Exhumation of bodies of WWII Soviet soldiers in the Stalingrad area by Russian volunteers during the summer of 2017. The soldiers were killed during the battle of Stalingrad in 1942-43. All recovered bodies were reburied in the Rossoshka war cemetery.
Volunteers came from all over Russia including Volgograd, Krasnoyarsk, Tuva, Archangelsk, Kazan and France.
When the bodies were buried with metalic items such as helmets or unexploded ordnance, they were found thanks to Tresure Master 808 metal detectors.
One body was found still wearing a shrapnel damaged helmet. A corresponding hole was found in the skull.
For more information about battlefield archaeology: http://battlefieldarchaeology.blogspot.com/
Plus de renseignements sur la recherche des soldats disparus: http://findthemia.blogspot.com/
WWII era Soviet soldiers were not equipped with identification tags. Instead, they were issued a small ebony tube that contained a sheet of paper on which they were to write their name and particulars. Many soldiers were superstitious however, and considered that wearing an identification tag would bring them bad luck and certain death; so most soldiers did not carry the tube with them. Even if the tube was correctly worn, 70 years have taken their toll, and the paper inside the tube has often disintegrated or become unreadable. In consequence, the vast majority of Soviet bodies that are recovered nowadays can no longer be identified.
Soviet soldiers often engraved their names on their spoon, or on other personal items such as knives, mess tins, or cigarette boxes. When bodies are discovered nowadays, it is such engraved items that most often enable a body to be identified. Digging expeditions frequently take place in April and in late May, and the bodies that are recovered are then reburied on May 9th, the day that victory Europe is celebrated in the East.
En Russie, dans la région de Stalingrad, des volontaires cherchent et exhument des corps de Soldats Soviétiques morts en 1942.
Crocodile Tear productions and documentaries.
battlefeld archaeology - war dead identification - metal detecting - excavation - 1939 - 1945 - erkennungsmarken - ID tags - dog tags - MIA - KIA - Wehrmacht - Nazi - 6th Army - General von Paulus -
Some of the more funny or thoughtfull comments posted:
"hey would bring 20 guys here for every single mine, and evacuate half a town, but in russia, you just put the mines in a wheel barrow without a fuss, and take 'em away... you gotta love it!"
"How heartbreaking, each of these men who fell left behind a mother, father, wife, girlfriend brother, or sister who never knew his final moments or where his remains laid and carried a hole in their heart for him. They died in agony, far from loved ones. God save us from ourselves."
"Killer diaper bro"
Q: "What happened to their uniforms? I noticed boots on a few but no evidence of clothing."
A: "are you talking about the dead soldiers or the people digging them up?...I noticed evidence of them wearing diapers so at least its something"
