The article concerns the problem of prisoners of war during the Russo-Japanese war. The problem appears in the focus of modern researchers quite rarely: they usually write about political, military, ...and economic aspects of the war. The article describes the process of choosing the places of stay for the captured Japanese soldiers and officers in 1904–1905.
By the beginning of the war, Russia assumed a number of obligations, since, during the Conference in Hague in 1899, it signed the Convention with respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land, prescribing the treatment of prisoners based on humanistic ideals.
The sources used during writing the work represent the latest research materials and the archival documents. These documents are stored in the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA) in Moscow.
While determining the places for the Japanese stay, the Military department faced a severe problem, since it was necessary to take into account different factors: whether it would be possible to ensure guarding the prisoners of war, whether there was a suitable building for their accommodation, whether the Japanese soldiers and officers would have opportunities to commit sabotage. The latest issue was vividly discussed in the official documents of the period: there were concerns that the Japanese would destroy railways, as they did in Manchuria.
The idea that the place for the Japanese prisoners should be in the Far East was rejected almost immediately due to its proximity to the theater of operations. Siberia also did not fit, since a railway passed through it – the most important transport artery during the war, so it was decided to place the Japanese in European Russia. The city of Penza was chosen as a collection point, from where prisoners of war were distributed to the cities of the Kazan, Moscow, Kiev, and Saint Petersburg military districts.
However, in the autumn of 1904, Emperor Nicholas II issued a decree that the Japanese should not be stationed near the passage of the Russian troops. After that it was decided to accommodate all Japanese prisoners of war in one place: in the village of Medved, Novgorod province. The barracks located there were perfect for housing a small number of Japanese prisoners, where they stayed until the end of the war.
The Russo-Japanese War was essentially the first war during which the Hague Convention With Respect to the Laws and Customs of War on Land was tested. At that time, Russia, like Japan, was concerned ...about the country’s international reputation and sought to create the impression of a civilized power. After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, it made great efforts to ensure that the detention of prisoners of war met international requirements. There were a little more than 2,000 Japanese prisoners of war in Russia. Most of them were kept in the Arakcheev Barracks of the village of Medved, Novgorod Province. The article shows that the prisoners of war had good financial provision and enjoyed freedom of movement in the village. The Russian side tried to take into account the dietary tastes of the Japanese. The article presents the results of the mission of the American Vice-Consul Thomas Smith, undertaken to study the situation of the prisoners of war, according to which the treatment of the Japanese POWs did not cause any criticism. The author also shows that, today, the memory of the Japanese prisoners of war is carefully preserved by the villagers. There is a permanent museum exposition in the local house of culture, and the tombstones left after the burial of the deceased prisoners of war are part of the memorial in their honor.
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