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WorldWar2.ro Forum > Eastern Front (1941-1944) > Vaslui 23.8.1944 |
Posted by: jivana September 12, 2005 10:24 pm |
Could anybody please explain to me the following diary note? (translated) "58 years ago (it refers to August 23rd, 1944) I fell prisioner at/near Vaslui." My questions: What happened in Vaslui? Who took whom as prisioner? What happened on that day? Where were the prisioners brought, what happened to them? Sincerely |
Posted by: Carol I September 13, 2005 06:16 am | ||||||
Whose diary note?
On 20 August 1944 the Soviet Iaşi-Chişinău (Jassy-Kishinev) Offensive started. By 23 August 1944 the Soviet forces reached Vaslui. See some details in: http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1263
Obviously the author of the diary was captured, most likely by the Soviets. |
Posted by: jivana September 13, 2005 07:13 pm | ||||||||||
Hello Carol I, thank you very much for your sudden answer and the hint with the informative site. This is really an excellent and very competent forum.
It is a private unpublished family every day diary of 25 years and it has sometimes, like flash backs, marginal notes about war experiences and about the youth of the author.
The text you mention gives a very good background knowledge of what happened in that region. I would like to know more about the special situation, how many soldiers were in Vaslui, what was their mission there, how long time they spent there? How was the Sowjet attack there as they almost weren´t prepared? Is there a veteran who could tell me?
You might be right, but he never told that, at the end of the war he was not in the Sovjet Union. Therefore I wanted to know what happened to the soldiers that were captured. Regards |
Posted by: Carol I September 13, 2005 09:32 pm | ||||
Maybe he ran away from captivity.
They were kept for some time in internment camps in Moldavia and then they were transferred to the Soviet Union. See http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=2399&view=findpost&p=37981 for example. |
Posted by: Victor September 14, 2005 01:57 pm |
I think jivana has a German soldier in mind, not a Romanian one. |
Posted by: Carol I September 14, 2005 03:39 pm | ||
I see. But he still could have run away from captivity, before being transferred to the Soviet Union. |
Posted by: jivana September 14, 2005 08:49 pm | ||
@ Victor & @ Carol I:
No, my question refered 100% to a Romanian soldier. |
Posted by: Victor September 21, 2005 05:51 pm |
The 11th Infantry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division were in the area north of Vaslui. |
Posted by: jivana September 23, 2005 09:15 am | ||||
While reading the diary I found another note of the same author that refers to the same event but with other details. The note was written on August 23rd or 24th, 1999 and ir refers to August 1944: (translated) "Attention! Today, 55 years ago my batalion fell captive in Moldoa R. Carpates not far awy from the town Jaschi, and I myself fell in captivity with it." Can "Jaschi" be Iasi? Which battalion was "in Moldoa R. Carpates not far away from the town Jaschi"? |
Posted by: mabadesc September 23, 2005 06:18 pm |
Doesn't sound like a Romanian soldier at all, unless he was member of an ethnic minority and Romanian was not his native language. |
Posted by: jivana September 23, 2005 08:50 pm | ||
1. Why? Because of the language? The text is originally not written in Romanian, indeed. I translated it into English (and I am truly sorry if I made a mistake). "Jaschi" could have been a sound- transcription for the non-Romanian reader. 2. Because of the content? Does the content lead you to the same conclusion? At least it is clear that the above mentioned sentence is the expression of a life-testimony, of somebody who has experienced himself -maybe out of his subjective point of view- one of the most central events of Romanian History. He faught in the Romanian Army and I think that in the context of this question being an "ethnic minority Romanian" or a "genuine Romanian" is not relevant. That´s the reason why I ´ve asked here for the historical background. |
Posted by: Victor October 01, 2005 07:51 am |
Here are two photos jivana sent me. From the uniform, the person she is interested in, seems to be a serg. major. The belt buckle with the crown on it should indicate he was part of the Guard Division (which wasn't in the Vaslui sector in August 1944). He also seems to be wearing the Serviciu Credincios Medal. Do any of you have more ideas about this? ![]() ![]() |
Posted by: Kepi October 01, 2005 01:41 pm |
All Romanian troops should have belt plates decorated with a crown not only the units of the Guard Division. However, many other types of plain plates, made in blackened steel or aluminum, were also used. The side arm seems to be the bayonet of the VZ-24 rifle. The wearing of medals means that the photos were taken after a ceremony |
Posted by: jivana October 01, 2005 07:06 pm | ||||||
It is faszinating, what we are finding out! Thanks to you all! I want to resume the items we have touched: a. the locality the diary is refering to and the historical background. Here I´ve got another diary notice for you of August 24th, 1994: "Rememberance of world war II: 50 years ago we fought in Moldova (R.) at Yasi-Pascani without success against the Russians. Romania capitulates, thousands of German soldiers are sorrounded and taken prisoners. I and many of my comarades were lucky to get out safely with health." As the notes of the different years mention the towns Iiasi, Vaslui and Pascani with the attribute "near" so I looked at the map - and I would like to have a correction of the Romanian readers here- : Could it have refered to the battle of Targu Frumos? It ist just in the middle of these towns. Also this note shows that a lot of soldiers did not get captured by the Soviet Union. How and where could they get out? b. the trial to locate the uniforms and the trial to locate the battalion:
Thanks Victor, for posting the pictures! It would be interesting, if somebody could write something about the Guard Division and about the Serviciu Credincios Medal. I would like to know if other units existed with the same outfit.
Can we take any conclusion out of these remarks/ facts? What unit did he/ did the group belong to? In which ocasions did the soldiers wear the belts with the belt plates with the crown decoration? Was it a special event? (On the group picture they have other kind of belts.) c. the trial to identify the situation of the pictures:
I agree with you, in the group picture you can see that the one soldier is indicating to the medal of the other. It could have been a celebration of medal-award. I´ve got more group pictures in this context and on the others you can see a military orchestra. So it must have been a ceremony or celebration. Unfortunately it is impossible for me to find out the year the pictures were taken. d. the identification of the weapons. What are your conclusions in this respect? Do they express anything about the unit? Regards |
Posted by: Carol I October 05, 2005 09:10 pm | ||
The battles around Târgu Frumos took place in the beginning and the end of May 1944, i.e., several months before 23 August 1944, the date which appears repeatedly in the diary of your relative. Take a look at http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=1527 for some details. |
Posted by: jivana October 05, 2005 11:52 pm |
Thank you Carol I for the hint. I had already read that thread. Where were the Romanian soldiers between May 1944 (Targul Frumos) and August 23rd (Vaslui- Iasi - Pascani)? The author of the diary was not alone then, he always writes about "my comarades" (and all his life he has been worrying about them and their whereabout), so I think that it must have been an event that touched a greater group of people and therefore I think that the exact place could be located and the situation reconstructed. Maybe some war diaries mention the same event from another point of view. So far I haven´t found any that would fit. As to the photos, an anybody identify the uniforms/the unit etc. and the year? Regards |
Posted by: Carol I October 06, 2005 05:02 pm | ||||
Before 20 August 1944, the frontline in Romania was held by the Romanian 3rd and 4th Armies and the German 6th and 8th Armies. It appears that Romanian units of the 4th Army were stationed around Iaşi.
If you read Romanian, you can take a look in the online edition of http://www.magazinistoric.itcnet.ro/ where you may find recollections and fragments of diaries of several WWII veterans. Some references to the August 1944 events in Moldavia can be found in the war diary of Constantin Isărescu (see http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=2352&view=findpost&p=36717). |
Posted by: Carol I October 07, 2005 07:06 am | ||
A http://www.worldwar2.ro/forum/index.php?showtopic=529&view=findpost&p=4700 of the wartime recollections of 2nd Lt. Ion S. Dumitru of the 1st Tank Regiment (originally posted by Victor). |
Posted by: jivana October 07, 2005 07:29 am |
Carol I: These are very helpful links, thank you. I´ll go over them in the next days. |