Gulag Report

Camps in the area of Moscow

Lubyanka

In 1947 at the inquiry prison in Potsdam, a Polish witness stayed in one cell together with a U.S. Army sergeant, reportedly a gunner. The witness believed he had probably unintentionally entered the Soviet zone in Berlin by a car and was arrested immediately. The source described the American as a sturdy fellow, whose father was a farmer. The American gave the source an overcoat They spoke German, but both knew it very poorly. They met again at the Lubyanka prison in Moscow at the turn of 1948.

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During a series of interviews in 1996, a Soviet veteran who lived in Minsk claimed to have seen a U.S. POW in May or June 1953. The POW was a Korean War F-86D pilot whose plane had been forced to land, The pilot landed his plane undamaged, was then captured, and his aircraft was taken to Moscow. The incident occurred in late Spring 1953. According to the witness who served in An Dun, North Korea, from December 1952 through February 1954 the pilot was sent to Moscow the day after the forcedown, 'because Stalin wanted to speak with him.' The witness said that the pilot was interrogated by his commander, Colonel Ivan Nikolayevich Kozhedub. Upon capture, he believed the U.S. POW was not injured. He said that the U.S. POW depicted in a picture he saw was white, with light brown hair and blue or light brown eyes. He stated that the U.S. POW was about 5'7' tall, and had a 2 1/2" scar above the right eye. The witness said that the late General Vasiliy Kuzmich Sidorenkov had a picture of the American POW which he had seen when Sidorenkov showed I to him years ago, declaring, "that's our American." The witness revealed that this pilot later became an instructor- and taught at the Monino Air Force Academy in ,Moscow from 1953-58. The U.S. POW did not speak Russian and had served at Monino under an assumed Russian name. He did not know the name, and could not recall any other details about the U.S. POW. The U.S. POW primarily taught air battle techniques and tactics, and assisted the Soviets in figuring out a U.S. radar sight. (radio-lokatsionnty pritsel)

Krasnia Prest Prison

Repatriated American John Noble reported that inscribed in the wall of Krasnia Prest Prison Moscow, he saw the name of Major Roberts or Robbins, with his American address and the inscription, 'I am sick and don't expect to live through this....' [MAJ Frank A. Roberts is missing from WWII, as well as CAPTs Robert Roberts and Edward Robbins. These three are among the 125 missing service members from WWII with the last name of Roberts or Robbins.]