Assessing the Economic Contribution of German Prisoners of War in the Soviet Union, 1941-1956

Abstract

This paper examines the history of German prisoners of war (POWs) in the Soviet Union from 1941-1956. The Soviet Union kept their German prisoners of war for 11 years after the end of World War II, until 1956, which was seven years longer than any of the other Allied victor nations. I argue that the Soviets did so for reasons of economic necessity and not punishment or revenge. German POWs were mobilized to rebuild the destroyed Soviet economy through the Gulag prison camp system. To assess their economic contributions, I use Russian archival sources and the GIS software ArcGIS to plot the locations of the camps with regards to natural resource deposits (coal, precious metals, timber, etc.) and proximity to industrial and population centers. Thus, I see the Gulag not as an instrument of political terror and repression, but one of economic reinvestment and ideological refashioning.

Keywords: Economics, History, Germany, Russia, POWs