INFORMATION CONCERNING CONDITIONS EAST OF FINNISH-USSR BORDER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000200250010-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 15, 2009
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: December 11, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2009/07/15: CIA-RDP82-00047R00020025001 0-
SECRE. /SE`GU r.ITY INFOR'4A
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY I'U"D~SR
SUBJECT lnf tion Concerning Conditions East
of Fire.:h-USER Border.
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
THIS UMENT CON TA INf INf ORYATION ATICCTINO TNF NATIONAL DEFENSE
ON .:*II VNTED IT:CTES, IIT111N tHE YE ANINYOF TITLE IS, SECTI ONE 7Y]
AND 794, Of YE U.N. ., CODE, AS ANTONIO. ITS TNANSNISSIOY OF REDO.
Lil'ION OF IT^ CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT ST AN UNAUTHORIZED PIISON IS
P NON IDITIO IY LAS. THE REPRODUCTION Cl THIS FORM 19 PSONIEITIO,
DATE DISTR. // Dec 19 25X1
NO OF PAGES 25X1
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMAT;ON
The main highways I f s - e e Enclosure ; 4.),% were 7.5 to 18 feet Wide
and trucks Icoul pass each other easily. These roads were of gravel= mixed
with, clay, , and were graded and well. drained. $xna.LJ. bridges. and most of the
culverts were made of log wood, although there were some culverts of conerete.
The maintenance of these .roads had been taken care of by the Finnish Army.
Material for road construction, such as gravel or sand, was available along the
roshdways. These roads, e*tc'ept ) during the rainy season in the
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SECRE`dSEC.URIT " INFOF TI0N
Spring end fall, sere useable. for all types of traffico
The secondary motor roads leading to the main highways from the adjacent heavy-
forested areas were few and far between. They were mere paths, showing no grad-
ing e and little use; most of these secondary roads could not be used thr heavy
traf'f'ic or for motor vehicles.
8. The Mkxrmansk to Leningrad railroad, as well as the railroad west from Suoyarvi.
to Finland, was single-tracked' arid: wide-gauged. The roadbeds were of sand and
gravel, and wooden ties were used. There were railroad sidings constructed in
the larger towns. All equipment.. on these railroads was Finnish; All of the USSR
equipment had been evacuated to the south and southeast,.
9. It was the plan of the retreating Soviets vo evacuate all the people who lived
east of the Finnish-USSR border. Many of those of Finnish extraction and others
who showed opposition to Communism had been moved into the interior prior to 1939.
The retreat was so sudden that 20 to 25% of the population was left behind and
most of those whc were'left behind were old people or small children. The peo-
ple in the area were about 50% Russian and 50% Karelian,, and a few Communist-
Finnish families who had moved into' the area after World'WS,r Y.`." There were t4ro
languages spoken, Russian and Karelian (Finnish)*, Most of the young people Up
to 35 years were Coimnunists and were not friendly but bitter. 25X1
older people generally maintained, their independence and rather enjoyed The'
isre6enc~e., ' Much of this condition could be traced to 'the tat that these older
people had seen hundreds of their'bwn'people taken by the`USSR and put into labor
canipss or "forced. into the Soviet army i and that when the' proper time presented
itself,-they showed their bitterness towards the Soviets,
10. The `ter sing of this, whole area was similar to the terrain found in Finland., west
of the border. It was rolling country with an occasional large hill, dotted
with: numerous lakes of various sizes,, and fast-moving creeks and small rivars,
mday of which were jammed with logs which were on their way to the saw mills,down-
itreairiEverywhere were dense forests' of spruce and pine.
U. ' .ere was fishing ih the various lakes, but the csttches were used for local c3n.-
suniption. Wild life in this area consi`sted' of, t irds, bears., elk anc deer, which
were plentii.f.
12. Small rura&, settlements, consisting of from 10 to 2P. buildings, were located s .
various &iatarices from 20 to 30' miles apart albixg` the maimi' highways. Occ siona .-
lyra single house with a small dlearing'woiild'shoe up along the highways.' More
than.- half of , the' dwellings were' empty.
13..E An` occasionalt small piece of land' s' elear'ed' out of the forests and used for
growing vegetables and'grains, mostly potatoes, barley, oats and wheat. There
was rb reforestation.
loo, Nearer'to the larger towns, farms of from' 40 to, 60 acres were tilled. These fr ms
had ' a. few -dairy cows, hogs and,' sheep, which gra ied' upon the' native grasses of this
area, anduwere used. only for. local con.su tion.. The, grpwing, period in thus area
.B is from'90 to-one-hundred days., and the quality and 9uantity ofcraps compares
vrith" those raised ins east Finland.
15, The soil in this area we,e a sandy loam, with patches?of gravel., it was tilled
1. with old machinery, using small native horses.
16. Winters are very cold in this area and last from October through April. The tem-
persituree in December, January and February., often fall as law as -500. During
the 'ninths 'of 3'une, July and A1gust, their summer, the temperatures are comfor-
table ant' go ,'as high as 80? during the daytime, althou:;h the nights are cool,.
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17. A typi al ho de was one-story high, consti-dite~d with an exterior of either rough
1.baber or lags, and an interior finish of either wooden boaxds or rough plaster.
The ho es hex *i i 'basements, and'Ish?ngles were used for the r. oaf. - The house`s
usually contained two bedrooms, a living-room,, and a combination' kitchen asul.,
dining-roomt .Other buildings associated yiith the home usttally hid the same
exterit ? a the house o
The. only industry with exportable, products in' this area ?was that of logging; - with
small ear-?m.i.Us located in various towns, At Kondopoga, there, were two saw
mills and one pulp mill.,, although these were 'not operatitag
Prior to WoAd War II, these wood .products were 'shipped by ? south an eas =
to the' -m re populated: areas.
19. Each district ha4 its` own hospital,. but nearly all the personnel hadbeen. evne-
uated:"leaving only a few old. people to look after the sick. Each district also
had 3 ts' ems. public health system,, but its personnel was not well trained. Only
in the larger towns was., there - a doctor. The Public Health ~Hospi.tals, as well as
tie schools were taken over by the Finnish personnel of the Finnish militar.;yr
ggvernmant.
20. The prevailing diseases in the area'were. those common to the bangs and throaty
ubercu7.oe,e and dysentery. In 193, in the Petrozavodsk area, there was a
serious typhoid epidem c.' There was very' little venereal disease," The personal
hygiene of the natives eras ' very good; they followed theiz' old custom of tailing
steam bathe. Many of them hods their own private steam-bath house, anii the vii-
lages and tons had public steam.-'bath houses. In the aim= r eof 194%. there
were some cases of malaria; the cause of same was :ttaeed,:to the _mtsWito, a species
kn7lra as anopheles maculipennis. The patients were treated with. quinine and soon
recovered.
21. With the e?caeption of the people of they city of Kondopoga, which in normal `Ames
water 13ystem. Usually they 'took their water' f'r om lakes or, springs, 25X1
department labeled, it as safe.
22. There wa a`'large hydroelectri:d.. plant at 1Condopoga,. also, which furnished powEr
and light to the nearby villages.
236 Garbage d?iap sal was handled by private ib? 1i,*tion; garbage was:' dumped 'in an area outside
of the village 11miti where it was, left to rot
2l.. In the larger towns, there were Greek Orthodox churches, and these were fai t,hfa7.-
,lyy attended,by the o~Aer folks. The younger people being Conmunists did not
atteila church. The influence o? Communism ' was noticeable in most ? of the homes,
dauiohes aid in ~lx 6choo]ls, where- signs such as '"Stalin., our Father and Savii r"
were posted in c^onspicious places.
25. :School., books: sere 'written in both the ki Knish and Russian- languages;- and 25X1
spa. "sohooi textbooks that were printed in Ruasiau type, but writtenin the
Finnish' language..
26. The natives entertai.ned' themselves, much ",As in Finland in the rural areas, 25X1
by group gatherings, where folk-dancing and singing were done. The songs here
oa;d ''Karelian,, songs, which hive been tie' theme fbrmany Finnish 60a95 25X1
end
ENCLOSURE (A) Sketch of Area Near Finnish/USSR Border 25X1
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a,P,RE , SEG lITY a i.F(iRMV 10H
SKETCH OF AR !A NEAR. F` NNIISH,IUSSF4 BORDER
. SCAM 1:2,100,000
f
Mat n Highways
note: Highways drawn on the abscye may are intended to 3h0w
only the general direction ar same,-7
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