"Missing in action" - notices with such a phrase during the war years received many. There were millions of them, and the fate of these defenders of the Motherland remained unknown for a long time. In most cases, it remains unknown even today, but there is still some progress in clarifying the circumstances of the disappearance of the soldiers. Several factors contribute to this. Firstly, new technological possibilities have appeared to automate the search for the necessary documents. Secondly, useful and necessary work is carried out by search parties. Thirdly, the archives of the Ministry of Defense have become more accessible. But even today, in the overwhelming majority of cases, ordinary citizens do not know where to look for the missing in the Second World War. This article may help someone know the fate of loved ones.
Search difficulties
In addition to the factors contributing to success, there are those that make it difficult to search for the missing in the Second World War. Too much time has passed, and there is less and less material evidence of events. There are also no more people who can confirm this or that fact. In addition, the disappearance was considered during and after the war as a suspicious fact. It was believed that a soldier or officer could be captured, which in those years was considered almost a betrayal. A soldier of the Red Army could go over to the side of the enemy, and this happened, unfortunately, quite often. The fates of the traitors are mostly known. Collaborators who were caught and identified were tried and either executed or given long sentences. Others have taken refuge in distant lands. Those of them who have survived to this day usually do not want to be found.
Where to look for POWs missing in WWII
The fate of many Soviet prisoners of war after the war evolved in different ways. Some were spared by the Stalinist punitive machine, and they returned home safely, although for the rest of their lives they did not feel like full-fledged veterans and themselves felt some guilt before the “normal” participants in the hostilities. Others were destined for a long road through places of detention, camps and prisons, where they ended up most often on unsubstantiated charges. A certain number of soldiers released from captivity ended up in the American, French or British zones of occupation. These, as a rule, were issued by the allies to the Soviet troops, but there were exceptions. For the most part, our soldiers wanted to go home to their families, but rare realists understood what awaited them and asked for asylum. Not all of them were traitors - many simply did not want to blameforest in the Far North or dig canals. In some cases, they are on their own, contact their relatives, and even write off foreign inheritances to them. However, in this case, the search for the missing in the Second World War of 1941-1945 can be difficult, especially if such a former prisoner changed his last name and does not want to remember his homeland. Well, people are different, as are their fates, and it is hard to condemn those who ate bitter bread in a foreign land.
Documentary trail
However, in the vast majority of cases, things were much simpler and more tragic. In the initial period of the war, soldiers simply died in unknown cauldrons, sometimes along with their commanders, and there was no one to compile reports of irretrievable losses. Sometimes there were no bodies left, or it was impossible to identify the remains. It would seem, where to look for the missing in the Second World War with such confusion?
But there is always one thread, pulling which, you can somehow unravel the story of the person you are interested in. The fact is that any person, and especially a military man, leaves behind a “paper” trail. His whole life is accompanied by a documentary turnover: clothing and food certificates are issued for a soldier or officer, he is included in the lists of personnel. In the event of a wound in the hospital, a medical card is issued for a fighter. Here is the answer to the question of where to look for the missing. The Second World War ended long ago, and the documents are stored. Where? In the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense, in Podolsk.
Central Archive of the Moscow Region
The application process itselfsimple, and it's free. For the search for those missing in the Second World War of 1941-1945, the archive of the Ministry of Defense does not require money, and the costs of sending the answer are covered. In order to make a request, you need to collect as much personal information as possible about who is to be found. The more it is, the easier it will be for Central Asian workers to decide where to look for the missing in the Great Patriotic War, in which storage and on which shelf the treasured document can lie.
First of all, you need a surname, name and patronymic, place and date of birth, information about where he was called from, where he was sent and when. If any documentary evidence, notices or even personal letters have been preserved, then if possible they should be attached (copies). Information about government awards, promotions, injuries, and any other information related to service in the Armed Forces of the USSR will also not be superfluous. If the type of troops in which the missing person served, the military unit number and rank are known, then this should also be reported. In general, everything that is possible, but only reliable. It remains to put all this on paper, send it by letter to the address of the Archive and wait for a response. It won't be soon, but definitely. Mandatory and responsible people work in Central Asia.
Foreign archives
The search for the missing in the Second World War of 1941-1945 with a negative answer from Podolsk should be continued abroad. Wherever the roads of the hard times of Soviet soldiers languishing in captivity were brought. Their traces are found in Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania,Austria, Holland, Norway and, of course, Germany. The Germans kept the documentation meticulously, each prisoner got a card with a photograph and personal data, and if the documents were not damaged during the hostilities or bombings, there would be an answer. The information concerns not only prisoners of war, but also those who were involved in forced labor. The search for missing persons in the Second World War sometimes allows you to find out about the heroic behavior of a relative in a concentration camp, and if not, then at least clarity will be brought to his fate.
Content of response to request
The answer is usually laconic. The archives report on the settlement, in the area of which a serviceman of the Red or Soviet Army took his last battle. Information about the place of pre-war residence, the date from which the fighter was removed from all types of allowance, and the place of his burial are confirmed. This is due to the fact that the search for those missing in the Great Patriotic War by last name, and even by name and patronymic, can lead to ambiguous results. Additional confirmation may be the data of relatives to whom the notification should have been sent. If the burial place is indicated as unknown, then usually it is a mass grave located near the indicated settlement. It is important to remember that casu alty reports were often drawn up on the battlefield, and they were written in a not very legible handwriting. The search for missing persons in the Second World War of 1941-1945 can be difficult due to the fact that the letter "a" resembles "o", or something inlike that.
Search Engines
In recent decades, the search movement has become widespread. Enthusiasts who want to clarify the fate of millions of soldiers who laid down their lives for the Motherland are doing a noble deed - they find the remains of fallen soldiers, determine by many signs their belonging to one or another part, and do everything to find out their names. No one knows better than these people where to look for the missing in the Second World War. In the forests near Yelnya, in the swamps of the Leningrad region, near Rzhev, where fierce battles took place, they are carefully excavating, transferring its defenders to their native land with military honors. Search teams send information to government officials and the military, who update their databases.
Electronic media
Today, everyone who wants to find out the fate of their glorious ancestors has the opportunity to look into commander's reports from the battlefield. And you can do it without leaving your home. On the website of the archive of the Moscow Region, you can familiarize yourself with unique documents and verify the veracity of the information provided. From these pages breathes a living history, they seem to create a bridge between eras. Searching for the missing in the Great Patriotic War by last name is simple, the interface is convenient and accessible to everyone, including the elderly. In any case, you need to start with the lists of the dead. After all, the "funeral" could simply not reach, and for many decades the soldier was consideredmissing.
