City in central Ukraine, 300 km (185 miles) east-south-east of Kiev, and 750 km (450 miles) due east of Lemberg (L'viv). Situated on the River Vorslka, it was the site of the Battle of Poltava, 1709, in which Peter I of Russia defeated the Swedes.

In the months following the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, signed March 3, 1918, the Austrian-Hungarian army advanced through Poltava as part of the campaign on the Eastern Front.

Schenker received letters from pupils and friends in the Ukraine who were fighting on the Eastern Front, including one from Poltava from Rudolf Steglich (OJ 14/33, [5]).