If the cell in question proved to have
the usual complement of prisoners after analysis of the cell occupancy
data, one would have to consider the statement as flawed. If, on the other
hand, the cell proved to be ‘empty,’ the analysis would be
supportive of the witness’ statements and would indicate that the
conditions pertaining to the cell in question had been accurately described. Proceeding on this basis, Dr. Makinen
outlined a plan by which statements of the eyewitnesses,
particularly those of Varvora Ivanova Larina, and Joseph M. Terelya,
involving a prisoner held in lengthy solitary confinement might be tested.
This investigation focused on the time period, 1947 through 1972 –
that is, starting with Wallenberg’s alleged death date in 1947 according to
the Gromyko Memorandum and extending through the last eyewitness report.
(As noted by Susan Mesinai, this time period would also
correspond to a 25 year for espionage, dating from 1947 rather than
1945, the time of
Wallenberg’s initial arrest.) The team selected for photographic
duplication registration cards only of those prisoners who were placed into
cells in Korpus 2 during this period. Cards of prisoners who had been
held there for at least one day during the 1947-72 time period were
selected as well as those of prisoners who had a notable absence of
cell occupancy information from the point of their arrival until the
“first cell” was recorded – implying that they were held
in some sort of solitary confinement prior to that. The team also identified prisoners who
were held in nearby cells at the time of death of Kirill Vladimovitch
Osmak, since the witness V. I. Larina had stated that this prisoner
was across the hall at that time. This also provided potential witnesses
who might offer further information from their knowledge about
special or foreign prisoners held in Korpus 2 or in Vladimir Prison in general.
The card of Osmak, a Ukrainian nationalist, also born 1912 was found in the
kartoteka in
1998. The card established that Osmak died
on May 16, 1960 when he was being held in II-49. Finding the card and
verifying that Osmak had died while occupying a cell on the 3rd floor of
Korpus 2 was of considerable importance because it gave proof of the
general accuracy of the information provided earlier by Varvara I. Larina. The cards were scanned under computer
control using the specialized equipment supplied by ProSoft AG for historically
important documents, and images of each registration card were constructed
in TIFF format as a resolution of 600 dpi. Images of the front and back
siders were made of over 11,000 cards belonging to 8,049 individuals, which
represents approximately one-seventh of the cards of all the prisoners who
have been incarcerated in Vladimir Prison. Since the estimate of the total
number of prisoners includes a sizeable number of prisoners prior to 1947
and others after 1972, numbers which are not known, it is not possible to
evaluate what fraction of total prisoners is represented by the database
over the 1947-1972 time period.) (Sse Rolf Bjorsstedt computer generated
study for specific information contained on front and back of cards.) Subsequently, under the direction of Dr.
Viktor Tumarkin, the images of the scanned cards were read by a staff of
five individuals fro ProSoft experienced in translation of historical
documents into computer file format. This part of the work was carried out
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice in
One study has shown that the total
number of prisoners on each floor of Korpus 2 undergoes sharp fluctuations
over the January 1949 – December 1951 period and over the February 1957
– July 1957 period, uniformly affecting each floor. While the
fluctuations over the 1949-1951 period probably correspond in part to the
frequent cell and korpus changes mentioned by repatriated
prisoners-of-war, it should be noted that no floor exhibits a complete absence of
identifiable prisoners from January 1949 to July 1957. A complete absence of prisoners is
observed only in the middle of 1965 for the 3rd floor of Korpus 2 which
precedes an almost complete absence on the second floor of two days. The precise
time limits on the third floor for the complete absence of identifiable
prisoners were found to be 28/05/65 to 03/07/65. The only period of complete absence of
identifiable prisoners on the second floor was found to be from 05/10/65 to
07/10/65. No period of time was found over which there was ever a
complete absence of identifiable prisoners on the first floor. We can consequently safely assume that
no floor underwent renovations or changes, excepting these relatively
brief periods for the second and third floors, which were incompatible with
occupancy of some cells by prisoners. This is an important deduction, since
one would not expect that Raoul Wallenberg as a prisoner in different floors
and blocks as frequently as other, more ordinary prisoners.
42. Graph of average prisoners per cell
(DAILY) 43. Graph of average prisoners per cell
(WEEKLY) 44. Graph of average prisoners per cell
(MONTHLY0 45. Graph of case numbers in a year: 46. Graph of number of prisoners over
time (DAILY) The analyst enters the start date and end date, and a graph of
total number of prisoners in each cell for each day is displayed. 47. Graph of number of prisoners over
time (WEEKLY) 48. Graph of number of prisoners over
time (MONTHLY) 49. Graph of number of prisoners
– Floor 1, over time. 50. Graph of number of prisoners
– Floor 2, over time. 51. Graph of number of prisoners
– Floor 3, over time. 52. Graph of prisoner entries over time
(DAILY) 53. Graph of prisoner entries over time
(WEEKLY) 54. Graph of prisoner
entries over time (MONTHLY) 55. Graph of total cell moves over
time. 56. Graph of unoccupied cell
percentage. 57. Graph of numbered prisoners versus
Date of Entry: The analyst enters the start date and the end date, and a
graph of the numbered prisoners is plotted against the dates of first entry
into the prison.
