The Gulag Study 

Joint Commission Support Directorate 

Gulag Research Group 

Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office 

22 June 2001 
U.S.-RUSSIA JOINT COMMISSION ON POW/MIAs 

1745 JEFFERSON DAVIS HWY, SUITE 800 

ARLINGTON, VA 22203 

 

June 22, 2001 

We are pleased to present a second and revised edition of “The Gulag Study,” a 

compendium of reports and first-hand accounts citing the presence of American 

servicemen in the Soviet camp system or Gulag. This version of the study updates the 

text that was first made public in February of this year. 

In the four months since the study was released, we have continued the search for 

witnesses and written records that may ultimately allow us to validate the growing 

number of reports about US servicemen taken to, and held within, the camps and other 

detention facilities of the former Soviet Union. 

Thanks to the persistence and resourcefulness of our research staff, we have 

conducted visits, within the past nine months, to two key regions of Russia with which 

many of the reports in our study are associated: the Komi Republic and Perm. Through 

contacts developed with local researchers, civic organizations, and governmental 

authorities, sources of potential value to our inquiry have been identified. We are now in 

the process of pursuing those contacts in a way that will add depth and expertise to our 

ongoing search for evidence to substantiate the reporting contained in our study. The 

results of our efforts will appear in subsequent updates and may be viewed on the website 

of the Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO). 

While corroboration of individual reports remains an elusive task, we are 

encouraged that our study continues to elicit interest by family and veterans’ 

organizations convinced that the issue of transfers of US servicemen during the Soviet 

period is an integral part of the overall accounting process. 

// Signed // 

Norman D. Kass 

Executive Secretary 
1

Camps in the Area of Moscow

REGION: Moscow

LOCATION: Lubyanka

SUMMARY: In 1947 while in pre-trial confinement in Potsdam, a Polish witness 

shared a cell with a U.S. Army sergeant, reportedly a gunner. The witness 

believed that the sergeant had unintentionally entered the Soviet Zone in Berlin 

by car and had been immediately arrested. The source described the American 

as a sturdy fellow, whose father was a farmer. The American gave the source an 

overcoat. They spoke German, although both knew it very poorly. They met 

again at the Lubyanka Prison in Moscow at the turn of 1948.

REGION: Moscow

LOCATION: Monino Air Force Academy

SUMMARY: During a series of interviews in 1996, a Soviet veteran who lived in 

Minsk claimed to have seen an U.S. POW in May or June 1953. The POW 

reportedly was a Korean War F-86D pilot whose plane had been forced to land. 

The pilot landed his plane undamaged, was captured, and his aircraft taken to 

Moscow. The incident occurred in the late spring of 1953. According to the 

witness--who served in An Dun, China, from December 1952 through February 

1954--the pilot was sent to Moscow the day after his forced landing, "because 

Stalin wanted to speak with him." The witness said that his commander, Colonel 

Ivan Nikolayevich Kozhedub, interrogated the pilot. He believed the U.S. POW 

was not injured. The witness stated that the late General Vasiliy Kuzmich 

Sidorenkov had a picture of the American POW, which Sidorenkov showed to 

him years ago, declaring, "that's our American." He stated that the U.S. POW 

depicted in the photo was white, with light brown hair and blue or light brown 

eyes, was about 5'7" tall, and had a 2 1⁄2" scar above the right eye. The witness 

revealed that this pilot later became an instructor and taught at the Monino Air 

Force Academy in Moscow from 1953-58. The U.S. POW did not speak Russian 

and served at Monino under an assumed Russian name. He did not know the 

name and could not recall any other details about the U.S. POW. The U.S. POW 

primarily taught air battle techniques and tactics, and assisted the Soviets in 

figuring out a U.S. radar sight (radio-lokatsionniy pritsel).
2

REGION: Moscow

LOCATION: Krasnaya Presnya Prison 

SUMMARY: In a letter to President Nixon, repatriated American John Noble 

reported that, inscribed in the wall of Krasnaya Presnya Prison in Moscow, he 

saw the name of a Major Roberts or Robbins, with his American address and the 

inscription, "I am sick and don't expect to live through this...." Mr. Noble had 

earlier reported this was inscribed on a cell wall in the transit prison in Orsha, 

Byelorussia, where he was imprisoned prior to his confinement at Krasnaya 

Presnya. [MAJ Frank A. Roberts, and CAPTs Robert Roberts and Edward 

Robbins, are among the 125 service members missing from WWII with the last 

name of Roberts or Robbins.]

Camps in the Area of Vladimirskaya

REGION: Vladimirskaya

LOCATION: Vladimir Prison

SUMMARY: A United Press release, dated 1 September, 1955, reported that 

nine Austrians and one Italian were released from a Russian prison camp. The 

returnees reported that U.S. servicemen Wilfred Cumish [returned], Sidney 

Sparks [returned], Frederick Hopkins [returned], and Grisham [not returned] were 

in the same camp. [CAPT David Howard Grisham, USAF, went missing from the 

Korean War on September 3, 1950]. 

Camps in the Area of Mordovska 

REGION: Mordovska

LOCATION: Dubravlag

SUMMARY: Several repatriated Iranian witnesses claimed that, at this location 

in 1953, they knew of an American, a Colonel Jackson, who had been reportedly 

kidnapped by the Soviets in Berlin.

REGION: Mordovska

LOCATION: Potma Camp No. 18

SUMMARY: An Estonian witness alleged that he met an U.S. POW from Korea 

in 1952. The POW's first name was Gary or Harry. The POW was still in camp 

when the witness left in the autumn of 1953.

REGION: Mordovska

LOCATION: Potma Camp No. 19

SUMMARY: A Polish witness was the chief of a work brigade in Camp No. 19 in 

Potma, working primarily in the forest. He claimed there were a few Americans 

among the 17 nationalities in his brigade.
3

REGION: Mordovska

LOCATION: Yavas

SUMMARY: A former German POW met an American prisoner, John Hansen, in 

August 1955, after having previously heard about him from another prisoner as 

early as 1953. Hansen spoke German and Russian and was described as 5' 6", 

medium build with brown hair. [SGT John Hansen, GM2C John Hansen, and 

1LT John Hanson are missing from WWII. These three are among the 88 

service members with the last name of Hansen or Hanson missing from WWII.]

Camps in the Area of Rostov

REGION: Rostov

LOCATION: Novocherkassk Camp No. 1/421

SUMMARY: During a 1947 interview, a former German POW reported that he 

met two American soldiers in POW Hospital 5351 located at Novocherkassk in 

September 1945. The Americans stayed at the hospital until February 1946, 

when they were transferred to an engine factory in the same town. The witness 

provided the names of 5 other sources who he claimed would be able to verify 

this information. The one source contacted did in fact verify the account as 

provided by the witness.

Camps in the Area of Novosibirsk

REGION: Novosibirsk

LOCATION: Novosibirsk Transit Prison

SUMMARY: During an interview in 1993, a witness in Lithuania described an 

encounter with Americans at the Novosibirsk Transit Prison around June 1952. 

The witness stated there were two American pilots in the group of prisoners 

brought into his small room. The other prisoners (two or three others) were 

German. The Americans reportedly told him that they had been shot down in 

Korea. They were dressed in khaki shirts and trousers with no belts. The first 

American told the source that he was a captain in the Air Force. The source 

remembered only that he was tall and had a red beard. He could recall no 

details about the second individual.

 

Camps in the Area of Kirov

REGION: Kirov

LOCATION: Kirov

SUMMARY: Repatriated American William Marchuk received information from a 

German POW who was imprisoned in the Kirov camp. The German stated that 

he was in the camp together with nine American POWs, all captains and majors 

who were Korean War aviators.
4

Camps in the Area of Komi

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Inta

SUMMARY: A Ukrainian witness in Topol-3 near Dneprpetrovsk stated that he 

was interned in Inta Camp No. 6 from 1949 through 1955. During that time, the 

camp held many foreigners of various nationalities. In 1952, a man who claimed 

to be an American, referred to as Leonid Teryashchenko (a pseudonym), was 

transferred to Inta. Teryashchenko's real name was never disclosed. His 

prisoner number had an additional slash and digit following the usual letter and 

three-digit sequence of the other prisoners. The witness frequently talked to 

Teryashchenko, who told the witness that he was imprisoned for political 

reasons. The witness described Teryashchenko as an athletic man with a large 

frame, a former boxer, approximately 30-33 years old. In late 1953 or early 1954 

Teryashchenko committed suicide to avoid further torture. Teryashchenko 

overpowered one of the guards, took his weapon, and shot himself in the mouth. 

He was buried in a common grave in the camp (exact location unknown). 

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Inta

SUMMARY: A Polish witness recalled meeting two Americans in Camp No. 3 in 

Inta in 1954. They worked in his brigade, which was led by Wladyslaw Szyszko. 

He related that while they were building a bridge one of the Americans jumped 

into the Kosju River and drowned.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Inta

SUMMARY: A Russian witness claimed that, from 1956 until 1975, the KGB 

maintained a facility on the shore of the river Inta. In 1965, people were brought 

to Inta from Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, where they were imprisoned and 

killed, and their records burned in the boiler room in the eastern suburb on 

Shakhtnaya Street. More than 1000 people ended up in Inta prison, both 

American enlisted personnel and officers. The witness claimed that this 

information can be confirmed by Petr Ivanovich Kuznetsov, who reportedly 

worked as a driver for the MVD (Ministry of Internal Afffairs) for twenty years. 

And now lives on Mir Street in Inta. Efforts to contact Mr. Kuznetsov during a 

visit to Inta in October 2000 proved unsuccessful as Kuznetsov claimed that he 

was too ill to meet with USRJC representatives who traveled to Inta to speak with 

him.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Inta

SUMMARY: A Polish witness reported two Americans in a camp in 1949-1950.
5

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Inta Minlag

SUMMARY: A Russian witness indicated that she had spent four years in the 

Inta "Minlag" camp complex (1952-1956). During that time, she heard reports of 

two American flyers in the Inta camp complex in the early 1950s, although she 

did not see them herself. Some of the women who worked in the central hospital 

there said that there were many foreigners in the camp, including two American 

pilots. According to these reports, the two men were shot down or forced down 

over Germany after having strayed over Soviet-occupied territory. One of the 

two was white, while the other had black skin (chernokozhiy). The witness said 

that these women told her that the reputed Americans had been imprisoned 

since 1946. 

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Inta Mining Camp No. 15

SUMMARY: A Russian stated that he knew of two Americans in the Inta Gulag 

system who were detained at Mining Camp Number 15 (circa 1950). The two 

men were U.S. service members and went by the names of John and Michael.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Pechora

SUMMARY: A Lithuanian witness claimed to have met an American major or 

colonel on February 15 or 16, 1950. The American reportedly was captured in 

the Ukraine during WWII. The witness saw him on two occasions before being 

sent into exile.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Pechora Kozhva (Koschwa)

SUMMARY: A German POW reportedly had direct contact with an U.S. Air 

Force captain described as being 5'11", 28-33 years old, with reddish hair. The 

witness last saw him on January 5, 1950. The American claimed that at the end 

of WWII he was arrested for participating in an altercation at a Moscow 

restaurant. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. The American spoke 

broken German.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta

SUMMARY: A witness met and spoke with a group of eleven American 

prisoners in December 1946, at Vorkuta. All were flyers, one was black, and 

they included both officers and enlisted men. They were kept in a small barracks 

separated from the rest of the camp and surrounded by barbed wire. The 

witness claimed these might have been part of a group of American pilots 

coerced into staying in the Soviet Union after WWII. These pilots claimed to 

have flown missions against Nazi targets using airfields in the Soviet Union.
6

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta

SUMMARY: Repatriated American John Noble reported that shortly after his 

arrival at Camp No. 3 he had spoken with a Yugoslavian national. The 

Yugoslavian told him that several months before, an American Navy 

reconnaissance plane had been downed by the Soviets over the Baltic Sea and 

that eight of the ten crew members had survived. The survivors were being held 

in the Vorkuta area. However, they were told United States Government had 

accepted the official Soviet statement declaring them dead. This effectively 

doomed their chances of ever returning to America. Noble was never able to 

identify the survivors by name. However, he heard repeatedly from other 

inmates who were transferred from one camp to another that Americans were 

held in the same camps from which the transferees had come.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta

SUMMARY: A German witness reported meeting U.S. Air Force member Bob 

(last name unknown), in July 1951. Bob had been stationed in Berlin as an U.S. 

Air Force bombardier. While visiting his girlfriend in the Soviet Sector in 1948 or 

1949, he was arrested and sent to Vorkuta. He previously lived in Pittsburgh, 

Pennsylvania, and spoke only English. Bob was 30-35 years old, 5' 8", and had 

dark hair.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta

SUMMARY: A source who had been imprisoned in Vorkuta reported meeting an 

American with the last name "Cox," whose physical description matched that of a 

West Point cadet named Richard Alvin Cox, who mysteriously disappeared from 

the U.S. Military Academy on January 14, 1950. 

Further investigation and analysis of the primary source document (NBG Team, 

7051st Air INTSERON, 7050th Air INTSERGU Air Intelligence Information Report 

IR-255-56 dated December 18, 1956) indicate that the individual named “Cox” 

encountered by the source was probably Private Homer H. Cox, a U.S. military 

policeman who was detained by Soviet authorities in East Germany in 

September 1949. Private Cox was released from Vorkuta on December 29, 

1953, returned to his home state of Oklahoma, and died of pneumonia in 1954. 

The primary source document stated: COX, first name unknown, from 

CHICHASHA (3501N/9755E) OKLAHOMA, 30-35 years old, blond, 1.72m tall. 

SOURCE heard from fellow prisoners that this man deserted his military unit in 

West Germany.
7

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta

SUMMARY: A Lithuanian witness in Vilnius stated that while a prisoner in a 

camp in Vorkuta, he had met a prisoner who claimed to be a U.S. WWII pilot 

named John.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta

SUMMARY: A woman from Kiev reported that during interviews she had 

conducted with witnesses from Soviet camps imprisoned at Vorkuta and Berlag, 

some claimed to have seen American pilots shot down in Korea.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta

SUMMARY: The son of a Soviet engineer stationed at Vorkuta stated that of the 

several thousand persons in that camp complex, there were two black American 

soldiers, an American major, and several British citizens, as well as "other 

Europeans."

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta

SUMMARY: A Russian journalist stated that, in 1962, he conducted an expose 

in Vorkuta on the KGB. To present his findings, the reporter held a press 

conference, which several KGB officers attended. Commenting about the 

presence of U.S. servicemen in Vorkuta, he said that one KGB officer reportedly 

commented, "Of course we have American prisoners from the Korean War here 

in Vorkuta." When asked to expound on this, the officer demurred, indicating that 

he did not want to discuss the issue any further.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Camp No. 6

SUMMARY: A German witness reported that he knew a U.S. Major Schwartz 

from 1951 until 1952. Schwartz had been stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, when 

he was kidnapped by Soviet Security police in Kassel, West Germany, in 1949. 

The American, last seen by the witness in 1952, spoke Russian and English.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Camp No. 9

SUMMARY: An Austrian journalist imprisoned in various camps from 1948 until 

1954, claimed to have known a naturalized American, Colonel Brandenfels, in 

Vorkuta in 1951. (Brandenfels was reportedly the name he used before 

becoming an American citizen.) The American had been stationed in Berlin after 

WWII and was picked up in a bar in the Soviet Zone.
8

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 1

SUMMARY: A Polish witness arrived at Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 1 in 1950. Other

prisoners showed him an American colonel. He appeared about 60 years old, 

was quite tall, broad-shouldered, and pale. He wore a quilted jacket and did not 

converse with other prisoners. After some time the camp administration 

summoned the colonel, returned his gold ring and watch, and released him from 

Vorkuta.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 1

SUMMARY: A Polish witness claimed to have met an American pilot in the 

summer of 1946. They could not understand each other but the witness was 

able to understand that the pilot "fell down" from a plane. He was tall (180 cm 

high), fine-figured, dark-skinned, with an oval face. He looked robust. The 

witness saw him in the camp for a few days, and did not know what became of 

the American.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 1

SUMMARY: A Polish source who was at this camp in 1954 heard that an 

American colonel downed over East Germany (near Berlin) was among a group 

of prisoners who arrived that year.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 6

SUMMARY: A Polish witness recalled that an American arrived at the camp 

around June of 1953. Other prisoners told the witness that the American was a 

pilot from a spy plane downed by the Soviets. The American was approximately 

40 years old, over 180 cm high with an oval face and a shaved head, wearing a 

quilted jacket (like everybody else). His Russian was very poor. The witness 

saw him while the Polish prisoners were being prepared for release.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 6

SUMMARY: In 1954 [sic] this Polish witness came into contact with an American

and had a short conversation with him (The source's English was poor and the 

American could not speak Russian). The American stated that he was a colonel 

in the U.S. Army, captured in Vienna by Soviet agents. He looked about 40 

years old, of medium height, thickset, with dark or auburn hair. The witness left 

the camp in 1953 [sic] and did not know what happened to the American.
9

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 7

SUMMARY: A Polish witness reported that he met an American colonel, 

kidnapped in Berlin. The American recounted that at first he had been sent to 

Moscow (Lubyanka Prison). He was originally sentenced to death, but the 

sentence was somehow commuted to 25 years’ imprisonment. He was sent to 

Vorkuta and worked in Coal Mine No. 7, where the source first met him. The 

witness met him a second time between May and June 1954 in prison in Taishet, 

while being moved from Taishet to Krasnoyarsk. The American told the witness 

that, after the uprising in Coal Mine No. 7 in Vorkuta in 1953, he had been 

sentenced to death because of his participation in the uprising. However his 

sentence was commuted to 10 years in a camp somewhere in Irkutsk District. 

The American was of average height with blond hair and was about 45 years old.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Mine No. 9

SUMMARY: A German witness met a U.S. Navy ensign named Sobeloff 

[Sobelev], reportedly captured in China in 1948, when Communist forces took 

control of the country. Sobeloff claimed to have been the captain of a U.S. 

vessel at the time of his capture. He was Russian by birth, but a U.S. citizen. He 

was last seen at Vorkuta Mine No. 9 in November 1955.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 11

SUMMARY: A Polish witness was moved from Coal Mine No. 9/10 to Coal Mine 

No. 11 in Vorkuta. While at Coal Mine No. 11, he came into close contact with 

an American officer named Langier, who had been captured by the Soviets 

somewhere in Eastern Asia and sentenced for espionage. Langier worked at the 

baths. He spoke some Polish and claimed he had some Polish friends in the 

USA. The source believed Langier was from Alabama. He was tall, fair-haired 

and very friendly. Langier sometimes shared food with the source. He also 

helped him transfer back to Coal Mine No. 9/10 (Langier had a good relationship 

with the camp doctor). When the witness was released in 1954, the camp at 

Coal Mine No. 11 no longer existed. The witness assumed that Langier had 

been moved somewhere else earlier. [There are 39 service members missing 

from WWII with the last name of Lang, Lange, or Langer.] 

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 16

SUMMARY: In 1951 or 1952 a Polish witness remembered meeting a young 

American 20-25 years old, thin, medium-sized, who spoke Russian and worked 

at the baths. The witness believed he had been captured in Germany. The 

witness also heard rumors about an American plane downed over Latvia near the 

town of Limbava, and that the crew was imprisoned in one of the camps.
10

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Coal Mine No. 40

SUMMARY: A Polish witness recalled that in early September of 1951 or 1952--

after some kind of Russian-American incident in Berlin--a large number of 

Germans were brought to Vorkuta. They came mostly from Berlin (both East and 

West) and around 20 ended up in Coal Mine No. 40. One German from this 

group was about 45 years old, a doctor and disabled soldier who had a platinum 

plate in his skull. He related that during a rail trip to Vorkuta he had met in the 

carriage an American major who had been captured on the street in Berlin near 

the East-West border. He believed there were a total of three Americans in this 

convoy and that at a transfer point they were directed to other coal mines in 

Vorkuta.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Pit No. 40

SUMMARY: Austrian witnesses reportedly met an American who immigrated to 

the U.S. as a child. His adopted name was Bizet. The Soviets referred to him by 

his birth name, Wasiljevski. He was supposedly taken prisoner by the Soviets in 

1945 in Korea where he was serving with the U.S. Navy. The Soviets reportedly 

did not recognize him as a U.S. citizen.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Transit Camp No. 58

SUMMARY: A former German POW claimed to have had direct contact with an 

Army or Air Force colonel (5'11'', dark blond) during the week of August 21-25, 

1949. The U.S. colonel spoke perfect German. He claimed to have been 

dropped behind German lines during WWII to conduct espionage and was 

captured in East Germany.

REGION: Komi

LOCATION: Vorkuta Distribution Camp No. 61

SUMMARY: A former German POW reported direct contact with a U.S. major 

(5'9'', blue-grey eyes, moustache, slim build) who claimed he had been 

kidnapped in 1945 while the Americans were still at the Elbe River. The Soviets 

sentenced him to 25 years for espionage. He wore an American uniform.
11

Camps in the Area of Molotov (Perm)

REGION: Molotov (Perm)

LOCATION: Molotov (Perm)

SUMMARY: A CIA report dated September 2, 1952 reported on the location of 

Soviet transit camps for Prisoners of War from Korea. Excerpts from the 1952 

report:

1. Since July 1951, according to new information, several transports of Korean 

P.O.W.s passed through the ports of Bukhta (near Vladivostok), Okhotsk and 

Magadan. Each ship contained 1,000 or more prisoners. Between the end of 

November 1951 and April 1952, transports of P.O.W.s were sent by rail from the 

Poset railway junction on the Chinese-Soviet frontier. Some were directed to 

Chita in Eastern Siberia and some to Molotov, European Soviet Russia, east of 

the Ural Mountains.

2. Information about non-Asiatic P.O.W.s was received on April 30, 1952 from 

the Gubakha railway station in the Komi-Permyak National District, in 

Northwestern Siberia. According to this information, about 300 P.O.W.s were 

transported by rail from Chita to Molotov in February 1952. The prisoners were 

clothed in Soviet-type cotton padded tunics with no distinctive marks. They were 

first transported from the railway station to the MVD prison and then sent by rail, 

in a train consisting of 9 wagons, to Molotov on or about April 5, 1952. The train 

was heavily guarded by a railway guard of the MVD.

3. In March this year transports of P.O.W.s passed through from Khabarovsk to 

Chita and from Chita to Molotov roughly every fortnight. They were in small 

groups of up to 50 persons. According to latest information, dated June 30, 

1952, the prisoners, after arriving in Chita, were first sent to the local MVD 

prisons, and then, after a sufficient number of them had been assembled, were 

sent further, to Molotov. It is most probable that P.O.W.s are undergoing some 

sort of investigation and selection process while in the MVD prison in Chita. 

Some of them are retained in prison in Chita for a long time, while others are sent 

directly by rail to Molotov and other industrial regions in the Ural Mountains.
12

4. From December 1951 up to the end of April 1952, several railway transports

of American and European (probably British) P.O.W.s were seen passing at 

intervals of 10 to 20 days through the Komi-Permyak National District in 

Northwestern Siberia. These transports were directed to Molotov, Gubakha 

(Northeast of Molotov), Kudymnar (Northwest of Molotov), and Chermos on the 

Kama River North of Molotov. The prisoners were clad in cotton-padded gray 

tunics and pants and wore civilian caps, so-called “Sibirki”. They had no military 

insignia. They spoke among themselves in English, and they knew no other 

languages, except a few words of Russian. During the journey they remained 

locked in heavily guarded wagons and were not allowed to leave them. They 

received their meals from MVD guards. Each wagon had small windows on two 

levels. Each window was barred and covered by opaque glass.

5. According to information gathered between April 1 and 20, a certain number 

of American P.O.W. officers, among whom was a group referred to as the 

“American General Staff”, were kept at that time in the Command of the Military 

District of Molotov. Some of the P.O.W.s were accommodated in the building of 

the MVD in Molotov, having been subjected most probably to interrogations. 

They had been completely isolated from the outside world.

6. In the town of Gubakha and in the industrial regions of Kudymnar and 

Chermos there were three isolated camps and one interrogation prison for 

American P.O.W.s from Korea, according to information dated February and April 

1952. Prisoners kept in the three labor camps were employed on the 

construction of a new railway line. In one of these camps, called GAYSK about 

200 Americans were kept. They were employed in workshops assembling rails 

and doing various technical jobs. These camps were completely isolated from 

any civilian camps located in neighborhood. Political control was carried out by 

the local Party organization, headed by (fnu) Edovin, a delegate from the Obkom 

of the Komi-Permyak National District. All these camps were under the charge of 

(fnu) Kalypin, a Soviet officer of unknown rank who was sent from Molotov in 

February 1952.

7. In some camps situated near the Gubakha railway, which are called 

“Zapretchdelanki”, [Russian term difficult to translate - means “isolated plots”] 

about 150 Americans were kept, probably soldiers and N.C.O.s An interesting 

thing was that from these camps one to three P.O.W.s were taken every few 

days by officers of the MVD for transportation to Gubakha or Molotov. They 

never returned to their camps and their camps and their fate remained unknown. 

According to the supposition of persons acquainted with MVD methods these 

P.O.W.s had been observed in the camps by specially assigned agents of MVD, 

who knew the English language and thus were able to find out those who were 

very hostile to the Communist regime and ideology and those who could be 

considered sympathetic. Those belonging to the first group were most probably 

sent either to prison or to especially hard labor camps for extermination; the 

others were probably sent to special political courses in Molotov.
13

Camps in the Area of Krasnoyarsk

REGION: Krasnoyarsk

LOCATION: Kirovskiy

SUMMARY: In his memoirs (provided to the Russian Side in November 1999), a 

former Soviet citizen quoted seven people who claim to have seen Americans in 

Kirovskiy. Excerpts from his memoirs:

1. [In the] fall, 1951, a group of American POWs from Korea arrived in a camp 

by the town Kirovsk, in the Krasnoyarsk area. However, in the beginnning of 

1952, they disappeared. In any case, during the liquidation of the prison camp 

during the winter of 1951 and into 1952, they were not part of the prisoners who 

were transferred to Motygino (to the south)....

2. A worker from Kirovskiy, witnessed how, late at night, during Russian 

Christmas, a group of 20, maybe slightly more, were led from the camp along the 

Veniaminovky Road.

3. Another witness and her friend claimed that during the last days of December 

1951, more than 20 prisoners, wearing bare threads and half frozen, were moved 

along the road to Veniaminovsky.

4. A witness in Veniaminovky, stated that on Christmas "we had a present which 

the NKVD delivered to the town (half frozen prisoners). They did not speak 

Russian. They only said 'American, American,' and 'eat, eat.' ... Then in the 

morning, around 6 am, they were taken and marched further."

5. A hunter and driver, from the town of Chinuel, saw from his car, a number of 

prisoners who did not speak Russian, being marched along the road...this was 

early in the morning, around Christmas...The next day, around 7 am, he was 

going back to Kirovsk and saw the prisoner column moving toward the town of 

Kamenka (and the lake).

6. One more witness worked in the town of Kirovsk. In February 1952, while 

hunting, in the area where the Kamenka and Porenda rivers meet, he came 

across an area where he suspected people were buried. The ground was 

overturned and his dogs were picking up strange scents.
14

7. A list of 22 names of citizens of the USA who were in the camp by Kirovsk 

during the winter of 1951 to 1952 was put together by a cleaning lady in the 

camp. She was able to take a pencil to the Americans and have them record 

their names and addresses on pieces of newspaper. She smuggled these 

pieces out of the camp, put them in a can and buried them.

Many names on the list match those of missing service members from the 

Korean War. These include

Foster 1LT Robert Foster,SGT Elmer Foster, and 

 PFC Robert Foster are missing

Hatch SFC Robert Hatch is missing

Leon PFC Chan Jay Park Kim assumed the name 

 "George Leon" upon his capture in order to

 disguise his Korean heritage...he remains 

 missing

Miller There are 42 missing Millers

Davis There are 39 missing Davises

Johnson, Hubert CPL Herbert Johnson is missing

Morin CAPT Arthur Morin and CPL Fernand Morin is 

 missing

Larson PFC Gerald Larson is missing

Boyar Cpl Andrew Boyer and CPL William Boyer are 

 missing

Fisher There are 8 missing Fishers

Helfand PFC Osvaldo Galvan is missing

Kaiser MSGT George Kyzer is missing

REGION: Krasnoyarsk

LOCATION: Norilsk

SUMMARY: A Polish witness heard from fellow prisoners that two Americans, 

probably pilots, were in the camp. They were as being around 30-35 years old.

REGION: Krasnoyarsk

LOCATION: Norilsk Camp No. 4

SUMMARY: A Polish witness claimed to have worked with 36-38 American 

POWs from the Korean War (pilots shot down near Vladivostok) in the early 50s. 

He recalled the name of one of the prisoners, Scott, but was unsure if this was 

the first or last name. [There are 21 service members missing from the Korean 

War and 96 service members missing from WWII with the last name Scott. Many 

others have a first name Scott.]
15

REGION: Krasnoyarsk

LOCATION: Norilsk Camp No. 4 or No. 5

SUMMARY: A Polish witness claimed to have been in the camp with an 

American for about one year. The American was pudgy and fair-haired, and did 

not speak Russian.

REGION: Krasnoyarsk

LOCATION: Norilsk Camp No. 5

SUMMARY: A Polish witness met an American or English pilot, probably a 

captain, in Norilsk in the first half of 1953. This pilot carried out reconnaissance 

flights during the Korean War, and due to bad weather and instrument failure, 

landed at Dalny, USSR. He was arrested and sentenced on espionage charges. 

According to the witness, the pilot was approximately 30 years old, tall, darkhaired, and looked healthy. Under his prison clothes he wore an "English" 

military blouse. The source did not know the pilot's eventual fate. In May-June 

1953 the camp inmates staged an uprising, and in July, the witness, one of the 

revolt's leaders, was transported to Kolyma, where he stayed until 1956.

REGION: Krasnoyarsk

LOCATION: Norilsk Camp No. 9, Cement Plant No. 5

SUMMARY: A witness in Lithuania said that he was working with the third camp 

division near Cement Plant No. 5 at Norilsk Camp No. 9 in 1953. Camp gossip 

alleged that a heavily guarded corner facility in the camp was for American 

POWs from Korea. The witness observed these prisoners from a distance of 

about 100 meters. They were young white males dressed in prison garb. He felt 

it was significant that during the prison uprisings in May-June 1954 these special 

prisoners were quickly removed. He had no idea what happened to them.

REGION: Krasnoyarsk

LOCATION: Norilsk Dudinka Transit Camp

SUMMARY: A Lithuanian witness reported seeing American WWII officers at the 

Norilsk Dudinka transit camp in August of 1946.
16

REGION: Krasnoyarsk

LOCATION: Rybak

SUMMARY: In his memoirs (provided to the Russian Side in November 1999), a 

source wrote that in the very beginning of 1953, he was sent to handle an 

emergency situation at the northern mining enterprise called Rybak. One of the 

technical experts that he worked with was a demolition-qualified inmate: tall, 

exhausted by hunger and the Arctic, with a very characteristic, slightly elongated 

artistic face. His unnaturally protruding gray eyes in sockets sunken from 

emaciation revealed someone ill with exophthalmic goiter. In an accent clearly 

that of an English speaker, he identified himself as a citizen of the United States 

of America, Allied Officer Dale. 

In Noril'sk, many years later, a geologist, who had worked with the witness in 

Udereya at the time in question, related that many of the Americans "who had 

fallen into our hands in 1945 from the liberated Fascist camps" were held in 

Rybak and probably perished there...."

[LT Harvey Dale and LT William Dale are both missing from WWII.]

REGION: Krasnoyarsk

LOCATION: unknown

SUMMARY: While serving his sentence in the Krasnoyarsk Kray in 1949-1950, a 

Russian witness met with Japanese and Korean prisoners of war and conversed 

with them. They told him that, along with them, several Americans arrived at the 

labor camp sub-sector (Lagpunkt) who had been prisoners of war of either the 

Japanese or the Koreans; later they (Americans, Japanese, Koreans) all became 

prisoners of the Russians.
17

Camps in the Area of Irkutsk

REGION: Irkutsk

LOCATION: Camp No. 19

SUMMARY: A Ukrainian witness was sent to the Irkutsk Oblast in 1959. During 

a brief stay in Camp No. 4, he heard rumors that Americans were being held in 

Camp No. 19, about eight kilometers away. He said that he heard that the part of 

Camp No. 19 which housed the Americans was a particularly high-security zone, 

surrounded by a seven-meter fence, with several meters of barbed wire. 

After having been caught stealing bread, he was sent to Camp No. 19 in March 

1959, and was immediately thrown into the "BUR" (Barak Usilennogo Rezhima -

Reinforced Security Barracks), located near the bathhouse and guard tower. 

Inside he was thrown on top of the badly bloodied bodies of two men lying on a 

makeshift table. He said that lying next to the bodies were seven gold teeth and 

part of an artificial jaw. It was obvious that the men had been beaten and had 

their teeth knocked out. He said that he could not recall whether the teeth were 

completely covered with gold, or just the crowns. The guards told him that the 

bodies were those of American officers and that the same would happen to him if 

he did not obey the rules. The witness said that it was impossible to discern the 

color of their skin or even guess at their age, due to the ferocity of the beatings. 

He said that he was sent off to wash up and that when he returned, the bodies 

were no longer there. He later heard that the bodies were buried by the fourth 

guard tower, and the prisoners' clothes were doused with gasoline and burned. 

The witness added that he had heard rumors that there were another 18 

Americans housed in the camp, aside from these two. He said that these 

prisoners were gradually killed off between May and July 1959. He claimed that 

approximately once a week, one of these prisoners was taken out, forced to dig 

his own grave, stripped, and then shot. The camp guards told him that these 

victims were U.S. aircrews that had been taken prisoner in Korea. They were 

buried outside the camp, near the guard tower, separately from the other 

prisoners. He added that this was not in the local cemetery, which was also 

located just outside the camp. 

The witness said that he could not recall the camp commandant's name. He 

recalled the surnames of two camp guards, Popov and Ivanov, but could not 

remember their first names or patronymics.
18

REGION: Irkutsk

LOCATION: Taishet

SUMMARY: A former German POW reported direct contact with U.S. Army 

Captain Johnny Anderson from 1951-1953. Captain Anderson was reportedly 

stationed in Berlin in 1946, and was arrested while drunk in the Soviet sector. 

The source believed he may have been in the air corps. [CAPTs John R. 

Anderson and John A. Anderson are missing from WWII. There are an additional 

four captains missing with the last name of Anderson.]

REGION: Irkutsk

LOCATION: Taishet Camp No. 20, Farm No. 25

SUMMARY: A Japanese returnee reported that in the period of 1949-1950 he 

had direct contact with an American flyer, about 40 years old, tall, with a ruddy 

complexion. The flyer was shot down over the Baltic states while on an aerial 

reconnaissance mission and sentenced to 20 years. He was burned in the 

crash, leaving scars on his right cheek and left leg, necessitating the use of a 

cane. He spoke some Russian.

REGION: Irkutsk

LOCATION: Taishet Special Camp No. 6

SUMMARY: A Latvian witness said that he had knowledge of three U.S. POWs 

in Taishet camps from the period 1949-1951. 

He met the first American in 1950, in Taishet Special Camp No. 6, where he 

worked as a barber. This camp held primarily French, Indians, and people from 

the Baltic. The American was a U.S. military officer taken in 1949 from Austria. 

During his capture, he had been hit on the head, resulting in a skull fracture. He 

was Caucasian, about 5'9" tall, had light brown hair, blue eyes, was 30 years old 

and from New Jersey. He was at the camp until 1951, when he was released to 

exile in Krasnoyarskiy Kray. 

The witness saw a second Caucasian American in Special Camp No. 6 during 

the summer of 1951, but does not know if he was civilian or military. This 

individual was either brought in blind, or simulated blindness, and was 

approximately 30 years old. The American escaped, and his fate is unknown. 

The witness saw a third American in Special Camp No. 6, who was Caucasian, 

and around 40 years old. The American was transferred to another camp. The 

new camp and the fate of the American are unknown.
19

The witness also cited rumors at the time of his captivity that at least some of the 

crew from the U.S. aircraft shot down on 8 April, 1950, were taken alive and sent 

to camps. 

REGION: Irkutsk

LOCATION: Taishet-Bratsk

SUMMARY: A Polish witness claimed that at the end of the summer of 1951 or 

1952, an American escaped from Camp No. 19 at Czuna (Chuna), on the Taishet 

- Bratsk railway, 141 km from Taishet.

REGION: Irkutsk

LOCATION: unknown

SUMMARY: A resident of Irkutsk claimed his mother had seen an American 

prisoner in March 1946, while working as a porter on a train carrying NKVD 

prisoners from the Far East. The porters were ordered to bury eight of the 

prisoners who were believed dead, but one of the eight was still breathing so she 

took him in. He died a week later, but before he died he indicated he was an 

American.The source believed his name was something like, "Fred Kolin or 

Kollinz." The American drew a picture indicating an aircraft being shot down and 

three people, possibly bailing out of the aircraft. [There are 3 Fred Collins 

missing from WWII. There are an additional 89 service members with the last 

name of Collins.]

Camps in the Area of Yakutsk 

REGION: Yakutsk

LOCATION: Bulun

SUMMARY: On October 15, 1957, a Polish witness visited the American 

Consulate in Strasbourg, France. He stated he was held in a prison camp in 

Bulun until July 1957 and reported seeing the following Americans:

Watson, an American professor of physics captured in Vienna,

Dick Rozbicki, an American soldier captured during the Korean War,

Stanley Warner, an American soldier captured during the Korean War, and

Jan Sorrow, an American soldier captured during the Korean War.

REGION: Yakutsk

LOCATION: Bulun Camp No. 217

SUMMARY: On September 20, 1957, two Polish witnesses visited the American 

Consulate in Genoa, Italy. Both men claimed to have been WWII POWs held 

captive in Bulun Camp No. 217. They had escaped on May 6, 1957. They 

claimed to have made their way across the USSR, Rumania, and Yugoslavia, 

entering Italy on September 18, 1957. They reported that two men who claimed 

to be American army officers captured during the Korean War had been 

transferred to Bulun Camp No. 217 from another camp on July 24, 1955.
20

The men were: Stanley Rosbicki, approximately 24 years old, of Buffalo, New 

York and Jack Watson, 38 or 39, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Both were 

infantry lieutenants.

REGION: Yakutsk

LOCATION: Bulun Camp No. 307

SUMMARY: On September 5, 1960, a Polish witness visited the American 

Embassy, Brussels, Belgium. He stated he had been imprisoned in Bulun Camp 

No. 307 for seven and a half years and was released on May 1, 1960. He 

reported seeing two U.S. Army personnel captured in Korea: Ted Watson, an 

infantry lieutenant, and Fred Rosbiki, a commando or paratroop sergeant.

REGION: Yakutsk

LOCATION: Bulun Camp No. 315

SUMMARY: A Catholic priest visited the U.S. Embassy in Paris on July 11, 1958 

to report an interview he had recently conducted with a former Polish Gulag 

prisoner. The prisoner told the priest that he had recently escaped from North 

Siberia where he had been held in Bulun Camp No. 315. He claimed to have 

been acquainted with two Americans in the same camp: a chaplain, John 

Westley, captured in Korea in 1952, and a lieutenant, Stanley Rosbicki, from 

New York. The witness further advised the priest that the two Americans, who 

appeared to be in good health, had requested that he convey this information to 

the American authorities for transmittal to their families.

REGION: Yakutsk

LOCATION: Yakutsk

SUMMARY: A CIA report dated September 2, 1952 reported on the location of 

Soviet transit camps for Prisoners of War from Korea. Excerpts from the 1952 

report:

1. Those P.O.W.s who arrived by ship in the ports of Bukhta, Okhotsk and

Magadan were then transported by train, or by trucks or by motor driven barges, 

to Vaikaren on the Chukotsk Sea, to Ust Maisk on the river Aldan and to Yakutsk 

on the river Lena.

2. P.O.W. camps of Koreans in the Yakutsk A.S.S.R. are situated between Ust 

Maisk and Yakutsk. Prisoners there are employed in building new shafts for coal 

mines, earth works and dams. The camps are situated 50 to 200 kilometers from 

each other and contain 500 to 1,000 prisoners each. They are guarded by 

soldiers of the MVD. The camps and inmates are under the supervision of the 

Ministry of Coal Production or the Ministry of Forests. The Chief over all camps 

in this region was, in April 1952, a civilian functionary (fnu) Andreev. The 

commandant of the MVD units assigned to guard the camps was Col. (fnu) 

Vassilevsky. The prisoners are doing very heavy physical work and are living 
21

under primitive conditions. In one of the camps in this region, called AMGA, 

about 300 P.O.W.s died in February and April 1952 as a result of serious 

illnesses and overwork. Over 400 of them were placed in very crude barracks for 

the sick. 

Camps in the Area of Chita

REGION: Chita

LOCATION: Chita

SUMMARY: A CIA report dated September 2, 1952 reported on the location of 

Soviet transit camps for Prisoners of War from Korea. Excerpts from the 1952 

report:

1. There were previous transport of P.O.W.s from Chita between August and 

November 1951. These were directed to Kotlas on the Northern Dvina and to 

Lalsk, southeast of Kotlas, both in the Archangelsk Oblast. The total number of 

P.O.W.s transported in this direction amounted to about 6,000 at the end of 

1951. Their fate is not known.

2. In March this year transports of P.O.W.s passed through from Khabarovsk 

to Chita and from Chita to Molotov roughly every fortnight. They were in small 

groups of up to 50 persons. According to latest information, dated June 30, 

1952, the prisoners, after arriving in Chita, were first sent to the local MVD 

prisons, and then, after a sufficient number of them had been assembled, were 

sent further, to Molotov. It is most probable that P.O.W.s are undergoing some 

sort of investigation and selection process while in the MVD prison in Chita. 

Some of them are retained in prison in Chita for a long time, while others are sent 

directly by rail to Molotov and other industrial regions in the Ural Mountains.

Camps in the Area of Magadan

REGION: Magadan

LOCATION: Magadan Berlag

SUMMARY: A Ukrainian witness from Gribenko was transferred from Vanino 

Bay to Magadan Berlag in 1950, where he remained until his release in 1960. 

The witness stated that in the summer of 1954 a large group of foreign prisoners, 

perhaps as many as 2000, were brought to Magadan prison. This group 

included three Americans. When asked how he knew they were Americans, he 

replied that it was common knowledge, and everyone knew it. The Americans 

were in regular prison garb, but upon arrival at the Berlag were ordered to 

remove their prison numbers from their shirts and hats. While working as a 

medic in the camp, he was asked to examine one of the Americans for tropical 

skin ulcers. Due to the color of the man's skin and the thickness of his lips, the 

witness thinks this American was a Mulatto. When asked if he had talked with 
22

the individual, the witness stated that he had not because it was strictly 

forbidden. He went on to say that the three prisoners were young, all had brown 

hair, and all appeared to be in good health.

REGION: Magadan

LOCATION: Mokhoplit village

SUMMARY: On 29 March 1996, an interview was conducted with a Russian 

living in Yekaterinburg, who spent from 1952-1970 in various Gulags to include 

Kolomna, Indigirka, and Chukhotka. He claimed to have seen an American 

citizen in 1956/57 in the Magadan Oblast, at Mokhoplit village, in the Tentiskiy 

gold mining region. This US citizen, Azat Tigranovich Petrosian, was born in 

Armenia in the 1920s, and somehow wound up in a Nazi POW camp that was 

liberated by the Soviets. The Soviets refused to repatriate him, and sent him to 

the Gulag. The source did not know Petrosian's eventual fate.

REGION: Magadan

LOCATION: Myaundzha (near Susuman)

SUMMARY: On 12 August 1996, a witness living in Moscow delivered a written 

response to the Radio Liberty program, "Americans in the Gulag," being played 

on Radio Liberty/Voice of America. She had worked at the Directorate of the 

PTU (Professional Technical Academy) Energostroy for the electrical power 

station in Myaundzha, Magadan Oblast, from 1955-63, then in Magadan until 

1965, when she moved to Moscow. The witness's letter told of a Rudolf 

Martinovich Benush (1917-1995), who allegedly served as a U.S. Army captain 

during the Nuremberg Trials. The witness worked with Benush, who was 

referred to as the American spy, "either in derision, or in reference to the article 

under which he was convicted" (Article 58), when he was a "trustee" prisoner in 

the Myaundzha camp in Magadan Oblast near Susuman in 1955, until his 

release in 1956. The camp had 3,000 prisoners, mostly Baltic and Ukrainian 

nationalists. Benush spent the majority of his remaining years in Magadan.

REGION: Magadan

LOCATION: unidentified hospital

SUMMARY: A Japanese witness saw and spoke for about 20 minutes with an 

American in room No. 2, first medical section, at a hospital in Magadan. A 

hospital attendant named Nikolai told him the American was a captain who had 

crashed in the vicinity of Kamchatka. During the conversation, the American 

stated "I cannot accept the sentence of being a spy. The sentence of 15 years 

based on item 6 of article 58 is unjust," He appeared to be about 28 years old, 

with blond hair and blue eyes.
23

REGION: Magadan

LOCATION: Magadan

SUMMARY: A CIA report dated September 2, 1952 reported on the location of 

Soviet Transit Camps for Prisoners of War from Korea. Excerpts from the 1952 

report:

1. In December it was known that transit camps for prisoners of war captured by 

the Communists in Korea had been established in Komsomolsk on the Amur, 

Magadan on Bogaeva Bay in the Sea of Okhotsk, Chita and Irkutsk. Through 

those transit camps were passing not only Korean P.O.W.s but also American 

P.O.W.s.

2. Since July 1951, according to new information, several transports of Korean 

P.O.W.s have passed through the ports of Bukhta (near Vladivostok), Okhotsk 

and Magadan. Each ship has contained 1,000 or more prisoners. Between the 

end of November 1951 and April 1952, transports of P.O.W.s were sent by rail 

from the Poset railway junction on the Chinese-Soviet frontier. Some were 

directed to Chita in Eastern Siberia and some to Molotov, European Soviet 

Russia, East of Ural Mountains.

3. Those P.O.W.s who arrived by ship in the ports of Bukhta, Okhotsk and 

Magadan were then transported by train, or by trucks or by motor driven barges, 

to Vaikaren on the Chukotsk Sea, to Ust Maisk on the river Aldan and to Yakutsk 

on the river Lena.

4. P.O.W.s shipped to Vaikaren were sent to a network of camps in the Nizhni 

Kolymsk region on the East Siberian Sea, to be employed building roads, electric 

power plants and airfields. Their number varies considerably due to high 

mortality and to transfer to other camps on the Chukotski Peninsula. All these 

camps are under supervision of MVD and are entirely isolated. There were 

about 12,000 Korean P.O.W.s in April 1952 in the Nizhno Kolymsk camp 

network. The camps were under the charge of (fnu) Sorotchuk, a major of MVD 

and (fnu) Chimbo, a civilian Party functionary, probably an employee of MGB. 

Chimbo was in charge of education and political indoctrination.
24

Camps in the Area of Khabarovsk

REGION: Khabarovsk

LOCATION: 5M-Lagpunkt

SUMMARY: A Russian living in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, reported that in 

November 1952, he saw three American prisoners at the "5M Lagpunkt" 

detention facility in Khabarovsk, Russia, where he was incarcerated. He went on 

a woodcutting detail with one of them. In December 1952 the Americans were 

transferred out of the camp for an unknown destination. The Americans were 

accompanied by a Russian female prisoner serving a sentence for "Betraying the 

Motherland." The camp commander was Lieutenant Kuzenkov.

REGION: Khabarovsk

LOCATION: Khabarovsk Prison

SUMMARY: A Japanese repatriate who was in Khabarovsk Camp No. 21 from 

1950-1953, heard from Soviet guards, prisoners, and laborers in April or May of 

1953, that 12-13 Americans from a military plane shot down by the Soviets were 

in Khabarovsk Prison. 

REGION: Khabarovsk

LOCATION: Svobodnyi

SUMMARY: In his memoirs (made available to the Russian Side in November 

1999) a source quotes four people who claim to have knowledge of the June 

1952 RB-29 crew and their incarceration in Svobodnyi. Excerpts from his 

memoirs:

A former fishing vessel radio operator related that the captain of his fishing 

vessel told him that "not all the crew members of the American [aircraft] had, in 

fact, died back then (in June) and that ten of those people were now in pre-trial 

solitary confinement in a prison in the city of Svobodnyi, near Blagoveshchensk."

A former Dal'stroi official "was not in the least surprised by [his] question. He 

replied at once: 'Yes, at first ten people were alive. Yes, first they were brought 

to Khabarovsk. But, then, of course, they were sent off to Svobodnyi...They were 

supposed to have been met by people from the Ministry of Defense...They were 

not met, though. You see, there was some screw-up in Moscow. Well, I can tell 

you that they were not met. What happened to them after that, I do not know. 

And I would advise you not to know as well...Let the leadership worry itself about 

it..."
25

A second former Dal'stroi official "repeated almost word-for-word the testimony of 

[the first Dal'stroi official] but went on to clarify: "The guys from within 'worked 

over' the Americans so badly that only eight were taken to Svobodnyi."

A construction official who worked extensively in the Far East and was also an 

advisor to a minister stated that "he did learn the names of two crewmembers of 

that aircraft, Bush and Moore, who will forever remain in the soil of the 

Khabarovsk Region."

[Along with 10 other crewmembers, MAJ Samuel Busch and MSGT David Moore 

were shot down by Soviet fighters on June 13, 1952. The entire crew remains 

missing.]

REGION: Khabarovsk

LOCATION: Verkhniy

SUMMARY: According to a Ukrainian citizen who lives in Kiev, seven American 

servicemen - three of them pilots whose plane had strayed into Soviet territory 

because of mechanical difficulties - were incarcerated in 1952, in a prison camp 

called "Verkhniy" in the town of Iultin in Khabarovsky Kray. The prisoners' 

primary contact was with a Japanese doctor named Matsuoko. During their 

detention, three of them were killed in a mining accident, and the four others 

were transferred to another camp.

REGION: Khabarovsk

LOCATION: Khabarovsk

SUMMARY: A CIA report dated September 2, 1952 reported on the location of 

Soviet Transit Camps for Prisoners of War from Korea. Excerpts from the 1952 

report:

 In March this year transports of P.O.W.s passed through from Khabarovsk to 

Chita and from Chita to Molotov roughly every fortnight. They were in small 

groups of up to 50 persons. According to latest information, dated June 30, 

1952, the prisoners, after arriving in Chita, were first sent to the local MVD 

prisons, and then, after a sufficient number of them had been assembled, were 

sent further, to Molotov. It is most probable that P.O.W.s are undergoing some 

sort of investigation and selection process while in the MVD prison in Chita. 

Some of them are retained in prison in Chita for a long time, while others are sent 

directly by rail to Molotov and other industrial regions in the Ural Mountains.
26

Camps in the Area of Primorskiy Krai

REGION: Primorskiy Krai

LOCATION: Air Force Hospital 404

SUMMARY: While training for parachute duties in 1951, a witness broke his leg 

and was sent to an Air Force hospital, number 404, in the small town of Staraya 

Sysoyovka, Primorskiy Krai, between Arsenyev and Novosysoyevka. Due to lack 

of space, he was given a bed on the second floor in the corridor next to a room 

with four American patients. One was able to walk, the second was in traction 

and the third was burned. He clearly remembered the face of one of the 

Americans. He was blond, no younger than 25 years of age. He thought the 

blond person was the pilot. The witness was able to talk to and see the patients, 

as well as listen to their dialogue during questioning. He stated that the first 

patient was between 22 and 27 years of age, had light colored hair, was thin, had 

blue eyes, and bent over with a visible limp. His height was 1.68-1.7 meters. 

Patient one said he was from Cleveland and had two children. The witness said 

the second and third patients appeared older. He had no other description, other 

than to say that they were from San Francisco, Chicago, and Los Angeles. He 

could not say which patient was from which city. 

REGION: Primorskiy Krai

LOCATION: Vanino Bay

SUMMARY: In 1947, a Ukrainian witness from Gribenko was moved from Lvov 

to the Vanino Bay Transit Prison in the Soviet Far East where he remained for 

about two years, 1948-49. He claimed that there were numerous American 

prisoners there, awaiting movement to other prisons. He believed the Americans 

were from WWII. The witness described the layout of the Vanino Bay Transit 

Prison as consisting of 15 separate zones, each holding 5000-7000 prisoners, 

and that the Americans were housed in zone No. 2. He said all prisoners were 

moved to Kolyma by the ships: "Felix Dzerzhinski," "Nagin," "Dyurma," and 

"Dal'stroi." He said that whenever these ships passed by Hokkaido, the crew put 

on civilian attire so the Japanese would not know they were prison ships. 

REGION: Primorskiy Krai

LOCATION: Artem

SUMMARY: A Russian stated that an acquaintance of his who lived in Artem, a 

northern suburb of Vladivostok, said that as a little boy in the early 1950’s, he 

saw a column of about 100 American POWs marching near the town. When

asked how he knew they were Americans, he stated that it was "well-known" (in 

the village.)
27

REGION: Primorskiy Krai

LOCATION: Vladivostok

SUMMARY: A CIA report dated September 2, 1952 reported on the location of 

Soviet transit camps for Prisoners of War from Korea. Excerpts from the 1952 

report:

1. Since July 1951, according to new information, several transports of Korean 

P.O.W.s have passed through the ports of Bukhta (near Vladivostok), Okhotsk 

and Magadan. Each ship has contained 1,000 or more prisoners. Between the 

end of November 1951 and April 1952, transports of P.O.W.s were sent by rail 

from the Poset railway junction on the Chinese-Soviet frontier. Some were 

directed to Chita in Eastern Siberia and some to Molotov, European Soviet 

Russia, East of Ural Mountains.

2. Those P.O.W.s who arrived by ship in the ports of Bukhta, Okhotsk and 

Magadan were then transported by train, or by trucks or by motor driven barges, 

to Vaikaren on the Chukotsk Sea, to Ust Maisk on the river Aldan and to Yakutsk 

on the river Lena.