Finding remains on the East Front

[Liebchen]

I thought that this article would be of interest to some Blitzers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25589709

[Laza]

Very interesting David, thanks for sharing

[Mr Grumpy]

Thanks for the link.

[Ricky B]

That is interesting to read about. There were so many dead Soviet soldiers and so many were never recovered as said there, good to know Russians are working to find the bodies and take care of them.

Rick

[Compass Rose]

Interesting read.

Thanks for letting us know about it.

[Weasel]

Isn't that interesting. I find their ID tags, paper stuck in a tube, to be incredibly 19th century but I guess they didn't really care too much about the boys at that time.

Did you guys notice the grenades and MG in the pit with the bodies?

[Ricky B]

... I find their ID tags, paper stuck in a tube, to be incredibly 19th century but I guess they didn't really care too much about the boys at that time.

I think some of it was their culture under Soviet leadership anyway, but also their desperation, and focus on survival. I don't think they had the time to give much effort to anything but beating the Germans, at whatever cost.

I had a lady from Leningrad/St Petersburg that worked for me about 13 years ago. Her father was a high level general in the military, her grandfather had fought in the war. Apparently, her grandparents were Russians living in the Brest-Litovsk area before the war, not in the military. I don't know the details but right before the fighting started she said they left the area, implying there was some knowledge of the coming attack, or maybe they left right after the attack started. Anyway, as the train headed east, her grandfather was pulled off the train and assigned to a rifle battalion - I guess immediate conscription. Surprisingly, he survived the war, but that image of grabbing anyone able to fight, handing them rifles (if they had them) and putting the person into a unit heading to battle still amazes me.

Rick

[Liebchen]

Isn't that interesting. I find their ID tags, paper stuck in a tube, to be incredibly 19th century but I guess they didn't really care too much about the boys at that time.

I'm guessing that any metal was sent to armories and such. Besides, the quickest, easiest way to ID new recruits (such as the dude pulled off of the train) would be to hand them a paper, pen, and capsule. "Here you go, new guy, fill this out..."

Did you guys notice the grenades and MG in the pit with the bodies?

Imagine digging around in that...

[Elxaime]

Very moving. While leaders -even our own at times - may not care about the deaths of the soldiers they send to battle, each soldier has a circle of people who intimately feel his or her loss.

The comment from the woman digger about doing this to try to add meaning to her place in the universe was also quite touching.