SOVIET ARMY MEDICAL INFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000100210004-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 3, 2013
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: February 14, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCSEC
INK)Funnloric)r4 FIE:PC)FiT
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
USSR
Soviet Army Medical Information
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DATE OF INFORMATION
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE WEANINS OF TITLE IS, EECTIONS 793
AND 794, OF THE U.S. CODE, Al AMENDED. IT/ AAAAAA ISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CO NNNNNN TO ON REOEIPT IT AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PION NNNNN D ST LAS. THE NNNNN DUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
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DATE DISTR. /r Feb 1952
NO. OF PAGES 8
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SECRET
FORM NO. 51-4D
JAN 1951
CLASSIFICATION SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATION
STATE
NAVY
DISTRIBUTION
ARMY
AIR
6--e.
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agnment In utum? 1936 August l93!
a(
animals (dogs).for research projects were kept in aletsement of this building. The media
50X1 cal school prohably had clinics in different hospitals in the city.
Assignment in the Far East October 1936 *NIT 1947
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5$
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At the end of the xar: in 194E, the &Witt Far East Army
, m
plentifully supplied with nedical materiel eon iderable itores were
also received from Manchuria as Wirbpoty,
singled out ginseng
io a scarce item in the Sovi,.. Far East at that time. Ginseng roots were
usually obtained from China and Manchuria and were collected yearly.
After the war they reappeared in the bakaars in the Maritime Province.
The root was kept usually in 4040% ethyl alcohol or vodka;
In practice all medical supplies were regtilitioned from Moscow, although
minor drugs were produced Supplies were ordered by catalog,
and were furnished only according to the *norm* set ups not. according to
what was really needed. On the other 'hand, in the event of an emergency.
(e.g. an' epidemic)no norms Were oonsideredlend Whatever was needed was
supplied usually by airmtransport.
The source of all medical supplies was Moscow except for dental labors..
tory supplies which were obtained from a FermstrOd in Leningrad. Cities
from Which drugb originated were. Moscow. Leningrad, Kharkov,, and &yard-.
lovsk. NO medical supplies were produced in Vladivostok, Voroshilo* or
thilSerovik. In fict," nothing Was prodtded'in the field Of Medical sup-
plies in the East. Lleference to the nongrduCing area was modified
to mean the area east of Lake Baikal
Romani an order 'or medical supplies was submitted twice a year. Army
hospitals and pol3clinice did not order directly from Moscow but submit-
ted the order to a medical army administrative department. the orders were
then forwarded to Khabarovsk where they were filled in part from stocks
in the medical warehouse there.- Thethabarovek warehouse then sent to
Moscow for more supplies. The medical supplies warehouse in Khabarovsk
was huge. This warehouse was located two to three kilometers away from
the second railroad station in Khabarovsk City, (the station located in
the city's outskirts). The first railroad station was located in the
center of Khabarovsk.
6. Captured Japanese medical supplies., of which a large amount came from
Harbin, were collected at lamenJaybolov in Warehouses constructed there
during the war. The Soviet First Away garrison received some of these
supplies; some were distributed throughout the Maritime province to
other garrisons.
do not know whether these warehouses were still maintained
at KiEen4Rybolov. They were not constructed for permanent use and were
more properly described as storage placti.-,Seviet soldiers used to break
into the Kamen4Eybolav warehouse, tie up the sentry and steal medicinal
alcohol.- There--wereraltrorxiirey-instruients itored at Kamen4Eybolov?
trarehouses and hospitals in the Far East in mid4947 had medical supply
reserves allegedly sufficient to last for several years. .An army garri-
son of division size had it own dispensary, hospital and warehouse. This
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warehouse was divided into two sections. One section contained items for
routine dispensing. The other setion wa the emergency store (NZ -
Nneprikosnovenryy zapae). The latter was not to be need except in amens
may, e.g. outbreak of epidemics or hostilities. This emergency store
had been plarred in order to have supplies immediately available for at
least one year. Items in stock subject to deterioration were carefully
checked and replaced,
8. -There never was an outbreak o
erious disease in the Far East during
an earthquake at Ashkhabad
50X1 in 1948 or 1949i1 all necessary supplies were flown to the
50X1 affected area from Moscow, as well as trained specialists and auxiliary
iedical personnel; Concerni-44 specific diseases in the Maritime provinces
there was considerable malariai and many soldiers were affected by it,
Akrikhin tablets were employed to care for these patients,but no injeations
were ever employed. No typhus was reported, In this connection, large
black rats (not brown) were so numerous that constant anti-.rat campaigns
50X1 were necessary, white rats, of a size larger than labor-
atory animals, were kept by some people in the Far East as pets, No
typhoid outbreaks occurred, Suspicion of typhoid in one soldier in 1944
resulted in the prompt application of serious control measures, but the
diagnosis was not confirmed by the hospital physicians.
9. Tuberculosis was very common lamedthe unhealthy climate, which was
always subject to sudden change. Nights were always damp. Summer tempera
50X1 attires of 50?C were experienced, humidity in the summer was so high that
it was difficult to breathe. Officers who contracted the disease received
operative care and were usually sent to Central Asia (the Kirghiz, Uzbek
or. Kazakh republics), where they could spend about two months and where
they could receive Nkoumissw to drink. Later they were sent to Yalta,
Officers and their families were sent back together. Enlisted men with
tuberculosis were demobilized. Local residents were never sent out of
the area.
.10. In order to build up physical resistance in the soldiers, they were re.
qUired to exercise every day in their underclothes, even in cold weather.
The (climate was of such severity that newcomers from middle Asiatic areas
fraqueUtly died from its effects. New arrivals constantly contracted.
colds( although the incidence of colds decreased after a period of prof
50X1 longed service in the Far East,
11. the weather is getting warmer in Siberia. In 1948 Omsk
had a winter which was the mildest ever experienced there according to
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long-time residents.
,120 Incidence of venereal disease was quite high, particularly after 1945,
because of the arrival of soldiers from Berlin and other European areas,
and from Manchuria, Venereal diseases also rose among the civil poptlaa
tion after this time. It was not uncommr to have a 90% incidence of
venereal disease in some military units. Gonorrhea was principally
involved although syphilis was also found. No punishment was inflicted
on soldiers contracting venereal diseases unless the soldier was a mama
ber of the Communist Party, in which case serious punishment resulted,
Those who contracted VD were cared for in polyclinics. At a polyclinic
only one doctor was available to care for hundreds of cases. 'Penicillin
was very scarce in the Far East, and could only be purchased from covert
sources. Sulfidin 4s1) wa empl(Ted by the docter5 tO treat VD, Sufferers
from vol were probably not sent home. in the immediate
post-war years at least 50% of the Far East forces suffered from VD,
but now the incidence has decreased.
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13. The only other disease Which required special control efforts was dysent-
:irr, but cases were rare, and the SOvietauthorities exercised considers.
04141 care to protect food from contamination, io cholera W:5 ever reported.
14 Thio average Soviet soldier had an active disinclination in submittlnpto
immunization. Wherever possible, injections were avoided and pesomal
immunization records were falsified. Typhoid, typhus and tetanus vac-
eines were administered in the spring. These vaccines were on hand in
50X1 the hospitalspand the any got them eventually from Moscow or Khabarovsk,
Although they were not made in the latter city.
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1,54' EdUestional facilities in the Far East were not of very high level.
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the veterinary school was in Vladivostok. How-
ever, it was on a feldsher level. A dental school was also located in
Vladivostokpand this too was not on a university level, but of quite
Werior standards, There was no such thing as an Ninstituten in the
Per East,
.16. In West, no one was interested in going to the Far East to study.
140 trip usually required ten 210.hour days from Moscow to Vladivostok,
.1i,,:epecial Pass for travel to the Fir East was needed; no pass was re.
50X1 *Arid for the journey west0 the pass-requirement
wu a security measure to hide the existence of Soviet concentration
cups in East Siberia. The residents were not prevented by adminis-
trative rules from going west because the trip west was too expensive
to permit many such journies. Only the food was better in the Far East)
there was nothing else to recommend it.
.174. Stndente could go to the European Soviet Union to study; however, exam-
inations to qualify were held at the place of study. Applications were
,iseiled to the school of choice. Students then were notified to come to
the _school. Fare was paid by the student. Passing the examinations
entitled the Student to a stipend (about 100 a/month), a free roam, and
.student mess facilities, Financially the student would have to support
himself for the first year.
18. :Doctors for the Far East were not trained in that region but were
Ordered there from the West. Doctors so assigned were obliged to acce t
50X1 beasule their documents (e.g. diplomas) were sent before them.
50X1 with financial means these documents could be bought back, but it
would be difficult to do so.
19.
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don't know the exact system for furnishing medical care to the individ-
utl. soldier. However, the steps the soldier would take to Obtain
msdioal attention. The patient usually reported to a gisanitarnaya
ohastSt, a dispensary available to his unit. Here about three feldshers
were on duty, and perhaps a t!vrichw would also be available. If the
Patient needed more than superficial ears he would be given a Slip
referring him to a field hospital to 'Which he wouldwalk? or, if unable,
lit:traneported by ambulance, In this hospital there were specialiste
able:to offer better care. However, a division hospital which was
Otaffed by a medical sanitary battalion (MedSanSat) had a better
qualified staff than in the lower hospitals. A military district
hospital, which had been built during Czarist timev,14aa located in
Toroshilov. It was located on the southern edge of Voroshilov.
,There were several red brick buildings. The whole area covered by the
district hospital was about two to three sq km. In this hospital, each
corps had its own section. Altogether, several thousand beds were
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available for a,rmy patients. Special sections available for ENT;
stamens! diseases, internal medicine, infectious diseases. It serviced
only the Maritime Province.
200 Every division had a MednanBat, headed by a major or lieutenant colonel,
or, rarely, a captain. The soldiers in this battalion received some mai..
tory training but were primarily specialists (medical corpsmen with spec-
ialized training). The MedSanBat was motorized and had no horse-drawn
equipment. It was expected that it would withdraw along with a retreating
division.
21. A field hospital was formerly stationed in Thorol but only until 1944546.
Conditions here were terrible from 60 to 80 beds. were ...veil-
50X1 able for the men although the table of organization Celled for more
beds.
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22. Another medical organization was the MMUlt (*ROTA Meditsinekogo Usile440)*
an army company specifically designed for war-time conditions. The ,RMV
was rushed to an emergency area Where medical specialists were immediately
needed., The RMU was not used by the Red Army after .the end of the war,
except in the Far East Where they were in existence as late as 1947*
.23. The army received excellent food in the Far East before the war, but the
quality of the food dropped during the war.. The soldiers did not care
50X1 for the food supplied. the Soviet kolkhotee were suffer-
ing from a shortage of manpower and although women laborers were used,
the products of the farms suffered both in quality and quantity as a
resat of the lack of manpower. Food material in the Far East included
*ally purchased meat and fish, fresh vegetables in season, or imported
tomatoes, pickles, cabbage and other vegetables), all of which were pick-
led when out-of-season. Potatoes were supplied locally, except in dry
seasons When they were imported from central Siberia. Soy beans and
flour were obtained locally, and were i constant part of the diet in the
Far East and in Central Asia. Bread flour was imported from Europe and
baked in the Far East.
? The water supply was supposed to be checked for sanitary Quality by a
snecial medical command.
50X1 Apparently the water supply was no serious problem for trio
50X1 army in the Far East. Wells were utilized by the army and by the civil.
ians. Pipe water was available in the hospitals and staff homes. No
sewage facilities were available to the general population. .The Army
maintained ansrmed guard over its wells in Voroshilov for two reasone
first to prevent poisoning and second to reserve the wells for army use
only..
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items for drug use were received
560 by the pharmacy in subdivided form, (i.e. immediately ready for diipens*
mug); luminal was available there in tablet form.
26. .The medical examination received by Army prospects was performed in the
cintrale ity of an ?Nast by the city Army Commission who drafted local
doctors for the specific task of determining the physical fitnees of
the prospective draftees. The doctors were dismissed after this job
was done. The examination Was comprehensive and included examination
ol eyes, ears, blood, urine, x.ray, hemorrhoids) etc. Apparently very
few men were rejected during wartime; even at the present time few
rejecteei are found. Before the war, many men were dievalified; now
those formerly rejected were being accepted*
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Sohool of the Western.Siberian Military
the Meditainskoye Uchilishche 2apadno.Sibirskoga
Voyennogo Okr a
District) in omsk
50X1 was responsible only
for teaching9and no research was carried out there, Students were
prepared for work as feldshers or dentaltechnicians and on graduation
received the army rank of junior lieutenant or lieutenant. Class work
required three years time for completion of requirements. Some graduates
could continue their studies in higher institutions, usually in a military
medical school. No veterinarians were trained at the Omsk Institute
because veterinary officers received their training in schools apart
from the medical training schools.
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the Meditainikoye
Vpravleniye Uralskogo Voyennogo Okruga(Medical Administration of the
Ural Military District) in $veralovsk Was only i service labora.
tory performing specific jobs for army needs. Supplies for this labored.
tory were obtained from local warehouses, Medical items were also
secured from local drugstores or any local source in Sverdlovsk.
Sveralovsk
knew very little about a pharmaceutical
factory located in that city. I-hid heard that, the work there was Very
routine. The factory Was only partially in operation and had apparently
been developed during the post-war period. It was not yet in complete
use, In 1949, the factory invited pharmacists to seek employment With
it and began to accept employees Who applied for work,
300 penicillin and probably sulfa drugs were produced in the Sverdlovsk
50X1 pharmaceutical factory, the plant itself was soteiw
:where in the center of the city,
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each Soviet ittriny had its own planes for the air..
traneport of unusual medical cases.
Soviet Pharmaceutical Factories
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requested fram Moscow, Speaking of factories in general, Moscow was no
longer the exclusive center it Was before the war. However, it wis still
a cultural center. The further away from this center that a factory
was located, the more difficult it became to induce competent people
to accept positions at the factory. It is now easier to get people to
work in areas away from cultural betters but still a problem for the
,Sciiriet administrators. Presumably this affected decentralization of the
pharmaceutical industry.
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Workers in
plants of the pharmaceutical type were not permitted to talk about their
Work or to move about freely. Such workers had their passports taken
away, and were issued special identification papers only, These men
were obliged to stay near the premises of their work-inatallation. For
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50X1 thii reason, it would be difficult for citizens not
immediately employed in pharmaceutical plants to have any knowledge
of their existence or activity.
.0-pod Banks
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blood donors were encouraged during the war per_Lod, arld
there were many volunteers. Payment was usUaIly. 300 rubles per 500 ml
50X1, Of blood0 heard i rumor Concerning the addition of another substance,
possibly synthetic, to collected blood, not sure that the added
50X1 material was oxalate or citrate or merely saline.
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Ponictllin.
34.
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366. Those warehouses in the Far East were of stone con.
- ? atructiok an4 were reasonably cool in summer. In winter these. were
50X1 inspected regularly and temperatures were maintained at a suitable:
level by stoves or ovens. Vaccines Were _kept separately
with special attention being given to maintaining
' them at correct temperatures, plain rail-
road boxcars were employed to transport medical supplies. Some supplies
were transported by plane.
Medical Supplies Warehouse.
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37.
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the Soviet medical supply depot
? at Fnerstenwalde was a large warehouse, consisting of many build..
ings, and appeared to have been a former German Supply installation.
Items in stock were mostly German drugs and equipment seized during
the war. Apparently enough were seized to last up until the present
time. During ,950 1 arelaouse began to order directly- fron
goscow as the medical supplies gradually became depleted.. One re489n
given by the Soviets for this requisitioning of medical supplies from
,within the Soviet Union was todemonstrate to the Germane that the
Soviet Union did possess such druge., Another reason was that the.
,Soviet physicians were used to the SOviet.madis products and preferred
to use those products familiar to thorn. Some Soviet medical supplies
arrived during -12951
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Critical Medical Supplies
380
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glider
padi of prepared Wound-bandages were
141 some easels light pink in color
ire
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