An article in Arstlik Ajaleht, a medical journal, by a physician, A. Kudrjachov concerning people feigning and self-inflicting injuries

In September 1915, a group of national defence personnel from the Tartu call-up point came to be reviewed by Kudrjachov, the head doctor of the 323rd reserve field hospital. The men were from Tartu and Võru counties. Of these Estonians, many proved to be feigning illnesses or their injuries were self-inflicted. Later even more Estonians with feigned illnesses showed up. Often the men were reluctant to return to the front after the six-month leave for restoring their health was over.

Some had a doctor’s certificate, some were even from the university clinic. Their claimed conditions were blood in urine, eye disorder, sores on legs, swelling in the feet, but the most frequent complaint was abscesses on feet which doctors felt the patients had caused themselves. The doctor draws separate attention to the psychological state of the patients – they suffered unflinchingly through the interrogations and didn’t complain when surgical procedures were performed without anaesthesia. Kudrjachov believed it stemmed from Estonians’ stoic national character – they were a kindred people of the cold and ill-tempered Finns.