"A deliberate, coordinated effort by a variety of Russian officials and organizations to suppress POW/MIA information has occurred."
Dr. Paul M. Cole

VOLUME I - Part I

Writing on behalf of the National Defense Research Institute, and published briefly by RAND, Dr. Cole's study of POW-MIA Issues, Volume 1, The Korean War has provided some remarkably uncolored oberservations. In this first installment of our study on the RAND series, we will highlight some of the Korean War - USSR aspects.

Although the former USSR stated unequivocably that American researchers would be given unparalleled access to Soviet Archives, the demise of the Soviet Union allowed the USSR to reneg on its stated promise. In the ensuing break-up of the USSR into States, Oblasts and whatnot, the archival materials steadily became more and more restricetd, until ultimately oppressed. The few materials that were available, were done so in such controlled parameters that they yielded little and imperiled the researchers.

Tragically, in 1992, the archives were put up on the auction block if you will. Once again economics reared its ugly head, and an entrepreneurial atmosphere overcame that of scholar and humanitarianism. Contracts were signed between Russian archive officials and private parties that would provide 'rights' to produce and make public the materials, thus generating proceeds to be divided amongst themselves.

Even Task Force Russia, the gallant group who has accomplished more in two years than anyone else in twenty, was stymied by the crass commercialism. It appears that a senior Russian side member was making huge sums of money by selling Soviet archival material. Because of this, countless materials were not made available for fear that he would sell them off to the highest bidder, instead of sharing them with his US counterparts.

The USSR archive materials that have been made available, show that the USSR did in fact have an appartus in place to acquire and then exploit foreign nationals in many areas such as defense, research and development and forced labor. In addition, the records indicate an ability to track, document and maintain personnel in a variety of facilities.

There were two main systems:

The SHARASHKA system : A series of small, unnoticed camps or sites, components of the GULAG system, whereby Soviet and foreign professionals, either sentenced and confined or kidnapped off the streets, were forced to do R&D work on defense associated projects. Engineers, Phd.s, Scientists and Technicians to name a few were sentenced to the Sharashkas. Frequently placed near the more notorious forced labor camps, the Sharashkas were able to draw from the prison population, individuals, who would then work as assistants in areas such as bacteriology (for germ warfare), rockets, atomic energy and radar to name a few. Foreign POWs were of course likely candidates for internment in these camps due to the military training they had received. The USSR documented the vast acceleration in their defense design programs as a result of the exploitation of such men.

The GULAG system: This brainchild of Josef Stalin, was the most severe and cruelest of the then existing prison systems. Forced, brutal labor, cruel guards and near starvation were its tenets. Comprising hundreds of separate camps and hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of internees. Countless millions would die from starvation, no medical care, exposure and fatigue.

The archive materials on this aspect, thousands of pages to be sure, outline concisely the USSR penchant to seek out foreign POWs who could be exploited in their work for the Soviet defense industry. Moles were placed in German POW camps for instance, and they in turn identified prisoners who would have a talent or training in specific fields. In essence they created a shopping list for the powers-that-be to draw from.

With the firm entrenchment of the camp systems, the paranoid and oppressive organs of government and military, and the resolve of the former USSR to exploit foreign nationals to achieve their own goals, the mechanism by which Foreign POWs were to fall prey was established as early as World War II.

With the Korean War on the horizon, the system the USSR had created to track, identify and secure foreign nationals was working well and well-documented. Once again, with Korea and the Cold War hotly raging, the USSR had to do little to gear-up and go over the border, to collect the bounties of war.