FOREIGN PRISONERS OF WAR IN KYIV REGION IN THE YEARS 1943-1954 ACCORDING TO THE DOCUMENTS OF UKRAINIAN ARCHIVES
Authors:   Український державний університет імені Михайла Драгоманова, Чекиш Назар 
Published: April 2024

The aim of the article is the attribution and characterization of a range of unpublished sources from the archives of Ukraine, which contain information about the situation of prisoners of war of Germany and its allies in Soviet camps on the territory of Kyiv and Kyiv region in 1943–1954. The documents of this complex of sources are classified, their typological and specific diversity, content and informational potential are characterized. The prospects for research on the topic are determined on the basis of the available range of sources. The research methodology is defined by the principles of scientificity, historicism, objectivity and systematicity. The author used the methods of source studies, including archival heuristics, analysis and synthesis of documentary sources. The scientific novelty is in determining the typological and specific composition, content and informational potential of an unpublished array of documents on the history of the regional link of Soviet military captivity in Kyiv region, which are stored in the archives of Ukraine. Conclusions. The identified and systematized array of unpublished sources on the history of the regional branch of the Soviet military captivity in the Kyiv region in 1943–1954 are represented by the directive documents of the top party leadership of the Ukrainian SSR, the government of the republic, regulatory and administrative orders of the NKVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs), records of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service, special camps and hospitals, documents of the management entities that used the labour of prisoners of war, the decisions of local authorities on the allocation of buildings and land for the placement of regime facilities and the burial of dead prisoners. The documents studied by the author are stored in the fonds of the Central State Archive of Public Associations of Ukraine, the Central State Archive of Higher Authorities and Administration of Ukraine, the Sectoral State Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the State Archives of Kyiv Region and the City of Kyiv, and the Archival Department of the Bila Tserkva City Council. Documents that differ in content and are unequal in the degree of informativeness characterize the general directions of the Soviet policy in the field of military prisoners at the final stage of the Second World War and in the post-war period, and on the example of a specific region reflect the steps taken by the authorities aimed at its practical implementation. The content of the studied documents allows us: to identify the general features of the Soviet military captivity system and the peculiarities of its regional branch in the Kyiv region, in particular in the context of the organization, functioning and liquidation of camps and special hospitals for prisoners of war in 1943–1954; to find out the situation of foreign prisoners in the camps of Kyiv and the region, the peculiarities of the regime of detention, material, household, food provision and treatment; to reveal the regional and sectoral specifics of the deployment of contingents of prisoners in the region; to investigate the peculiarities of the exploitation of prisoner of war labour in the housing and communal sphere, industry, transport infrastructure and road construction; to trace the fate of graves of foreign prisoners of war, who died and were buried on the territory of the city of Kyiv and Kyiv region; to study the issue of repatriation of prisoners of war from the camps of the region. The available range of unpublished sources from the archives of Ukraine is promising for further research on the topic.