New WWII Soviet Army database gives faces to veterans

Russia will be going all out for the 75th anniversary of WWII’s Allied victory. That benefits anyone who had ancestors or relatives in the Soviet Army during WWII.

Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has created a new database called Road of Memory, offering photos of WWII Soviet Army veterans.

The database was started in the late spring and has been growing each day by several hundred. Road of Memory is close to having 300,000 veterans documented with their personal photos. (Update: It’s about to tip over to about 2 million, as of May 2020.)

Each page on veterans has a link to the Memory of the People database, which details 18 million awards given to Soviet Army servicepeople.

It is well worth checking if anyone has posted photos of relatives and ancestors who served in WWII. Some people have posted additional information on the lives of their relatives who served in the Soviet Army.

The new database also is perfect for anyone who has photos of unfamiliar Soviet Army soldiers who need their service story completed more fully.

Road of Memory can be searched just by first name, patronymic name (middle name in honor of the father such as Ivanovich and Vasilevich), or last name. This works great when exact full name spellings are not known.

Here’s how to use the database:

1. If you don’t know Russian, use Google Translate or Stephen Morse’s website for translating names into Russian.
2. Copy the names into the box that says найти героя on the top right.
3. Open each result link in a new window. If you don’t, the website requires you to restart the search.
4. Copy and paste all text into Google Translate to see it in English.

If useful matches aren’t found, repeat the steps a few times a month. This database is growing on a daily basis.

Road of Memory is likely just the beginning of more online material on WWII soldiers. It wouldn’t surprise me if a large collection of Soviet Army military records is added online next year in honor of the 75th anniversary.

Follow this blog with the top right button to learn about news on important databases.

Related posts:
Millions of records added to WWII database (with a guide for searching the 18 million file database)
Free database on WWII soldiers grows by more than 5 million records
The cure for fearing Russian-language genealogy websites to make breakthroughs
Secrets of searching the Internet in Russian and Ukrainian like a native speaker

 

Guide to finding the mystery family villages of Russia and Ukraine

The moment that the name of a family village is uncovered the excitement builds. Then, searching for that village on a 21st century map can seem as challenging as if the village never existed.

Before rushing to find the village or town on a map, it’s time to do some more research. Maybe the village or town still exists but the name has changed over time. Or the village switched borders within the former USSR countries.

Here are some web pages (all in English) that will help uncover the locations of mystery family villages and towns.

Russia:

1. List of renamed cities and towns in Russia

2. List of cities and towns in Russia

3. List of cities of the Russian Empire in 1897

Ukraine:

1. List of renamed cities in Ukraine

2. List of Ukrainian toponyms that were changed as part of decommunization in 2016

3. List of villages and towns depopulated of Jews during the Holocaust

4.  JewishGen’s database on Ukrainian villages

Russia & Ukraine:

1. List of ghost towns by country (Russia is listed under Asia.)

Galicia:

1. Galician Town Locator

East Prussian towns now in Russia:

1. List of cities and towns in East Prussia

Ruthenian (Grand Duchy of Lithuania and later in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth):

1. List of villages now in Zakarpatska Oblast, Ukraine (formerly the Kingdom of Hungary)

Carpatho-Rusyn (also known as Dolinyans,  Boykos,  Hutsuls  and Lemkos):

Root Seekers Guide To The Homeland

German settlements in Russia:

1. Germans from Russia Settlement Locations

View this website on Germans from Russia for more information on these location.

If luck isn’t struck with these web pages, try posting for help on these Facebook genealogy groups. Those who had luck should search online for any additional information to help find the correct village or town on a 21st century map.

Feel free to post more useful web pages in the comments section.

Related posts:
Guide to interviewing relatives like a true detective
Break open the “I don’t know anything” relatives for some genealogy gems
Secrets of searching the Internet in Russian and Ukrainian like a native speaker