 Ekaterina Peshkova, the chairwoman of the organization "Assistance to Political Prisoners" (Pompolit, "Помощь политическим заключенным", Помполит).was recognised by the Polish Red Cross for her participation in the exchange of POWs after the Polish-Soviet War.The Polish side claimed that during the Soviet retreat from Berdychiv, Kiev and Zhytomyr mass hostage-taking of civilians occurred, with hostages forced to go with the Red Army all the way to the rear of the front.