DESTINIES OF THE PRISONERS OF WORLD WAR I WHO REMAINED IN THE USSR (based on the materials from the SAAASR archives)

On the basis of the archive-investigative files of Soviet and foreign citizens stored in the State Archive of Administrative Agencies of the Sverdlovsk Region (SAAASR), the author investigates the fate of the prisoners of World War I, who remained in Soviet Russia, Germans by nationality. It is noted that many of them became victims of political repression in the 1930–1940s. The first wave of repression affected them in 1937–1938 during the so-called «German operation», when former prisoners of war were accused of espionage. The second wave of repression hit German population of the USSR at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. The analysis of the investigation materials shows that prisoners were charged with Art. 58-10 «Anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda» of the RSFSR Criminal Code of 1926. Even foreign citizenship did not save from «death» sentences, although in some cases it was the basis for expulsion from the USSR. The repressions carried out in those years were characterized by a simplified procedure of investigation and a wide application of capital punishment. However, there were no guarantees that one, who was under investigation, would be definitely convicted. Cases of half of the citizens arrested on charges of espionage in 1937–1938 were terminated due to lack of corpus delicti in their actions.