scholarly journals “Railroad of Death”: History and Archaeology of the German-built Second World War Hyrynsalmi–Kuusamo Railway 1942–1944

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 34-59
Author(s):  
Oula Seitsonen ◽  
Mari Olafson Lundemo
Keyword(s):  
Peripheral Region ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
World War ◽  
Building Projects ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
State Of Research ◽  
Second World ◽  
Large Building ◽  
Poor Infrastructure

During the Second World War the frontal responsibility of northern Finland was held by German troops, who carried out large building projects to enhance the poor infrastructure of this peripheral region. This paper focuses on one of the biggest infrastructure projects performed by the Wehrmacht and Organisation Todt in Finland during the Second World War. The Hyrynsalmi-Kuusamo railway was to be built through a challenging landscape, by people who constantly overestimated their own abilities, and at the great expense and suffering of the workers who were mostly prisoners-of-war and forced labourers. Besides their own contemporary memories and experiences from this event, this construction project and its physical traces live in the local memories and have become part of the transgenerational heritage and remembrance of the war years. Using the wartime construction of the track as a starting point, this study goes on to map the heritage value, archaeological potential, and the state of research related to this German wartime project.  

Numbers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Edele
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
World War ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
Second World

How many Soviet soldiers defected to the Germans? Vague statements abound in the literature, but few scholars have tried to systematically investigate the available quantitative evidence. This chapter discusses the available numbers on defectors from both Soviet and German sources. It discusses the methodological problems involved in establishing the total number and the share of defectors among Soviet prisoners of war (POWs). It also compares these numbers with comparative cases in other fronts of the Second World War in Europe. It shows that despite methodological and source problems we can be confident that defection was much more prevalent at the German–Soviet front than elsewhere.

Appointment

1969 ◽  
Vol 9 (102) ◽  
pp. 491-491 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Committee ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
World War ◽  
East European ◽  
Middle East Countries ◽  
Wide Experience ◽  
Second World

Mr. Raymond Courvoisier has since 1 August 1969 taken over the appointment of special assistant to the President of the International Committee, thus bringing it his wide experience in the field of international humanitarian law. It should, in fact, be recalled that from 1936 to 1945 he undertook a large number of missions in ICRC service as delegate in Spain, Turkey, in East European and Middle East countries. Furthermore, he was in charge of a section in the Central Prisoners of War Agency in Geneva during the Second World War.

scholarly journals Nexos entre México y Europa Centro-Oriental

2012 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
pp. 17-32
Author(s):  
Mónika Szente-Varga
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
National Archive ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Diplomatic Relations ◽  
World War ◽  
Central Eastern Europe ◽  
Bilateral Relations ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Second World

The first diplomatic and consular relations were established between Mexico and the Habsburg Empire in the 1800 s, motivated basically by commerdal reasons and dynastic interests. These got to an abrupt end with the execution of Emperor Maximilian in Querétaro in 1867, and diplomatic relations were resumed only decades later, in 1901, which is, in fact, our starting point. This essay examines the development of diplomatic relations between Mexico and Central-Eastern Europe from the beginning of the 20'' centuiy until nowadays. It is divided into chronological chapters, where we study bilateral relations in the coordinates of the following periods: beginning of the century, the period between the two world wars, the Second World War, Cold War and recent years. The investigation in based on documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico (SRE-AHD) and of the Hungarian National Archive (MOL).

SOVIET PRISONERS OF WAR IN GERMANY, 1941–1945 – AN UNDESIRABLE TOPIC FOR GERMAN SOCIETY?

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-116
Author(s):  
Valeriy P. Ljubin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
German Society ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Prisoners Of War ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Concentration Camps ◽  
Documentary Films ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Second World

In German and Russian historiography, the tragic fate of the Soviet prisoners of war in Germany during the Second World War has not been suffi- ciently explored. Very few researchers have addressed this topic in recent times. In the contemporary German society, the subject remains obscured. There are attempts to reflect this tragedy in documentary films. The author analyses the destiny of the documentary film “Keine Kameraden”, which was shot in 2011 and has not yet been shown on the German television. It tells the story of the Soviet prisoners of war, most of whom died in the Nazi concentration camps in 1941– 1945. The personal history of some of the Soviet soldiers who died in the German captivity is reflected, their lives before the war are described, and the relatives of the deceased and the surviving prisoners of war are interviewed. The film features the German historians who have written books about the Soviet prisoners. All the attempts taken by the civil society organizations and the historians to influence the German public opinion so that the film could be shown on German television to a wider audience were unsuccessful. The film was seen by the viewers in Italy on the state channel RAI 3. Even earlier, in 2013, the film was shown in Russia on the channel “Kultura” and received the Pushkin Prize.

Closing Thoughts

2020 ◽  
pp. 377-382
Author(s):  
Gaj Trifković
Keyword(s):  
Distinctive Feature ◽  
Second World War ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
World War ◽  
Final Word ◽  
German Occupation ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Resistance Movement ◽  
Second World

This chapter contains a few concluding remarks. This book is the first attempt at a comprehensive analysis of non-violent contacts between the Partisans and the German occupation authorities in Yugoslavia in the Second World War. Far from being the final word on the topic, it is a starting point for further research on various aspects of POW history. Frequent exchanges of able-bodied prisoners between the occupation forces and a resistance movement, partly through a cartel negotiated directly between their high commands, was a distinctive feature of the Second World War in Yugoslavia. It was probably the only place in war-torn Europe where representatives of two irreconcilable ideologies, Communism and Nazism, met regularly at the negotiating table. Both were primarily motivated by the desire to save their own men, but the talks did mitigate, however marginally, the horrors of the war.

Africa will offer major tests for refugee compact

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Global Compact ◽  
Content Type ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
Second World ◽  
Poor Infrastructure

Subject Global Compact on Refugees. Significance Faced with refugee numbers unprecedented since the Second World War, the international community is pushing forward with a UN-convened Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), including a new Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF). The UN High Commissioner for Refugees presented the GCR as part of his September report to the UN General Assembly. Impacts Commitments by host states to expand economic opportunities for refugees in urban areas could prompt domestic opposition. A failure of richer countries to back the GCR with substantial funding could see African states delaying improved provisions for refugees. Poor infrastructure and lack of resources and technical expertise in host states remain major hurdles to meeting refugee rights. Rejection of the related Global Compact on Migration by the United States (among others) could undermine confidence in its viability.

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