V. M. Tarelko. YMCA Activities in Russia during World War I: Organizing Assistance to German
and Austrian Prisoners of War // Petersburg Historical Journal, no. 1, 2026, pp. 146–159.

DOI: 10.51255/2311–603X_2026_1_146

Abstract:

This article is an attempt to consider the history of humanitarian assistance to German and
Austrian prisoners of war, provided by the YMCA organization during the WWI: to summarize the results of the activities of organization’s secretaries in the camps located in the Kiev, Irkutsk, and Turkestan military districts, to identify the features, nature and mechanisms of their work. The article is based on materials from the American periodical press and archival sources stored in the funds of the Russian State Historical Archive and the Russian State Military Historical Archive. The author conclusion is, that in a short period of time, the YMCA has achieved significant success in providing assistance to prisoners of war. This success was entirely due to the tireless work of the YMCA secretaries in the field, which was sometimes complicated by the significant extent of the territories entrusted to them, the lack of railway service, and severe weather conditions. The implementation of the YMCA program depended entirely on the personal qualities of the secretaries, their involvement in problem solving and diplomacy, which ensured effective contact with both prisoners of war and the military commandant’s office. YMCA’s work in Russia constituted the largest and most extensive international initiative to assist prisoners of war, providing both material support and opportunities for intellectual and cultural development. The article also analyzes the impact of this work on Russian-American relations and on the humanitarian policy of the United States during the war period.

Key words: Young Men Christian Association, A. K. Hart, Prisoners of war, G. Day, M. Bartholomew, J. Davis, Kievsky military district, Irkutsk military district, Turkestan military district, Russian-American relations.

Author:

Tarelko, Vladislav Mikhailovich — post-graduate student of St. Petersburg Institute of History Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg, Russia).
E-mail: ztarelko141@gmail.com
ORCID: 0009-0004-2915-7113

References:

Devis, G. H. National Red Cross Societies and Prisoners of War in Russia, 1914–18. In Journal of
Contemporary History. 1993. Vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 31–52.

Miller, M. L. The American YMCA and Russian Culture. The Preservation and Expansion of Orthodox Christianity, 1900–1940. Lanham: Lexington books, 2013. URL: https://i.twirpx.one/file/3531594/ (accessed: 28.07.2025).

Senyavskaya, E. S. Polozhenie russkikh voennoplennykh v gody Pervoi mirovoi voiny: ocherk povsednevnoi real’nosti [Position of the Russian Prisoners of War in the Years of World War I: Sketch of Daily Reality. In Russ.]. In Vestnik RUDN. Ser. Istoriya Rossii. 2013. No. 1, pp. 64–83.

Steuer, K. Pursuit of an “Unparalleled Opportunity”. The American YMCA and Prisoner of War Diplomacy during World War I, 1914–1923. New York: Columbia University Press. URL: http://www.gutenberg-e.org/steuer/index.html (accessed: 28.07.2025).

Veber, M. I., Surzhikova, N. V. Voennoplennye Pervoi mirovoi voiny na vostoke Rossii: vzglyad Iokhana Prinsa [Prisoners of War of the World War I in Eastern Russia: the View of Johan Prince. In Russ.]. In Dialog so vremenem. 2014. No. 47, pp. 340–361.

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