Correspondence of Foreign Prisoners in the Camps of the Estonian NKVD - MVD in the late 1940s

The article is devoted to the correspondence of prisoners of war caught up after the Second World War in the NKVD camps in Estonia. On the basis of archival materials the author analyzes the process of organizing correspondence of prisoners of war, noting that in the final stage of the war and immediately after its culmination, it was limited. Despite indications of the Soviet leaders, until the spring of 1946 there were practically no letters delivered to POW camps in Estonia. From the second half of 1946 the situation began to change. However, this problem was completely solved only in mid-1947, when the camp began to receive cards for correspondence of prisoners of war in sufficient quantities. For example, in July - September 1948, prisoners of war sent from camps in Estonia home nearly 84 000 units of correspondence, and received 68 500 letters and postcards. In concluding, the author states that Soviet leaders of various positions were well aware of the value of correspondence for the 73 000 prisoners of war, who passed through the camps of Estonia. The very fact of receiving a letter or postcard from home has a huge impact not only on the morale, but also on the physical condition of people, cut off for years from their families. Furthermore, correspondence became r an important channel for obtaining information about the sentiments of POWs, as well as a powerful propaganda tool in their indoctrination.