Vrsic pass road and Russian POW's

[EvgenyS]

I know this has been mentioned a few times in different threads, but I'm struggling for sources of more detailed info about the Russian POW's in the Vrsic pass area in 1915-1918. So far I see that many sites refer to the same short memoir of a Slovenian timber worker published in 1957 (Planinski vestnik, XIII/1957, s.151-163 - Franc Uran - Kako seje delala cesta na Vrsic). Could someone provide any useful links to other first-hand accounts or documentary sources?

[tomisitt]

I would be amazed if you manage to find much. As you probably know, the Austro-Hungarians treated their Russian PoWs very badly and didn’t seem to keep records of names, just the number they had. Let us know if you have any luck.

[EvgenyS]

Actually, I did find one recent (2018) source, in Slovenian, which is a collection of articles on the Russian POW's in Slovenia. I did not look at it in detail yet, but e.g. it has a picture of 'death certificate' in German and mentions at least a few actual names of POW's who died there. The e-book is available at https://www.zvkds.si/sl/knjiznica/vojni-ujetniki-carske-rusije-v-prvi-svetovni-vojni-na-slovenskem-ozemlju. 

[tomisitt]

Wow, what a great find! Thanks for posting that. It’s such an interesting subject it’s a shame there is not more written about it. Good luck with your research.

[EvgenyS]

Another comparatively recent publication (2014) with lots of photos is available at https://www.dlib.si/details/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-XALGGNHG

As I can understand so far, the main issue about identifying the names and fates of these POW's, as well as the number of casualties, is the inaccessibility of the personal records in the Vienna War Arkhive. Records in the Slovenian arkhives are scarce and rarely include specific names, while most of grave sites have been lost in the woods/mountains. 

[tomisitt]

That's great, thanks.