RE: [Cz-L] mass graves

Mordecai....kol hakavod! An amazing effort! Cornel

-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-61067039-8441035_at_list.cornell.edu
[mailto:bounce-61067039-8441035_at_list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Mordecai
Lapidot
Sent: 15 June 2012 16:51
To: 'Lisa Cohn'
Cc: 'Czernowitz Mailing-Liste'
Subject: FW: [Cz-L] mass graves

Sorry,

=20

I understood from the moderator that I cannot send the message with the
attachment, so I am forwarding without it. The transliteration of the =
name
of the book is: =93Kniga Pamyaty Ukrainyi=94, =93Chernivetska Oblast=94, =
2,
Chrenivtsi, Redaktzia Pruth, 1995 (this is apparently a later edition,
because the Yad Vashem testimonial was based on an earlier edition that =
was
available March 1952).

=20

Shabbat Shalom

=20

Mordecai

=20

From: Mordecai Lapidot [mailto:lapidotm_at_zahav.net.il]=20
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 6:07 PM
To: 'Lisa Cohn'
Cc: 'Czernowitz Mailing-Liste'
Subject: RE: [Cz-L] mass graves

=20

Dear Lisa,

=20

I am copying this (rather lengthy =96 my apologies =96 but rather =
exciting)
story to all, in case there are others that are looking for such info.

=20

In our case it was partially luck, partially a number of coincidences, =
and
some obstinate perseverance to continue digging in whatever sources we =
could
reach (can=92t shake off 55 years of work as an R&D engineer), and never =
give
up.=20

=20

For a very long time we had no info , since we had left Czernowits in =
the
great Repatriation wave of spring 1945, so the end of the war reached us =
in
Romania, and therefore we neither met any of his comrades, who had =
returned
home to Czernowitz, nor received any notification from the authorities.=20

=20

At some time, a comrade of his, who had turned up in Israel, met my aunt =
and
told her that they had been together in the last ferocious battles in =
front
of the Reichstag building. My uncle had told him that he will not =
survive
that battle, which indeed he did not. We always thought that he and the
thousands that fell in those last days in Berlin had been buried in some
mass-graves there. For this reason my cousin, his only son, who visited
Germany a few times (I never did =96 I could not), never approached =
Berlin, in
case he might tread on his father=92s remains.

=20

Several years ago we found in Yad Vashem a Testimonial from a man in
Czernowitz, filled out in 1952, in which he mentioned my uncle, and =
wrote
that he perished on 1 May 1945 in Wutenov in the Potsdamer Bezirk. We =
tried
to find this townlet or village at the time, and corresponded with some
German (also Jewish) contacts that we found, but were given to =
understand
that there is no such place there.

=20

A couple of months ago I reread =96 this time the English original =
version =96
of the =93Fall of Berlin 1945=94 by Antony Beevor (who also wrote the =
excellent
treatise about the battle of Stalingrad), and in the last pages found a
detailed description of the last few days of the battle for the =
Reichstag. I
decided to renew the search in the internet, and found a number of =
detailed
articles, some of which based in part on Beevor=92s treatise. They =
confirmed
considerably the info from my Uncle=92s comrade, about the ferociousness =
of
that battle.=20

=20

Therefore I renewed the search for Wutenov, and tried various spellings =
of
the name, and looked this time for a quarter in some city, assuming that
this village had been incorporated by a neighbouring growing town. This =
time
I hit paydirt and found that a village named Wuthenow had been =
incorporated
into the neighbouring Neuruppin in the Potsdamer Bezirk. However, this =
was
60 km north of Berlin and the Reichstag, and did not fit the info of his
comrade.=20

=20

I now returned to the testimonial, and was able to finally realize - =
with
some help from some Russian colleagues - that it said there that he
=93perished=94 on 1st May 1945, but was =93buried=94 (not perished) in =
Wuthenow.
This in some way explained the discrepancy between the two sources. He
apparently was fatally wounded in front of the Reichstag or in it, was =
taken
to a field-hospital in Wuthenow, died there and was buried there.=20

=20

Going back to the testimonial I deciphered there that his military
assignment was 380 sp and 171 sd. This meant nothing to me, nor to my
colleagues (who apparently had not served long in the Russian army).
Finally, after prolonged contemplation, Eureka, I got an inkling that =
these
were military abbreviations, and the last letter was an abbreviation for
division. I went back to Beevor=92s book and lo, in black on white, he
mentioned that the 380th rifle regiment of the 171st rifle division was =
one
of the two regiments that fought for 3 days at the footsteps and in the
Reichstag. This cleared everything, sd being strelyoka divisia (rifle
division) and strelyoka polk (rifle regiment). So this put my uncle =
straight
where his comrade had stated.

=20

I did one more action to confirm the data in the testimonial of Yad =
Vashem,
and this may be of help to you in case you do not have such a =
testimonial.
It said there that the info came from a =93memorial book=94 published in
Czernowitz. I asked a colleague of mine in Czernowitz to search for this
book in the University library, and he found it there. It is actually =
one of
the volumes of a series of memorial books for the fallen in different
regions of the Ukraine. In this volume of the Chernivtsyi region =
(including
neighbouring towns such as Hotin) (see attachment), he found the name of =
my
uncle, as well as all the data quoted in the testimonial.

=20

I now hopefully assume that, since my uncle was in that famous (in the
Soviet Union, because of the capture of the Reichstag) 380th regiment of =
the
171st division, part of the 3rd Shock Army led by Lt. Gen. Kuznetsov, he =
was
perhaps treated with some respect, and was indeed buried individually in
Wuthenow. I also found another confirmation =96 in the history of =
Neuruppin it
is mentioned that on 1st May 1945 the Russian troops arrived there, and
intended to attack from the Wuthenow side of the lake. And, in a map of =
the
capture of Berlin, I found that the 1st Bielorussian front, of which
Kuznetzov=92s 3rd Shock Army and 171st division was a part, had =
penetrated
into the Potsdamer Bezirk in two major arms =96 one going South and
encircling Berlin and the Reichstag area from the Northwest, and one =
going
Northwest towards Neuruppin. All this means that there was already on =
the
1st of May a Red Army military hospital base in or near Wuthenow. For =
safety
it was kept away from the ferocious battles around Berlin.

=20

I am now awaiting responses from the Neuruppin Friedhofsverwaltung =96 =
perhaps
his name is mentioned in their registers. There are several cemeteries =
there
=96 one each in Neuruppin, Altruppin (another quarter of the town) and
Wuthenow, as well as an Honorary cemetery for Soviet casualties in
Neuruppin. The big questions are =96 of course =96 a. was he one of the =
exhumed
and reburied, with a name on his stone tablet, and b. did the German
authorities take care of these cemeteries in the last 23 years since the
departure of the Soviets.

=20

I hope this is of some help, especially if you know the names of your
great-uncles (1st name, family name and name of father, and approximate =
date
of birth). Try Yad vashem testmonials first, then, via some contact in
Chenivtsiy, try the book. Once I have some more info - I will advise =
you.=20

=20

Shabbat Shalom

=20

Mordecai

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Received on 2012-06-15 12:40:14