World War One Imperial Russian Prisoners of War on Slovenian Territory

Med prvo svetovno vojno je na slovensko ozemlje prišlo veliko število vojnih ujetnikov carske Rusije, ki jih je avstro-ogrska armada zajela v uspešnih bitkah na vzhodnem bojišču. Prek zbirnih taborišč so jih prepeljali v zaledje, kjer so jih dodelili vojaški upravi ali posameznim občinam za delo v civilni sferi. Vojni ujetniki pod vojaško upravo so bili večinoma vključeni v gradnjo infrastrukture in utrjevanje obrambne linije na soški fronti. Živeli so v ujetniških taboriščih, v slabih življenjskih razmerah. Tisti, ki so bili zaposleni v civilni sferi, so delali v obrtnih delavnicah in tovarnah ali pa so pomagali na večjih kmetijah. Ruski ujetniki so predstavljali prepotrebno delovno silo, ki jo je med vojno zelo primanjkovalo. Domačini, ki so bili kakorkoli z njimi v stiku, so si jih zapomnili po njihovem petju in globoki privrženosti religiji. O prisotnosti ruskih vojnih ujetnikov na Slovenskem še danes pričajo veliki infrastrukturni projekti, ki jih ponekod še uporabljamo, različni izdelki, ki so jih ujetniki izdelovali v prostem času in zamenjevali za hrano, ne nazadnje pa tudi nekatera pokopališča, spomeniki in posamezni grobovi, ki nas opominjajo na grozote Velike vojne.During the First World War, a large number of Imperial Russian POWs that were captured by the Austro-Hungarian army in successful battles on the eastern battlefield came on Slovenian territory. Through collective camps, they were transported to the hinterland where they were assigned to the military administration or individual municipalities for work in the civil sphere. Military prisoners under military administration were mostly involved in the construction of infrastructure and the consolidation of the defensive line on the Isonzo front. They lived in captive camps in poor living conditions. Those who were employed in the civil sphere worked in craft workshops and factories or helped on larger farms. Russian prisoners represented a much-needed labour force during the war. The locals who were in contact with them in any way remembered them after their singing and deep devotion to religion. The presence of Russian military prisoners in Slovenia is still witnessed today by large infrastructure projects, which are still in use in some places, various products made by prisoners in their free time which they have exchanged for food, and last but not least by some of the cemeteries, monuments and individual graves that remind us about the horrors of the Great War