INFORMATION CONCERNING CONDITIONS EAST OF FINNISH-USSR BORDER.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600030288-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 2, 2011
• Sequence Number: 288
• Publication Date: December 11, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

DATE DISTR. // Dec 1952
SUPPLEMENT TU
REPORT NO.
COUNTRY
SUBJECT i~nfrrmaticm. Concerning Condition3 East
)f F--fl-s-"-USSR Border.
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION :1EPCOR?e'
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
The main highways -ee Enclosure U17 v
an3 trucks cowls pace each other easily. were 15 to IS feet wide
with c and were :41eae r were at gravels shred
Y, graded erd aell.drained. Sm s, bridges and most of the
culI ii r s made of J-09 moods alt ll ' g7 there V,;r-o souls culverts of c'ncrete.
lh= maintenance of these roads had. bean term of by the 1-mmi.ah Army,
at'=e! for road conot action, such as gravel or sand., ma evail 7we
r+-Aadways. These roads, . ecc'ept dur* th the
_21g the rainy aeascal in the
a~ars~ ...r, rr eian
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an- fall, were useaole for all types of traffico
The secondirr,, mc.zir roads leading to the main highways from the adjacent heavy-
_,r?stedareas were few and far between. They were mere paths, showing no grad-
i.r; and little use; most of these secondary roads could not be usedlbr heavy
traffic or for motor vehicles.
E? T.ir M-or ianak to Lenirurad railroad. as well as the railroad west from Suoyarvi
t~, Finand, was cLngle-tracked and wide-gauged. The roadbeds were of sand and
:ravel, rind wooden ties wire used. There were railroad sidings constructed in
.he l.ar;e.r towns. All equipment on these railroads was Finnish] all of the USSR
-'quip nt had been evacuated to the south and southeast.
~? it was *"` plan c:' tae re .renting Soviets _o evacuate all the people who lived
east th,._ Finnish-JiSR border. Many of
_ those of Finnish extraction and others
lie retreavacsitlcn to C rm
4^unisn had been moved into the interior prior to 1939?
sc sudden that 20 to 25% of the population was left behind and
no:, of tro.e ;hc ?.vere left be
Flo in c:~e area were ahou~ ,,hind were old people or small children. The geo-
50% Russian and 504 Karelian,, and a few Camminist-
Finn 6h fa.tlje_ titio nad moved into the area after World War I. There were two
la.njnag(-_s spoken, Russian and Karelian (iinnish .
t' . o ,e ) Most of the yc_o,, 059p10 uy
ar =;2r_ Communists and were not frie
dl
n
y out bitter
older people generally ma?rn,tained. their independen
ce and rather enjoyed~
?reeen:e? Much of this condition could be traced to the fact that these older
people had seen hundreds of their own people takein by the USSR and put into labor
camps or forced into the Soviet army, and that when the'proper time presented
itself, they showed their bitterness towards the Soviets.
10. The terrain of this wn,-cle area was similar to the terrain found in Finland, west
of the border. It w'e roiling country with an occasional large hill, dotted
with .; ~?ero> ; .a; ee of various sizes, and fast-raovi creeks and small, rivers,
many of which were Ja led with logs which were on their way to the saw mile devn-
stream.. h've';ti'tere were dense forests of spruce and pine.
11. 'Th-Ere was fishing in the various lakes, but the catches were used for local con-
sumption. Wild life in this area consisted of birds, bears, elk and deer, which
were plenbif il.
12. Small rural, settlements, consisting of from 10 to 20 buildings, were located at
various distances from 20 :.o 30 miles apart along the main highways. Occasional-
ly a single fho a with. a small clearing vo' 1d show up along the highways. More
tha half o the dwellings were'empty.
13.? An occasional-small piece of land was cleared' out of the forests and used for
growing vegetables and grains, mostly potatoes, barley, oats and wheat. There
was nr reforeatation.
14. Nearer to the larger towns, farms of from 40 to 60 acres werz tilled. These fa?ma
had a few dairy nova, hogs anti sheep, which grated upon the native grasses of this
area, anri,were .,Bed only for local consumption.. The grovi-
is from 90 to one-hundred days, and the ty period, in this area
with those raised in east Finland, Quality and quantity o-? crops caFaparew
15. The soil in this area was a sandy loam, With patches -of gravel.. It was tilled
with o02A machinery, using smell native horses.
16. Winters are very cold in this area and last from October through kprl. :he tem-
pareatur os in Detember, January azad ftbruat y, often fall as low as -5Oa.
ti'e u-dths of fte, Julv c.nd "gust, .their summer, the temperatures are comNri4
for-
table er go ai high as 80O during the daytime, although the nights are cool.
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17. A ;ypi.al hone was one-story high, constructed with an exterior of either rough
1'.u er or lcS&, and, an interior finish of either wooden boa ris or rough plaster.
The houses had no basements, end shingles were used for the roof. The houses
usaM.;.l-y contained. two bedrooms, a living-room, and a combination kitchen and,
Other buildings associated with the home usually had the same
exteri: as the house.
1?. -ca an y industry with exportable,produets in this area was that of logging; with
small saw-mills located in various towns. At Kondopoga, there were mills and one pulp mill, although these were not operating
Prior to World War II, these wood products were shipped by ra3"- n a east
the more populated areas.
19- Each district had. Its own hospital., but newly all the personnel had been evac-
uqt?d ~eavirg only a few old people to look after the sick. Each. district also
had ?.ts owr, pu.,??'c health system, but its personnel was not well trained. Only
in the larger towns Va. there a doctor. The Public Health Hospitals, ..g well as
the sch!-ols were taken over by the Finnish personnel of the Finnish military
go ; ert.&Or LL...
Lr sailing dioeajes in the area were those common to the lungs and throat,
-caber ilonin and dysentery. In 1943, in the Petrozavodsk area, there was a'
serious typhoid epidemic. There was very little venereal disease, The persona:
hygiene of the natives was very good, they followed their' old custom of taking
steam baths. Many of them had their own private steam-bath house, and the vil-
lages and towns had public steam-bath houses.' In the summer of 1943, there
were some cases of malaria; the cause of sane was tzaoed.;o the mosquito, a c?a"1Ce
'.- :. ouvkubica macuiipennis. The patients a `_----
were treated with quinine and soon
recazered.
21. With the exception of the people of the city of Kondopoga, vhich in normal times
hart n nnnn1.+4.m .-P ..a _tia. . _--
v,. _~? -o-icy vuey Zoos tne?r water from lakes or springs,
department labeled it as sa.fe.
ua
some school textbooks that were sign laaguagas; andlI
Finnish Isa+a printed Iii Russian type but written in due
i
-.nsp cious places.
23. School books wera Britten in both the Finnish and R
22. There was a large hydrr^lectrio plant at Kondopoga, also, which furnished power
and light t; the nearby village:..
23? Garbage disposal was handlad by private collection, garbage was ' dum'ed'in an area outside
of the village limits where it wan loft to rot.
24. In the- towns. there Were Greek Orthodox churches, and these were faithful-
ly xtte:d.ed by the u]4er folks. The younger people being Comeuniste did not
attend churoh. The influence o? Casnmunism'was noticeable in most-of the homes,
thurchea and in all schools, where signs such as "Stalin, our Father and Saviour"
were posted in
26. The natives entertained: themselves, much '.ka min Fwd in the rural areas
by group gatherings, where folk-dancing '
cad e z~g were done. The songs. were
oM Karelian- Longs, which have been the, thame for many Finnish-sonLra.
Danced also Were similar to the folk daises in Finland.
- end -
F LOS1JPE kA): Sketch of Ares Nevi rinniahAJSSR Border
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SCAIZ 1: 2, 09:x,
only the - 1-11 a = -L-'I I,'=urea zo 3hcY
3 general direction of same.,
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