Mass graves of the Great Patriotic War today remind us of the fiercest confrontation of the Soviet people to fascism.
How do mass graves appear
Mass graves occur during the death or killing of people in large numbers. First of all, this may be the result of fierce battles. It was then that the bodies of dead soldiers were buried in one pit. Such burials are called fraternal because all those buried here gave their lives as brothers for one common cause. But this is not the only way to form a mass burial of people. The cause is also the epidemic when so many people die that there is simply no one to bury them one at a time. It can be innocently killed in concentration camps or dead from wounds and diseases in a hospital. The first appearance of group graves dates back to antiquity. Then they were called scoopers.
The main cause of
The territory of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War was captured by the enemy for many kilometers from the border. Massive graves of the Great Patriotic War were formed on the occupied lands. A huge number of such burials appeared for the same reasons. The first of these is that in the first months of the clash with the enemy, the Soviet army was forced to retreat. There were no forces and time to bury all those who died on the battlefield. If there was even the slightest opportunity with honors to carry out the burial of dead soldiers and officers, then they definitely tried to use it. There was no time to build a single burial for each warrior. I had to bury everyone in a common grave. Initially, at least some kind of board was installed indicating the date of burial and the names of those buried. Often such inscriptions were made on improvised material. It became a tree, which is easily destroyed under the influence of natural factors. It quickly rots, can burn out during a fire. Such pedestals could simply be used by other soldiers to warm themselves or cook their own food.
Another reason for the appearance
There are several more reasons why mass graves of the Great Patriotic War arose . War brings life to the test of life, unusual for everyday life. Overcoming hunger and disease becomes the most important task of every person. And a soldier in the trenches, and a civilian who, by the will of fate, found himself in the territory of direct military operations. Hospitals could not help everyone in need. Sick, wounded, exhausted died. Group tombs appeared next to each new location of the mobile hospital. Keeping records was not always possible. And in the case when such a patient was delivered unconscious and without documents, they could not even find out the name. Therefore, often group burials were carried out only with the date of creation and the number of buried corpses. Hospitals moved after their troops. Along their route, new points of mass burial of people appeared.
The scariest reason
And finally, the most terrible reason why the mass graves of the Great Patriotic War appeared on earth. These are the orders operating in the occupied territory that were established by the fascist authorities. The plan adopted by Hitler before the start of the war clearly gave an idea of the so-called new life. There was no place for freedom, for prosperity in this regime. For any disobedience to the authorities, everyone who showed this disobedience was sentenced to the only punishment - execution. The underground and partisans, any person suspected of having links with them, were massively destroyed. Cases of the destruction of all members of individual families or residents of entire settlements are known. The symbol of such barbarism was the burning of all people in the village of Khatyn.
An even greater contribution to the formation of group burials was made by the action of the concentration camps that existed during the war years. Here the price of human life was minimized. The killings were carried out daily and in large numbers. The bodies were dumped into dug trenches or ravines and sprinkled with earth.
Recover the name of each soldier
The war continues until the name of every soldier who gave his life for his homeland is restored. This is the installation of numerous search teams that have taken responsibility and translate their plan into reality. After the war, many small burials were transferred to one larger. This was done as part of a project to enlarge the mass graves.
As a result of the work, numerous mass graves of the Great Patriotic War were formed. List buried in each case requires compilation and clarification. Search engines do everything possible to ensure that each body is identified. Great help in this matter is played by personal items found. It can be a mug or a spoon with initials, a Red Army book or a party card, letters from home or, conversely, home. Paper media rarely can overcome the influence of time and maintain their integrity. Soldier medallions would cope with this task, and then the identification of the remains would go better. But to provide each warrior with such an attribute was impossible. It was believed that duplication of data about a person on a locket was not necessary.
Smolensk - the true price of victory
On Smolensk land, fascist invaders ruled for more than two years (26 and a half months). During this long period, the Nazis destroyed Soviet citizens indiscriminately of age and gender. One hundred thirty-five thousand tortured and executed people - this is the result of their atrocities. Only in Smolensk, 87 graves with the bodies of the dead were discovered. It was decided to transfer their remains to the mass graves of the Great Patriotic War.
Smolensk region was the site of the formation of the one hundred twenty-sixth concentration camp. There is evidence of casualties in this death factory: up to three hundred dead daily. Corpses were thrown into the grave and sprinkled with earth. The memory of such atrocities is preserved for the sole purpose: to prevent the recurrence of such events. At the site of this camp, the bodies of 45 thousand soldiers and 15 thousand lie on the site of the branch, the so-called small camp under the same number 126. Monuments and obelisks do not allow losing contact with the past war. Their rise above the surrounding landscape with a silent cry reminds of the feat of the dead soldiers.
Defending the approaches to the capital
Kaluga region is located in the last tens of kilometers to the center of our country - Moscow. In the seven hundred and sixteen days that the Nazis were on this territory, more than 240 thousand defenders of Soviet land were killed. Since those memorable years, the mass graves of the Great Patriotic War of the Kaluga Region have been preserved on the battlefield. Their total number exceeds five hundred pieces. Soldiers and officers, privates and generals found their last refuge on this earth. Abundantly watered with the blood of its defenders, Kaluga land retains the memory of their valiant feat. Numerous obelisks, memorials and monuments remain the site of mass worship of descendants to their grandfathers and great-grandfathers. The memory of the heart does not leave indifferent a young youth and an inveterate hard worker.
Everyone bows his head in gratitude. There is confusion on the grave lists. Many data on the soldiers were confused or initially inaccurate. Therefore, the descendants have yet to restore the names of those who did not spare their lives for the freedom of the Kaluga land.
Kursk - returned names for the anniversary of the Victory
The city of Kursk is one of the battlefields that went down in history as a great turning point during the Second World War. The remains of soldiers are still found in the village and in the surrounding territories. In the city center, a group burial of executed smokers was discovered. Here are the bones of women and children, which speaks of the atrocities of the Nazis. Search work revealed several soldiers' medallions. The remains of all the dead are reburied. Of the numerous small graves, the larger mass graves of the Great Patriotic War in Kursk were formed.
By the 70-year end date of the war, more than a thousand names have been restored. One thousand one hundred names of the fallen heroes are officially carved on granite slabs. Soldiers and officers who paid their way to victory with their lives received a survey and identification of their remains. Most of the work to revive the memory of nameless heroes has been done.
The last shelter in a foreign land
Having restored the borders of the Soviet Union, the troops of the USSR continued their journey to the den of fascism. It was not easy to go along this road. It took several more long months to free the countries of Europe from the invaders. In every country people died. They died from enemy bullets, died on the side of roads, drowned in rivers and swamps. The places where the mass graves of the Great Patriotic War in Poland are located are areas of fierce battles or mass shootings of local residents.
Along with the already familiar finds, when graves with thousands of corpses are discovered, something out of the ordinary is found. A burial was found in the city of Kostrzyn with the bodies of decapitated soldiers. As it turned out later, in the mid-fifties, it was decided to rebury the remains of soldiers in order to enlarge the mass graves. To engage in such a difficult matter was entrusted to the city utilities. Regulatory documents of that time indicate that the transfer of the remains was carried out "over the head." Therefore, only the head and sometimes the upper body were transferred. All other parts of the skeleton remained in the same place. Such a blasphemous attitude cannot but cause discontent. Therefore, it was decided to continue the exhumation and complete the transfer of all the remains of the dead defenders of the city.
Pictures of Monuments
Each burial of soldiers and officers has an individual appearance. Giving uniqueness to the place of mass burial began in the war years. You can see photos of mass graves of the Great Patriotic War on the sites of municipalities. It can be a traditional stele, a soldier baring its head, or a roll-call list on a granite slab. There are very unusual specimens. For example, a gravestone from a tank. Modern designers offer other options for capturing the names of the dead in stone. The more difficult it is to destroy the monument, the longer will be the memory of the valor of the Soviet soldier.
Not all names have yet been restored; there are mass graves of the Great Patriotic War with unknown heroes. Families of such soldiers still consider their great-grandfathers to be missing. Finding them and finding out the place of the last refuge is the duty of every representative of a great nation.