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Risk of Death High for POWs in Continuation War

The percentage of POWs who died in Finnish prison camps was clearly higher than in the German-run prisons in Lapland during the Continuation War. However, conditions in Finnish prisons were better than those in Eastern Europe and Germany, according to research on the prisons and Russian archives.

8.1.2007 21:34Updated 30.10.2008 4:46

In Belarus and the Ukraine over 60 percent of POWs died, mainly due to food shortages. The most trying time was at the start of the war.

Towards the end of the war, POWs were sent to Germany, where about half died. Meanwhile about 3 million Russian POWs died during the war. In Finnish run-prisons, nearly one-third of all prisoners died while incarcerated.

The German-run prisons in Finnish Lapland were in better condition than Finnish prisons. About 13 to 15 percent of the POWs died in the German prisons in Lapland, compared to 28 to 29 percent in Finnish prisons, according to researcher Dmitri Frolov.

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