Filtration Files: Filtration Documents
Scope and content
Filtration file consists of filtration documents and personal documents. Filtration documents are generated in the process of screening, in Soviet officialese – filtration. They include registration sheet (russ. Регистрационный лист, document ID 126773131-126773132), questionnaire (russ. Анкета, document ID 126761559-126761561), record of interrogation (russ. Протокол допроса, document ID 126777157-126777163), vita (russ. Автобиография, document ID 126766510-126766511), decision on filtration file (russ. Заключение по фильтрационному делу, document ID 126766373), various letters providing information about the screened person, plus internal communications of filtration authorities. Personal documents include pre-war Soviet documents, wartime and early post-war German administration documents, and pre-war, wartime, as well as post-war Allied documents. Personal documents make up the collection Filtration Files: pre-war, wartime, and post-war Personal Documents (signature 721100001) and are described in detail (archival description ID 471154).
This collection consists mainly of filtration documents. Occasionally, personal documents of the German administration from the war occur, such as work books (document ID 126769934-126769939) and work cards (document ID 126769932-126769933), as well as documents of the Allies from the postwar period (document ID 126989182, document ID 126989183). The filtration files are not unitary. Some comprise only one registration sheet, others consist of filtration documents and personal documents. The file covers also look very different. Sometimes they are folders specifically designed for filtration purposes (document ID 126773130), sometimes they are blank folders (document ID 126769929), and repeatedly envelopes made of newsprint (document ID 126777492, document ID 126777495). Legibility is especially difficult at the newsprint envelopes because the names are written between the printed lines. The documents are handwritten and the vast majority is written in Russian.
A registration sheet was a form in tabular form consisting of 14-15 paragraphs, which was filled in according to the words of the person to be registered. It contains information such as last and first name; patronymic; year and place of birth; nationality; education; occupation; last place of residence and work; troop unit for the military; party affiliation; reasons for stays abroad; was the person detained, interrogated, punished by the German authorities (when, where and why); was the person in adversary concentration camps (which and where), what he did there; did the person serve, work in the German army, police, other German authorities and institutions; when and where was the identity card issued; what documents were withdrawn during registration; who are the closest relatives and where do they live; where does the person go for permanent residence. It also includes important information such as the number of the screening and filtration camp, its location, and the date when the repatriate left it. The registration sheet was sent to the state security authorities of the place where the person wanted to return to.
A questionnaire with 29 questions was filled in according to the words of the screened person. It includes information such as last and first name, patronymic, if changed (when and why) previous information; date of birth; place of birth; last place of residence; nationality and mother tongue, knowledge of foreign languages; party affiliation; where are party cards/documents; education; profession; previous conviction in the Soviet Union (when and why, punishment); work activity from 1939; recruitment to military service; participation in military actions (when and where); service in the Red Army from 1939; was the person a prisoner of war (when and where); under what circumstances did the person come to the occupied territories of the Soviet Union; was the person and family members detained by Gestapo, other German authorities, interrogated, given a criminal record (when, where, why and how often, punishment), when and by whom released; activity and place of residence in the occupied Soviet territories; when and under what circumstances did the person come to the hostile German-occupied country (here it was important to find out whether the person had left voluntarily); was the person interrogated abroad, previously convicted (when, where and why), released under what circumstances (when); activity and place of residence abroad; did the person serve in the hostile armies (which, when, rank); whom does the person know among the Soviet citizens as traitors to the fatherland (last and first name, patronymic, what did they do, where are they now); Return to the USSR (when and under what circumstances (alone, in group, voluntarily, was detained)); family members father, mother, wife, siblings (last and first name, patronymic, age, permanent place of residence before the war, current place of residence); who can confirm the information in the questionnaire; additions; other destinations and desired activity; existing documents (when and to whom issued). There was also space for the fingerprint, photo, and signature of the verified person. Fingerprints are more common, whereas photos are very rare. At the very end there was the date, place and name of the screening and filtration point of the NKVD USSR, last name, official position and rank, and the signature of the interviewer. A questionnaire was either printed (document ID 126761559-126761561), or handwritten (document ID 126769930-126769931). In the handwritten version questions were numbered as in the printed questionnaire and only the answers were written down.
The record of interrogation had in the header the date of the protocol's creation, the information about the employee who conducted the interrogation and information about the repatriated person such as last and first name, date and place of birth, social status, nationality, party affiliation, education, marital status, previous conviction, last job. A mandatory point was the liability for perjury, which was confirmed with the signature of the respondent. The questions were quite similar to those in the questionnaire: "Where did you live and what did you do before the war?"; "Under what circumstances did you come to the occupied territories?"; "When and under what circumstances did you come to Germany?"; "Where did you live in Germany and what did you do?"; "Were you arrested, interrogated by the German authorities?"; "Were you in prison, or in a camp? For how long? When and under what circumstances were you released?"; "Who are your closest relatives?"; "Do you know any Fatherland traitors?". Questions that are more specific were asked to explain certain situations depending on the path of life. The interviewee signed each page of the protocol.
The repatriates’ CVs were handwritten by themselves and without norm on one or two pages. Mostly it was a detailed enumeration of events from birth to the time of writing.
A resolution on the filtration file contained the date, a brief biographical information about the screened person and the decision on the person’s fate. Either the person was arrested, or it was recommended to issue an identity card for him/her. Sometimes the decision on the filtration file (document ID 126761561) was noted at the end of the questionnaire. If there were no "compromising materials" about the person, or they were not found, the person was considered to be verified and was given permission to obtain an identity card. On the bottom was written the last name, position and rank, as well as the signature of the chairperson and the members of the filtration commission. Generally there were three people. The date and place were usually at the top, but were not always filled in. The file was sent to the archives.
Literature:
Marmilova, Olha: Dzherela do vyvchennya istoriyi Ostarbayteriv s Donetchchyny [Sources for the study of the history of the “Ostarbeiter” (Eastern workers) from the Donetsk region], Vinnyzya, 2017, 297 p.
Pastushenko, Teteyana: Ostarbaytery s Kyyivshchyny: verbuvannya, prymusoa pratsya, repatrіatsіya (1942–1953) [“Ostarbeiter” (Eastern workers) from the Kyyiv region: recruitment, forced labor, repatriation (1942–1953)], Kyyiv, 2009, 282 p.
Existence and location of originals
State Archives of Kyyiv (Kiev) Oblast
