"When I returned, I felt like a stranger in my country—the world went forward, and I stayed where they took me into captivity"

Finding a prisoner of war after years seems unrealistic, but history shows that war fate can surprise even years after the end of the battle.

War, Slavery and Lost Life

Vasily Rambowski was a Red Army soldier who was captured in 1941. It was transferred between various camps in Poland and sent to a camp in Norway in 1944.

He escaped from Norwegian camp and survived in the woods until 1947, not knowing the war was over. That same year, he was finally found by Norwegian police.

Vasili RabkowskiA Red Army soldier was captured in the end of World War II. Like thousands of other Eastern European soldiers, he first went to a German prisoner of war camp and was later transferred to Soviet captivity. For many, this meant passing through filter camps and suspicions of working with the enemy. Rabkowski disappeared without a trace – He was officially declared dead, and the family mourned.

The Lost Prisoners — The Fate of Thousands

• During World War II, even 5.7 million Soviet soldiers were captured.
• Many have never returned to their homeland, either dying in camps or remaining unheard of for years.
• After the end of the war, not all were immediately found – the fates of some were explained only after decades.

Finding Years After

A prisoner of war found three years after the end of World War II. In the fall of 1944, Ukrainian prisoner Vasili Rambowski escaped from the Moan camp near Levanger, Norway. For two severe winters he lived alone in the woods, abolishing extreme cold and isolation. In 1947, he was found in a barn in Bymark, Trondheim – he was terrified, skinny and dressed in rags. The photo taken that day depicts him when he was taken by the police and transported to the hospital. Unaware of the passing of time, he did not know the war was over.

The dramatic turn came three years After the war ended, when a surprising news came from Russia: Vasili Rabkowski is alive. It turned out that for years he had stayed in one of Soviet psychiatric hospitals – this place for many "missing" people was often the end of a war walk.

How was it possible to disappear so long?

• After the war ended, the repatriation was chaotic and the systems of identification of prisoners were inefficient.
• Linguistic and documentary problems made it impossible for those missing years to make contact with their loved ones.

There was more history similar to that of Rabkowski in Central and Eastern Europe, and some have come to light through research and documentary films.

Return to homeland and family consequences

Vasil Rabkowski's touching return was widely commented on in post-war Europe. It was a relief for the family, but also a great surprise after years of mourning and uncertainty. The local community organized a solemn welcome – Rabkowski, though free, had to learn the world again.

The case of Rabkowski was not isolated. In 2000, Hungary András Toma returned to the country after 53 years in a Russian psychiatric hospital – he was considered the "last prisoner of World War II".