The repatriation of foreign prisoners of world war ii from concentration camps in Western Siberia (1945-1950's)

The author analyzes peculiarities and specific state and regional politics concerning some problems of foreign prisoners' repatriation from concentration camps and hospitals located in Western Siberia (1945-1955) to Europe and Japan during and after World War II. On the basis of central and local archive documents the main stages of the repatriation and their specific peculiarities, ups and downs, are shown. The amount and ethnic composition of World War II prisoners, working battalions' members, who had been freed from the MVD Siberian camps in 1945-1950, are studied. There were war prisoners of more than 20 nationalities in Western Siberia, who were repatriated to Europe and Japan. The repatriation process started just after the end of the war in Europe, the last war prisoners left Western Siberia in 1956.