For human losses there is no statute of limitations. No matter how much time has passed since the war ended, the relatives of the dead or missing soldiers will always remember them and collect bit by bit information about the latest known life events. But the relatives of those who are not on the list of the dead are especially pained because the fate of the soldier is unknown. To facilitate the search for information, the Russian Ministry of Defense has created a special Internet service, Memorial, which is a constantly updated database of losses in the Great Patriotic War, containing genuine documents from archives.
Instruction manual
1
Enter the address of the Generalized Memorial database http://obd-memorial.ru/ in the search bar of the browser. Wait a few seconds for the initialization to take place and you will be redirected to the main search page. Here you can immediately start searching the database of military archives, get acquainted with the list of information sources, tips for working with the service.
2
On the "Set fate" tab, fill in the active fields with the information you have. In most cases, it can only be a first and last name. Click the "search" button to activate the search for documents by the specified parameters. If you want to set search parameters according to individual criteria, go to the "advanced search" tab. Here you can choose a separate type of documents, such as orders, file cabinets, burial lists, etc.
3
In the window that opens, you will see the search results and will be able to more accurately determine the fate of a warrior by selecting the line from the list whose data most closely matches the information you have. For example, here it will be possible to focus on the place of conscription of a soldier. To go to the page with personal data, click on the active part of the line in the place where the last name, first name and patronymic of the missing soldier are written. Here you can find out about the fate of the soldier: the number of the unit in which he served, military rank, the place where he disappeared, date and circumstances of the tragedy. In some cases, it will be an indication of captivity indicating the camp (name, number and location) and the date of death.
All this information will be confirmed by attached copies of the scanned genuine documents from the archives of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and the Passport of Military Graves Fund.
note
Pay attention to the fact that the work on digitizing archives is ongoing. Therefore, if you did not find the information you were looking for on your first visit, periodically start a search on the updated database.
Useful advice
If you want to set search parameters according to individual criteria, go to the "advanced search" tab. Here you can choose a separate type of documents, such as orders, file cabinets, burial lists, etc.
- OBD "Memorial"
- Missing In The War 1941 1945 Archive
