the camps and did not burden them with problems they were powerless to resolve. Prisoners behaved similarly, refraining from complaining about their fate and instead attempting to reassure and comfort their spouses, children and parents.
In 2024, documents excavated with the remains of the victims of the Katyn massacre (including correspondence) were inscribed on the Polish National Register of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, thereby joining the most valuable documents relating to Polish history and culture preserved in Poland.