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Prisoner of War Camps

Map showing the location of NKVD prisoner-of-war camps

The NKVD special camps in Kozelsk, Starobilsk and Ostashkov were Soviet prisoner-of-war camps established after the Soviet invasion of Poland on 17 September 1939. They held primarily Polish Army officers, police officers, other uniformed service personnel, and representatives of the intelligentsia captured during the early stages of the Second World War in the eastern territories of the Second Polish Republic.
At Kozelsk and Starobilsk, the prisoners were mainly officers of the Polish Army and reservists, including doctors, lawyers, civil servants, teachers, engineers, artists, and writers. At Ostashkov, detainees included police officers, gendarmes, prison guards, border guards, and (East) Border Protection Corps (Korpus Ochrony Pogranicza, KOP) personnel. The camps were formally subordinated to the NKVD (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs of the Soviet state).
In March 1940, the highest authorities of the USSR decided to execute the prisoners. Those held in Kozelsk were murdered in Katyn, those from Starobilsk in Kharkiv, and those from Ostashkov in Kalinin (now Tver).

P.O.W. camp in Kozelsk

Kozelsk P.O.W. Camp

The NKVD special camp in Kozelsk (Kaluga Oblast, Russia) was located within the grounds of the Optina Monastery hermitage and the so-called Skete, approximately 5 km from the town and 7 km from the railway station. It was originally intended for rank-and-file prisoners, but due to overcrowding in the Starobilsk camp, it was designated to hold Polish officer corps.
In early November 1939, the camp held 4,629 prisoners; just before the deportations, the number had fallen to 4,594.
Among the prisoners were four generals, one rear admiral, 24 colonels, 79 lieutenant colonels, 258 majors, and one woman – Second Lieutenant pilot Janina Lewandowska.
Despite Soviet repression, an underground cultural and religious life developed in the camp. Prisoners published an illegal newsletter, the Monitor Kozielski. Literary evenings and even concerts were organised in the barracks.
The deportations of prisoners to their place of execution in Katyn began on 3 April and lasted until 12 May 1940.

 
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Obóz w Starobielsku

Starobilsk P.O.W. Camp

The NKVD special camp in Starobilsk (Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine) was established on the site of a former female monastery of the Icon of the Mother of God “Joy of All Who Sorrow”, closed by the Soviet authorities in 1922. Starobilsk lies over 200 km south-east of Kharkiv. The monastery complex was repurposed to detain Polish citizens taken prisoner.
Among the prisoners were nine generals, 57 colonels, 130 lieutenant colonels, and 230 majors. Initially, around 8,600 people were held there, but shortly before the camp’s liquidation the number had fallen to 3,893.
The camp had a functioning Polish prisoner self-government, and despite Soviet repression, underground cultural and religious life continued. Prisoners established a secret Cultural and Educational Committee, and lectures and language courses were held.
The deportations to the execution site in Kharkiv began on 5 April and lasted until 12 May 1940.

 
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Obóz w Ostaszkowie

Ostashkov P.O.W. Camp

The NKVD special camp in Ostashkov (Tver Oblast, Russia) was located on Stolobny Island on Lake Seliger, in a former male monastery known as the Nilov-Stolobensky Hermitage, about 10 km from the town of Ostashkov. The island was connected to the mainland by a causeway built by prisoners.
In early October 1939, the camp held 8,731 Polish prisoners, mainly police officers, prison guards, and intelligence and counter-intelligence personnel. Just before the deportations, the number had decreased to 6,364.
Conditions in Ostashkov were the harshest of all the camps, and NKVD guards frequently treated prisoners brutally. It also recorded the highest number of deaths between autumn 1939 and spring 1940 (see: deaths in the camps).
The deportations to the execution site in Kalinin (now Tver) began on 4 April and lasted until 19 May 1940.

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