“We’d rather not be captured by the poles”: “the march off the Vistula” and German camps in the memories of the red army’s soldiers, political workers and commanders

The article covers the events of the Soviet-Polish war of 1920. It is based on unique personal sources: unpublished reminiscences of Red Army’s military staff and inhabitants of the Archangelsk region. The author narrates the battles against the Polish Army, the defeat of the troops of the Soviet Western Front near Warsaw, and the internment of Red Army’s parts in Germany. It is the first effort in national historical science to reveal the frontline and camp routine of Red Army’s men giving a profound insight into their perception of the tragic events, their attitudes to Polish and German authorities and armed forces as well as to Polish, Jewish and German population.