Civilian life in occupied Soviet Union in photos & documents

[Larrister]

Double post.

[Larrister]

Can anyone translate this writing which was on the back of one of the photos.

[history1]

Bad that many names of villages were changed after WWII. Also not helpfull that Germans used their "sch" which don´t exist with this letters in cyrillic. After searching hours the only possible result, IMHO, is Bordilovshchina in Belarus:
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/BO/00/ ... china.html
http://travelingluck.com/Europe/Belarus ... #local_map

No similar result went up searching through Russia and Ukraine in many different spellings.

Best,
Roman

[Larrister]

Bad that many names of villages were changed after WWII. Also not helpfull that Germans used their "sch" which don´t exist with this letters in cyrillic. After searching hours the only possible result, IMHO, is Bordilovshchina in Belarus:
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/BO/00/ ... china.html
http://travelingluck.com/Europe/Belarus ... #local_map

No similar result went up searching through Russia and Ukraine in many different spellings.

Best,
Roman

Hi Roman,

Thanks for taking the time to translate the text. I agree, Bordilovschina would be my choice as well.

Larry

[Heimatschuss]

Hello,

I' m sorry to disagree with the Bordilovshchina solution but I think the word actually reads 'Moskalewschtschina'.

Some surviving fragments of my decades old Russian lessons plus frantic googling got me to a hamlet 320 km ENE of Kiev. In Russian the name is Москалевщина (Moskalevshina) while in Ukrainian it's Москаливщина (Moskalivschyna).

http://tinyurl.com/34fdp7n
http://tinyurl.com/39elk4j

Map of unknown origin with the place names in German: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0% ... k_1941.jpg

Another hamlet Москалевщина is in the Polotsk district of Belarus about 30 km SSW of Polotsk
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=55.28 ... 46&zoom=15

Best regards
Torsten

[henryk]

Also not helpfull that Germans used their "sch" which don´t exist with this letters in cyrillic.
Roman

My understanding is that the German sch = Polish sz = Russian ш

[history1]

Also not helpfull that Germans used their "sch" which don´t exist with this letters in cyrillic.
Roman

My understanding is that the German sch = Polish sz = Russian ш

Tak jest

But it seems that Torsten is right.....

[Larrister]

Also not helpfull that Germans used their "sch" which don´t exist with this letters in cyrillic.
Roman

My understanding is that the German sch = Polish sz = Russian ш

Tak jest

But it seems that Torsten is right.....

I also stand corrected.
Thanks Torsten for finding the correct translation and posting the links.

Larry

[Svetlana Karlin]

Hello,

I' m sorry to disagree with the Bordilovshchina solution but I think the word actually reads 'Moskalewschtschina'.

Some surviving fragments of my decades old Russian lessons plus frantic googling got me to a hamlet 320 km ENE of Kiev. In Russian the name is Москалевщина (Moskalevshina) while in Ukrainian it's Москаливщина (Moskalivschyna).

http://tinyurl.com/34fdp7n
http://tinyurl.com/39elk4j

Map of unknown origin with the place names in German: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A4%D0% ... k_1941.jpg

Another hamlet Москалевщина is in the Polotsk district of Belarus about 30 km SSW of Polotsk
http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=55.28 ... 46&zoom=15

Best regards
Torsten

I would agree with Torsten, too.

Larry,

I believe the scenery in that photo could provide a clue whether it's Ukraine or Belarus.

[Svetlana Karlin]

A nice little series from my vehicle photo collection.

German soldiers allow Russian villagers to sit in their Mercedes Benz 170 VK.

It is obvious that these soldiers are on friendly terms with these people and are probably billited in the houses in the background. The MB has a Luftwaffe numberplate.

Larry,

Thanks for more interesting photos. By the way, in the picture with the child behind the wheel some houses have metal roofs, not straw. A metal roof would indicate a well-off household.

The part stone house in one of your photos is very unusual-looking. Probably that's why the owner of the album photographed it.

The locals certainly showed a lot of curiousity about the cars and other vehicles.

A Bundesarchiv photo that shows civilans watching Fieseler Storch land in Dzerzhinsky Square in Kharkov

Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-B13933,_Charkow,_Landung_eines_Fieseler_Storch.jpg

The building in the background is apparently Gosprom (State Industry), which used to house Soviet offices governing the local industry. This Gosprom picture was taken by Hermann Hoeffke, source http://www.v-like-vintage.net

rsz_00027473.jpg

Another Kharkov photo by Hoeffke from the same source. Curious boys and battle wreckage.

rsz_0001491d.jpg

The kids are wearing very characteristic round caps - 'tubeteyka'. This style of skullcaps originated in the Muslim republics of Central Asia (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, etc.) and was popular with Soviet men and boys in 30's-50's. Those who live in the US probably saw it as a version of yarmulka still worn by some Jews here.

[Svetlana Karlin]

More Kharkov photos by Hermann Hoeffke. People and day-to-day business in 1942 Kharkov.

Source: http://bpkgate.picturemaxx.com/index.php?LANGUAGE=DE_DE&WGSESSID=8a2868739807a866d872a040f76c9c68charkow&TABLIGHTBOX=RESULT&SEARCHMODE=NEW&SEARCHTXT1=charkow

Filling up with drinking water for delivery.

00006383.jpg

Civilians reporting for labor service for Wehrmacht.

00006500.jpg

Locals studying the current map of Europe.

00016302.jpg

[Svetlana Karlin]

More photos from the same source.

A street photographer.

00016315.jpg

A homeless woman sleeping on remnants of a bed.

0000hhrh.jpg

Street vendors selling firewood and coal.

00006518.jpg

[Svetlana Karlin]

A couple more BPK pictures.

Hungarian soldiers in front of a store selling jewelry and watches.

00006408.jpg

A child beggar wrapped in a tattered quilt.

00006380.jpg

One more photo by Hermann Hoeffke from http://www.v-like-vintage.net
A street repairman. My guess is that he fixed broken dishware/glass and repaired utensils.

s640x480.jpg

[Larrister]

Hi Linkar,

Nice color photos of city life in occupied Russia.

Here's a photo of a crowd that has gathered beside a Ford V8 which is part of a stopped column.

They stare at the camera with an unsure look on their faces.
Writing on back of photo: "Vormarsch Kiev."

Larry

[Larrister]

A street in Smolensk?