[Improvement of hygiene and the combat of epidemics as Russian state concerns during World War I: Prince Alexander von Oldenburg and the POWs of the Central Powers in Russia].

When Russia joined the war against the Central Powers in 1914, she immediately faced problems of public health care among the masses of people who were forced to move across far distances in the country: soldiers, refugees, and prisoners of war. Because of poor organisation and the unexpectedly long duration of the war, the POWs fared worst of all war victims in Russia. Subjected to an overstrained military organisation in the rear, the fate of this broadly neglected group illustrates how and with what success Russia strove to meet its deficiencies in administrative structure during wartime. The "Evacuation and Sanitation Section" was put under the command of a member of the Imperial family, Prince Alexander of Oldenburg, a high ranking official of German origin. This amateur scientist and initiator of medical institutions was an energetic and courageous personality who became vital for the fate of millions of POWs in epidemic-stricken Russia. The role of this "silent" ally of the German and Austro-Hungarian governments has hitherto been unknown. Newly found sources in Russian archives now shed an interesting light on a weak spot of Russia's administration and a generally neglected chapter of the history of medicine, the handling of epidemics and of deficits in hygiene.