Russian child soldiers?

[Andreas]

A lot of UK soldiers lied about their age to join up in WW I. Recruiters (as we see now in the US) are not that discriminating - they have a quota to fill. If somebody stands in front of them volunteering to get shot at, I guess they don't feel the urge to prevent them from going. There may also have been cases where individuals were simply caught in rapid mobilisation in newly liberated areas, and I could imagine that in the militias formed in 1941 some soldiers were under-age. On the whole however, I'd go along with the point that was made before - it was a big war, and all sorts of things happened in it. But there is no documentary or other evidence shown up to now that the Red Army systematically called up and sent into combat under-age soldiers.

All the best

Andreas

[Alex Yeliseenko]

European cities and settlements there are tombs of the Soviet soldiers. It is a valuable source of the information. On tombstones names and dates of life of these people are cut. The red Army was included in Europe in 1944-45. Look, whether there are there dates of a birth above 1926-27.

Yuri, I am compelled to tell that such tombs with the instruction of date of a birth very little. Many gravestones bear to us only names the soldier of victims in fights against nazism.

Regards

Alex

Hi,
I knew that I saw on web list of Red Army' soldiers KIA in Eastern Slovakia around town Kosice.
Here's the link.
http://sa-army.cemetery.sk/
http://sa-army.cemetery.sk/cerarm.htm

It is suppose to be around 3000 names. I went quickly through the list and I found few soldiers born in 1926. In 1945 they were 19. But I found 1 name with date of birth 1929 so he was 16 in 1945.
Here is the name:
Gernovik H. V. vojak(private) 1929(DoB) Prešov X.A. K7-5 4
Unfortunatly the web is in Slovak only.
There is also link available to the list of German soldiers buried in town Kosice from WWII (http://147.232.145.11/history/nemci/deutsch1.htm) and then list of soldiers from WWI.

And I found another one
Popovič N. V. vojak 1929 Prešov X.A. K7-5 3

Actually according to information on the site it looks like they are burried close each other.

Hi,

They are interesting data. And still - probably it is the civil personnel. These people too were. Can be and discrepancy of date.

P.S. - I have not forgotten about your request. I need time to save up the Internet - traffic and to receive the electronic book in 70 mbyte. There there are data about the Soviet tank corps. I can give the address of it.


Regards.

Alex.

[Alex Yeliseenko]

At least in some periods of war soviets mobilised all men from territories they had just conquered. I believe, that in such occasions the age of reqruits was not much controlled .
I can recall some memoirs ,there such underaged "soldiers" were captured near Tartu,Estonia in summer 1944.
Interesting detail- they were dressed in german uniforms(but had politruk with them . I can also remember,that they were mobilised from Pskov area (Russia), but can recall what happened to these boys afterwards.

It is a forum of the facts and documents, instead of conjectures. Furnish proofs.

Data about total mobilization are exaggerated. It is characteristic for books of such people as Boris Sokolov or Vladimir Beshanov. They build the books on hearings and fictions.

Any document does not speak about an appeal for citizens 18 years are more younger. Andreas it is again right. Many teenagers tried to get on front. There were elements of military romanticism. The some managed to raise the real age. They forged the documents. But it was not the mass phenomenon.

regards.

Alex.

[KACKO]

Hi,

They are interesting data. And still - probably it is the civil personnel. These people too were. Can be and discrepancy of date.

P.S. - I have not forgotten about your request. I need time to save up the Internet - traffic and to receive the electronic book in 70 mbyte. There there are data about the Soviet tank corps. I can give the address of it.

Regards.
Alex.

As a military rank both soviet citizens born 1929 and burried on Kosice's cementary is listed as a vojak in Slovak, what's mean private.
Interesting is that both of them were killed in town or around the town Presov. The could be the firs line soldiers or they could serve in some rear area detachment which got suprised by attack or have been attacked by planes. But that's only guess.


P.S.Link to information about soviet tank corps will be appreciated. (as I wrote you, they probably mixed mechanized and tank corp with same number somehow)Thanks

[Juha Tompuri]

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a breakdown by age of Soviet POWs in Finland in any of the published studies

True.
However the Vihollisen Armoilla... gives some idea about it.
It mentiones the average age (when captured) of the Soviet female POWs to have been between 18 and 24 years.

Regards, Juha

[Befehl227]

To be honest,I don´t think that this boy on the photo was older than 16 years old...



[The photo is from: Russia at war 1941-1945,by Vladimir Karpov]

[Dmitry]

To be honest,I don´t think that this boy on the photo was older than 16 years old...

It looks like it is the famous soldier's Order of Glory ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Glory ) on his chest. It could be given only for a real heroic deed on the battlefield. Is there a footnote in the Karpov's book? Who is it?

[Andreas]

To be honest,I don´t think that this boy on the photo was older than 16 years old...

So what?

Dmitry - Karpov speculates that he was probably attached to a reconnaissance unit. No name is given.

All the best

Andreas

[Befehl227]

To be honest,I don´t think that this boy on the photo was older than 16 years old...

It looks like it is the famous soldier's Order of Glory ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_Glory ) on his chest. It could be given only for a real heroic deed on the battlefield. Is there a footnote in the Karpov's book? Who is it?

Yes,it´s the Order of Glory 3rd class! It´s one of my favourite soviet medals!
In Karpov´s book is a short line in which the little soldier is described as: probably a member of a reconnaissance patrol

Regerds,

Stefan

[Befehl227]

To be honest,I don´t think that this boy on the photo was older than 16 years old...

So what?

Dmitry - Karpov speculates that he was probably attached to a reconnaissance unit. No name is given.

All the best

Andreas

What do you exactly mean with – so what?

Wer soll denn auf so einen Einsilber reagieren können?

[Andreas]

So, what is that picture and that comment supposed to signify?

All the best

Andreas

[Volxov]

Want about at war children in Soviet Union. Read through Valentine Pikulja's autobiographical story " Boys with bows "( Mal'chiki s bantami). This book about a life of inhabitants of islands Solovetskih within the precincts of School jung where the author acts in a role of the protagonist under name Savki Ogurtsova.


If these children were not at war, we would not win …




Link edited out by moderator - Volxov, please do not link to E-Books that are still in copyright, thank you. Andreas

[Kim Sung]

I know there are a lot of superb WWII books written in Russian. But it's very difficult to order them.

[Befehl227]

So, what is that picture and that comment supposed to signify?

All the best

Andreas

There is no secret message in “that” comment.

Best wishes,

Stefan

[dabbydo]

Recruiters (as we see now in the US) are not that discriminating - they have a quota to fill

Andreas, could you explain that please? It is true that the age limit for Reserve units has risen but we are not sending children to Iraq. The U.S. is hardly pressed for manpower, and volunteers are better soldiers.
Thanks,

David