The search for the burial places of Soviet soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War, as a rule, is fraught with great difficulties. At the beginning of the war, the registration of irrecoverable losses was carried out on the basis of the Order of the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR No. 138 of 15.03. 41 years old, which then received its development in another document No. 0270 dated 04/12/42. However, especially during the period of the retreat of Soviet troops and during fierce battles, the registration of losses and the burial of the dead soldiers were a big problem.
Instructions
Step 1
Until now, search teams have found the unburied remains of tens of thousands of Soviet soldiers in the battlefield. This problem was aggravated by the fact that in November 1942, soldiers' medallions with parchment inserts containing information about soldiers in the event of their death were canceled. Fraternal military burials were made in different places depending on the situation. The ideal was the case when the burial was carried out by the funeral team during or immediately after the end of active hostilities. Then, as a rule, there were no problems with establishing the names of the victims. The place of burial was also documented. But this was not always the case. Often the dead soldiers were buried by local residents or even Germans. Naturally, there could be no question of any normal accounting in this situation. At best, there was an unmarked mass grave.
Step 2
After the end of the war, on the territory of the USSR and in the countries of Eastern Europe, a large campaign was carried out to enlarge military graves, which was accompanied by the transfer of remains from single and small mass graves to large mass graves. Alas, this process was not without confusion, distortion and confusion. But, nevertheless, most of these burials received a serial number, a passport, and with the help of military enlistment offices and local authorities, lists of the dead soldiers were established.
Step 3
Currently, the search for servicemen who died or disappeared as a result of hostilities is carried out by contacting the military commissariats at the place of conscription or directly to the Central Archives of the RF Ministry of Defense at the address: TsAMO, 142100, Moscow Region, Podolsk, st. Kirov 74. Internet address: archives.ru.
Step 4
In April 2003, in accordance with the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation, a generalized computer data bank (OBD) "Memorial" was created, containing the most complete information about the dead, those who died from wounds, missing, captured by the military, as during the Great Patriotic War. and during the conflicts after the Second World War. OBD "Memorial" (obd-memorial.ru) has over 13 million sheets of archival documents and 30 thousand passports of military graves.
Step 5
If you decide to find an unknown burial on your own, then start your search by working in the archive. Study the documents on the deployment of military units and on the path of their movement along the front line (offensive, retreat). Find out who carried out the burial and how - whether it was special brigades or the bodies were buried by local residents.
Step 6
If the burial you are interested in could have been done by special brigades, then it makes sense to work with the documents of the military department, although it is still difficult to access them. As a rule, during the Second World War, and even more so during other local wars, accounting journals were kept, in which the name of the settlement close to the grave, the volume of the burial, sometimes the list of the buried, and the date of burial were entered.
Step 7
Having found out the possible location of the mass grave, go to the place. If there are old-timers in the village who have taken over the war years, ask them. However, you should not expect revelations, you may be mistaken for a "black digger" or a hunter of war spoils, so you will have to explain why you need wartime information.
Step 8
Visit a possible burial site. If possible, take soil samples, a special chemical analysis can show the presence of compounds in the ground, indicating a cache of human remains. Having received a positive test result or having relatively confirmed data on the burial, you can start excavations, but for this you will have to obtain a significant number of conciliation documents.
