De Slard said:
That's exactly the same article Longinus posted a link to. Good we have both the Polish and Russian translations.
Russian historian gives data and links to documents about 130 000-165 000 POW
from 18000 to 83000 died.
http://www.ng.ru/ideas/2000-11-03/8_poland-ru.html
Now, that is something! Thanks!
First of all, there are lots of contradicting numbers mentioned in that article. Let alone the Chicherin's note since it's not backed up by anything (130.000 POWs, 65.000 died in captivity...). This seems rather not credible because his note was sent on September 9th, 1921, that is before the repatriation of POWs ended.
Next, we have the "Гриф секретности снят: потери Вооруженных Сил СССР в войнах, боевых действиях и военных конфликтах" publication, which lists 94 880 officers and soldiers of Western and South-Western Fronts that were declared missing in 1919 and 1920. Apart from the fact that MIA is not yet a KIA and that the South-Western Front was also fighting against the Whites and Ukraine for some time, these numbers seem quite accurate and in accordance with the Polish data (even if we assume that all of them were taken POW and none were dead and torn to pieces by artillery fire or drowned in Vistula).
Then the author mentions that according to the data of the 2nd Department of the Polish HQ (intelligence and counter-intelligence), there were more than 146.000 Russian POWs captured. I would like to see some backup for that claim, since it's completely different number that the author drew from the same sources Karpus was using.
Then he mentions Mukhitina, who also published some numbers, quite different from those above. According to her, there were 165.500 POWs taken by the Polish side, including 13.000 in 1919 (Karpus quotes 7096 POWs in November of 1919), 30.000 in April-July of 1920 and 117.550 taken immediately after the battle of Warsaw in mid-August of 1920.
Then the author mentions a difference in the number of repatriated POWs by the end of October of 1921. Polish data gives the number of 65.797 men (and some 2.000 that were left as a warrant of safe return of additional 3.000 Poles stille held in Russian captivity; these were returned two months later). On the other hand, the Mobilisation Authority of the Red Army quotes 75.699 repatriated by the end of November of 1921. So, in other words, if we assume that both these numbers are correct, the Russians received some 10.000 more POWs than Poles sent them. This could be due to the fact, that many of the Russian POWs volunteered for service with the ill-fated Ukrainian and White Russian units that crossed the demarcation line after the cease-fire and wanted to continue the fight, but were defeated soon afterwards. Some of them returned to Poland (and were yet again put in the POW camps, BTW) but others might've been taken by the Reds and counted as former Polish POWs. However, this is but my assumption.
Then the writer passes on to the question of difficult situation within the POW camps. He mentions an YMCA report (yup, YMCA had a division devoted to POWs during and after WWI), in which it is said that the POWs were kept in barracks that were not suitable for that purpose. The report also mentions lack of linen and that some of the POWs don't have it at all while others have not received fresh linen in three months. It also mentions that in the transit camp of the Polish 18th infantry division most of the POWs were not given any civilian clothing.
The report does not mention, however, that Poland did not build any POW camps. Those that were used in 1919 and 1920 were simply Russian and German POW camps from WWI.
The author also mentions a report of certain "RFSR representative to Warsaw", who on January 5th, 1922, wrote that "overnight of 18th - 19th of December there was a systematical slaughter of Russian POWs and citizens in the camp (in of Strzałkowo - Halibutt). It came down to shooting at the barracks, and in the result one prisoner, Korney Kalita who was sleeping in his bed was wounded.(...)"
This report is somehow strange, not only because there were no Bolshevik POWs there any more (the repatriation ended months before), but also that I don't understand what a Bolshevik representative was doing in a camp where White Russian and Ukrainian POWs were held.
Then the author mentions some mysterious letter from Polish commander of all the POW camps to general Sosnkowski, in which he mentions that 22.000 Russians died in Strzałkowo. I would really like to know the source of that document, since it would solve many questions.
Then he also mentions a report of some Bolshevik commission that was supposedly dispatched to various POW camps in Poland in... February of 1923. That report, according to the author, mentions beatings and other acts of maltreatment of defenceless POWs. The problem is the same as with the previous documents - according to the Polish sources mentioned by Karpus, there were no Bolshevik POWs in Poland then.
Then he critisizes the Polish term "Polish-Bolshevik War" and suggests that it should be called "Polish-Russian War". Calling it otherwise, suggests Vladimir Daynes, that the war was fought between states and not between nations, and that that's why the humanitarian rights were supposedly not obeyed. And then - guess what - he gets carried away and mentions Katyn'.
All in all, the article mentions several versions and supports one of them - though why does he support that version of facts remains a mystery to me. The author found several versions of numbers and assumed that the highest possible number of POWs and victims must be right. However, I have yet to see some documents that would back it up.
Note that I'm not denying that there were Russian POWs in Poland and that I'm not denying that many of them died. Similarily, I guess none of the Russian historians want to deny that there were Polish POWs in Russian camps and that many of them died. It's all about numbers and their interpretation. Apparently mr. Vladimir Daynes' thesis was that the Poles murdered on purpose thousands of Russian POWs and that Poles nowadays don't want to apologise for that. IMO first we'd have to find out the true number of victims and reason of their death.
Cheers