request from Germany

**calcium20** » 28.06.2006, 16:14

Hi there,

first of all, I have to apologize since I dont speak a single word russian.
I frankly hope there is someone out there speaking english or german.

ok, after an exhausting web-search I found this webpage and just popped in. I used translation machines, which of course is pathetic and painful, but at least I was happy to find a Sluzk webpage.

So what the heck do I want?
I am german and - guess what - I have a couple of questions concerning the city of Sluzk and the second world war.

So if there is someone here speaking english (and a bit historically interested) I'd be happy to get back to me. Just drop me a line, I swing by later again to see if there is response.

Thank you very much!

cal

**Vodka** » 28.06.2006, 19:18

I don't know anything about Slutsk in the WWII. Ask Isabella.

**Spartak** » 28.06.2006, 22:50

But that exactly you want to learn of Slutsk?

**Никита Лесников** » 29.06.2006, 08:18

Well, the best I can suggest you is to leave all your questions here in some separate post in English, and I (or some other more or less English-enabled person on this forum) will translate them into Russian, as so everyone who can be of real help to you can reply.

Alas, I don't think that I can be a deep source of such an information - I know the subject just in the outlines. But I'm sure that history-interested locals (at least the workers of the town museum, to mention just a few) visit this forum on a regular basis.

**calcium20** » 29.06.2006, 11:44

Hi there and thank you very much for your answers.

I am not sure of what you think about germans and the post of CAHEK, of which I only understood the last half (including the english word ;-) ) makes me feel a bit uneasy.

I don't know if people from Belarus have prejudices against germans. My above post might of course be suspicious and stereotype and I am sure there are still wounds to heal.

Anyhow...
My grand-uncle was killed near Slutsk. He was not SS or somethink like that.

he was killed in early November 43. The report of his death says that he was killed 4 kilometers northeast Slutsk, which is an amazingly precise location.

my questions are:
- when was Slutsk liberated by the red army? I suspect that it must have been later than autumn 43 but I am not sure. If there was no frontline he probably must have been killed by partisans.
- were there any battles near Slutsk at all in the course of the liberation?
- me grand uncle's grave is said to be on a Slutsk graveyard for german soldiers.
I got in touch with an german organisation which tries to locate the graves
of german soldiers. The organisation told me that they dont have any information about this particular gravesite, but that's is not very peculiar. So does anyone know a place near slutsk where german soldiers have been buried?

Any hints (or email adresses of local historians) greatly appreciated!

cal

**Kron** » 29.06.2006, 12:34

Slutsk was liberated 30 Juni 1944. In Slutsk and nier him wasn't large battles. Battles was on north Slutsk region(etwas 15km from Slutsk).

**Никита Лесников** » 29.06.2006, 15:28

Hi there and thank you very much for your answers.

I am not sure of what you think about germans and the post of CAHEK, of which I only understood the last half (including the english word ;-) ) makes me feel a bit uneasy.

Never mind. The WWII is two generations away from now, and modern youth simply can't get the impression of it from direct consequences - all our knowledge of this war is just a set of well established cliches. So such phrases cannot have any deep ground under them, they're sort of automatic. Again, never mind.

My grand-uncle was killed near Slutsk. He was not SS or somethink like that.

he was killed in early November 43. The report of his death says that he was killed 4 kilometers northeast Slutsk, which is an amazingly precise location.
- when was Slutsk liberated by the red army? I suspect that it must have been later than autumn 43 but I am not sure. If there was no frontline he probably must have been killed by partisans.
- were there any battles near Slutsk at all in the course of the liberation?
- me grand uncle's grave is said to be on a Slutsk graveyard for german soldiers.

Translation:

Мой дядя был убит около Слуцка. Он не принадлежал СС или чему-либо подобному.

Его убили в раннем ноябре 43-го. Отчет о смерти свидетельствует о том, что его убили в четырех километрах от Слуцка. Достаточно удивительно, что место указано так точно.

- Когда Слуцк освободила РККА? Я подозреваю, что позже, чем осенью 43-го, но я не уверен. Раз здесь не было линии фронта, он мог быть убит партизанами.
- Проходили ли какие-либо крупные сражения около Слуцка вообще во время освобождения?
- Предполагается, что могила моего дяди расположена на Слуцком кладбище для немецких солдат

Собственно вопрос : кто-нибудь знает положение немецкого кладбища в Слуцке или адреса электронной почты местных историков?

From myself I can add that the liberation battle of Slutsk was quite hard - the most obvious fact in support of this is that the city was almost rebuilt from scratch after war. Considering that sabotage was quite uncommon on the german side at that time, a conclusion can be made that there were quite hard battles with a lot of artillery.

And, if you want some hints, check you PM section (Сообщения - Входящие)

**Халва** » 29.06.2006, 21:27

2 calcium20

I guess u want to find the rests of ur grand-uncle and get them back home,to Germany, right?..

Hey, and u know what? I want to thank u, cuz it was a long time i was thinking about creating an english topic on this forum and finally we have one!

Talk 2u later!

**Spartak** » 29.06.2006, 22:12

Regrettably not such deep cognitions beside me in Histories. So can not answer your questions. =(((

**calcium20** » 30.06.2006, 12:52

Hi there and thanks for the response and translating my questions into russian!

to halvenski:

no, in fact I don't want to get the remains of my grand-uncle back to germany. I don't know if this is even possible and even if it is, I wouldn't strive for it. The usual procedure if corpses are found is that they are excavated and imbedded into a gravesite for german soldiers near the place of death. I assume that the chances to find the grave of my grand-uncle is near zero, but hey, just give it a try...

Unfortunately the treaty between Germany and Belarus concerning german soldiers graves, which was suggested in 1996, was not signed by Belarus - I don't know why. As far as I know the negotiations concerning
german soldiers graves are difficult.

There are 4 graveyards of prisoners of war in Belarus:
Mogilew, Tarasowo, Beresowka, Grodno

and 4 "normal" soldiers graveyards:
Sidorowitschi near Mogilew - about 2000 graves
Glubokoje - 527 graves
Chodossowitschi near Minsk - 312 graves
Berjosa - capacity of 40.000 graves

There are allegedly about 250.000 german soldiers lying on belarus soil.

I am just interested in the fate of my grand-uncle (at the time of his death 19 years old). The report of his death is mysterious since there
was no frontline at the time of his death. I checked a couple of history books and Kron is right, Slutsk was liberated in June 44. However, there was high partisan activity in the region between Minsk and Slutsk.
My grand uncle might also have been killed by accident or by germans.
As far as I found out there were no big battles in or around Slutsk but I am not sure about it. I don't have a clue why Slutsk was
demolished that bad. Maybe the germans tried to destroy the city since after the battle or Kursk summer 43 the war was lost and the wehrmacht was unable to stop the red army.

There is no real purpose of my research, I am just curious to know what information can be unearthed more than 60 years after his death.

I wonder which possiblities relatives of members of the red army have to get information about their destination.
I guess it is even more difficult...

I learned that there was a slaughter of thousands of inhabitants in Slutsk in October 41. Is this a well know fact in Slutsk?

As far as I understood there is a town museum in Slutsk. If it also covers the history of the city, does the museum have a webpage, or is anyone in the possession of the director's email adress?

Thanks!

**Veleslav** » 06.07.2006, 10:38

Надо помочь немцу...
Наши бы так заботились о своих...

**Shandrei** » 07.07.2006, 16:15

Надо конечно, но я так и не понял, что он хочет

**Tolich** » 31.07.2007, 15:01

Ничего у его не получится.
Вокруг Слуцка нет официальных массовых немецких захоронений.
а если и были небольшие (особо бои не велись), то после освобождения практиковалось уничтожение полностью, даже захоронений.
Если похоронили свои (немцы), то в похоронке должно было быть указано место. всё таки 1943.
ну а если погиб пожже при освобождении - в лучшем случае похоронили возле кладбища.

Не те времена были, своих оплакивать не успевали.

С уважением, Сергей