Konstantin Alexandrovich Shilov postcard
Konstantin Alexandrovich Shilov was born in Bugulma in Russia in 1913 and, like millions of other Russians of his generation, he experienced great hardship during his childhood.
This photograph shows Soviet POWs held in Stalag 307, a fortress in Dęblin in Poland. More than 100,000 POWs were interned in the camp, meaning that thousands were left in the open in temperatures which fell as low as –25°C. The camp had only one well to supply water. It is estimated that 80 per cent of the prisoners died over the winter of 1941-42.
photo © National Archives and Records Administration, College Park.