Former Graves of Japanese POWs

There are several tombstones with Japanese hieroglyphs on the main street of the village of Medved. During the Russo-Japanese war, the local army barracks were home for almost all Japanese prisoners of war, captured during that war. They lived there relatively well, received a plentiful ration and moved freely around the village. There was no need for a significant number of guards; Japanese POWs have nowhere to run to, thousands of kilometers from their fatherland.

Despite the good conditions, about twenty Japanese died in captivity. Perhaps it was because they had already been injured on the battlefield. In 1908, a delegation from Japan came to Medved to collect the bodies of the dead, and the stones with exotic inscriptions remained as a reminder of this little-known fact.

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Source

• Text: Fyodor Telin
• Photos: Fyodor Telin