Re: Seeking relatives Kursk-Russia
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In reply to:
Seeking relatives Kursk-Russia
Astrid Werjutina 12/08/08
You are asking for a lot.
In WWII Kursk was the scene of the largest and probably the deadliest tank battle ever fought. How many civilians died can only be guessed at. And how many citizens decided to stay there after the city was destroyed also enters into the mix.
You would have an easier time if your family lived in a nearby village rather than in the city itself. It's much easier to rebuild connections in less populous places. Are you certain the hometown is Kursk?
Your mother was a Displaced Person but a very fortunate one. The Soviets, who controlled portions of Austria, made every effort to find and return all their POWs and refugee nationals.
As a DP she should have been investigated by the International Red Cross before she was allowed to emigrate. That is because tensions with the Soviet Union were high and no country wanted to take in people who might communist sleeper agents or wanted war criminals.
To the best of my knowledge those IRC files still exist. The problem is that the only archive I know of is at Bad Arolsen in Germany. Most DPs went thru' hell and high water to get to Western Germany to guarantee they would be under the stewardship of the Allies and not the Russians. If your mother has a file at Bad Arolsen it should give you enough details to make a more specific search.
The Bad Arolsen Archive has it's own rules. It sees it's role as reuniting families and does not do research for genealogy so you are on safe ground. But being run by Germans you have to know all therules. If you want to look into the archive just google up their web site.
The search you are attempting would not be easy even under the best of circumstances. I rather doubt that anyones is going to pop up and say they are your relative. Be aware that Russia is an ideal place to run computer scams so be careful if anyone offers to do a search for you.
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Re: Seeking relatives Kursk-Russia
Astrid Werjutina 12/09/08