ABSTRACT
The natural inclination of most Western European escapees from German captivity was to head westwards towards their homelands, but for a few men there were alternative choices. This was certainly true of André Depienne, a prisoner working close to the (then neutral) Soviet frontier. His detailed experiences of crossing the frontier and then being imprisoned for several weeks shed a great deal of light on conditions for internees inside the Soviet Union and how escaping Western prisoners were invariably suspected of being spies. His incarceration ended when the German invasion forced an alliance with the Western Powers in June 1941, and he was evacuated via Arkhangelsk to the United Kingdom. While a rare account as there were only a handful of French, Belgian and British internees in Soviet hands, other Belgian escapees, both military and civilian, found their way into Hungary and Romania later in the conflict.
