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Soviet Prisoners of War in Finnish and German Propaganda Photography 1941-1944
drugs could be used to care for wounded prisoners of war (Streit 1997: 184). In
Finland, captured medical personnel were also used to care for POWs, but Finnish
personnel were also used (Pietola 2005: 83, 92; Sairila 2004: 175); and thus, the
nationality of the nurses and doctors does not play any significant role in the cap¬
tions of the Finnish propaganda photos.
In Figure 65, one can see prisoners eating at a Finnish farm. The central element
in the picture is the food. The caption implies that the prisoners are treated as equal
to Finnish workers on the farm, and that they are given enough food as long as they
keep working. In Germany, there are also pictures showing that Soviet prisoners
are given food, because the Germans also wanted to signal that the prisoners were
treated well. There is, however, one significant difference between the Finnish
and German photos. In Finland, the prisoners were often sent to work on private
farms. During the time prisoners spent there, they occasionally developed close
relationships with the farm owners, becoming something near to a family member
(Hokkanen 2004: 82). Meanwhile, in Germany, POWs were also used for farm
work; but in contrast to Finland, the PK troops were not allowed to take photos on
the home front. Most German propaganda pictures were thus taken in POW and
transit camps, and they lack the familiar atmosphere present in Figure 65.
In both Finland and Germany, pictures of well-treated prisoners of war were
primarily used in active propaganda against the enemy, to convince enemy troops
to give up fighting and surrender. The Finns had been using photographs in their
propaganda leaflets since the Winter War (1939-1940). Because photos were con¬
sidered proof of reality among Soviet soldiers, the pictures of a familiar atmos¬
phere on Finnish farms were effective propaganda weapons. A photo of the frozen
corpse of a Soviet soldier was often printed on those leaflets as well, which provided
a contrast to the more pleasant images. This signalled to the Soviets that they had
a choice between good care in Finnish custody and death in the Finnish forests
(Salminen & Suvanne 1989: 34-35). Ortwin Buchbender, who has analysed the
Germans’ active propaganda against the Soviet Union, states that photos of good
care being taken of POWs were also used in German propaganda leaflets as evi¬
dence to disprove Soviet propaganda that the Germans would torture prisoners of
war (1978: 64-65). Pictures of well-treated prisoners of war were used in Soviet
visual propaganda as well (for example Frolov 2012: 186-187).
In addition to the propaganda meant for the enemy, the Finnish photos of
well-cared-for prisoners might also have been intended for publication in foreign
countries. It was stated in Finnish instructions concerning the treatment of POWs
that prisoners should be treated humanely “to show that we are a cultured nation
in all circumstances” (Pietola 2005: 68). These pictures might have been intended
to show an external audience how well Soviet prisoners were being treated in Fin¬
land. There are, however, no sources to confirm the distribution of such pictures to
foreign countries during the war and thus, this cannot be proved.
165