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Posted by: Victor March 05, 2004 08:47 pm

Unfortunately Romanian veterans are slowly passing away. Because of the long Communist period, most of their memories remained unknown (for the June 1941-August 1944 period), unlike those of veterans from other armies, our posibilities of learning their experiences are limited.

Until it is too late something must be done. Go out there find veterans willing to share their wartime experiences, record them and we will be more than happy to publish them on the site.

Posted by: Indrid March 05, 2004 08:50 pm

how about publishing a volume with collective memories? i think it would be interesting

Posted by: Dénes March 05, 2004 08:57 pm

If you want to find veterans to interview them, but don't know how to start it, go first to your local 'Military Circle'. I did the same thing (way back) and after an initial reluctance (like: "Why are you interested in them?" Or, "do you want to buy their medals?", etc.), it lead me to some success.
Another way is simply to place a small ad in your local newspaper.

Indeed, as Victor rightly put it, time is working against them (virtually every day counts!) and we should find them until it's not too late...

And I suggest to proceed with them gently, with respect and humbleness.

Posted by: C-2 March 05, 2004 08:58 pm

QUOTE

how about publishing a volume with collective memories? i think it would be interesting

And who will pay for it?
Who will buy it?
Exept us of corse!

Posted by: Dénes March 05, 2004 08:59 pm

That's why the best is to publish the interviews/memories - with the veteran's consent! - on the 'net. It's (almost) free...

Posted by: Indrid March 05, 2004 09:04 pm

you guys are right about the profits...zero..costs..a lot

Posted by: C-2 March 05, 2004 09:41 pm

A guy name Iordache,wrote a book about all the ARR pilots he could find something about.He wants no profit and cannot find a sponsor for the book.

Posted by: Florin March 06, 2004 05:31 am

QUOTE

...And who will pay for it?
Who will buy it?
Exept us of corse!

A guy who lives in Australia, Sid Guddridge (I exchanged messages with him on feldgrau.com, before using my energy here) visited Bucharest few times. He was dissapointed to see how little interest was even at the Museum of Military History, about collecting the memories of the veterans. He said he discussed in person with the museum staff. He is very well informed about Romania, for a foreigner.
On feldgrau.com, from time to time, there were questions about Romania in WW2.
I am more optimistic than C-2. I hope to don't be an unrealistic optimism.

Posted by: Florin March 06, 2004 05:35 am

QUOTE

A guy name Iordache,wrote a book about all the ARR pilots he could find something about.He wants no profit and cannot find a sponsor for the book.

This means the Romanian publishing houses are skeptical about selling the book. Is everything so dark?! For a nation with 23 million people, should be at least about 10,000 with such historical interests.

A last moment idea: What about telling to Mr. Iordache, or to anybody else, to find newspapers to print these stories. In each newspaper a part - a serial.

Posted by: Indrid March 06, 2004 07:06 am

well, i haven`t bought a book for about 3 years.... extremly expensive. all i buy is from ...old book store(anticariat) these days

Posted by: cnflyboy2000 March 06, 2004 09:51 am

You may have seen there is a big market now for self- published books and a corresponding number of so-called "Print on Demand" (POD) publishing houses have rushed in to fill it.

Details at:

http://www.sfwa.org/beware/printondemand.html

It can be fairly inexpensive, and might be a good avenue for something like this, particularly if someone has something ready to go, like the pilot's book. (I'd be very interested in seeing that one).

The advantage of this system is you get an ISBN number for the book; so it's then "out there" for anyone. :cheers:

Posted by: Victor March 06, 2004 10:37 am

QUOTE

A guy name Iordache,wrote a book about all the ARR pilots he could find something about.He wants no profit and cannot find a sponsor for the book.

The name is commander Constantin Iordache.

Posted by: dragos March 06, 2004 01:36 pm

QUOTE

If you want to find veterans to interview them, but don't know how to start it, go first to your local 'Military Circle'.

That is ANVR quarters in your locality (ANVR = Asociatia Nationala a Veteranilor de Razboi)

Posted by: Dan Po April 26, 2004 11:13 am

[quote]A guy name Iordache,wrote a book about all the ARR pilots he could find something about.He wants no profit and cannot find a sponsor for the book.[/quote]

Can we put this book at the internet ?

Its much more than nothing ...

Posted by: C-2 April 26, 2004 08:21 pm

Iordache is traing to publish it without financial demands.

Posted by: Dr_V April 26, 2004 09:37 pm

Come on, publishing a book isn't such a big problem those days. I'm not saying that Cmd. Iordache doesn't tell the truth, but there are smaller editors that can offer him a really small price. :!:

My father published a book (medical - surgery) in January and I was the one that made the computer formatting and found the editor, so I'm pretty informed on the subject. If Cmd. Iordaches book is b/w or text only the prices are more than affordable (that wasn't the case for my fathers book, we had tons of intra-operatory color pics

).

Concretely, for a medium series (500-2.000 books) a 300 pages b/w book is under 100.000 lei/piece, maybe even closer to 50.000. And many small editors accept payment in 2-3 rates over 6 months or so.
If Cmd. Iordache isn't seeking a big profit from the book, I'm sure there are many interested to buy a hystorical book that coveres such a little known area for 3$ apiece. Damn, there are tons of trash like "pink collection" books that are 2-3 times more expansive and sell like crazy. At 100.000 as final price this book will be amongst the cheapest on the market :!:

:idea: If the computer formatting is a problem (it's usually expansive) I volunteer to help him do it. If the matherial is too large, I'm sure we'll find amongst this forum members a few more computer skilled volontaires to get the job done. It's the least we can do to offer some concrete support. What do you think? :?:

Posted by: C-2 April 27, 2004 07:31 pm

Iordache is a retired old man,who has a small pention and barely survive!

Posted by: petru May 14, 2004 03:42 pm

I recently met a guy who wrote a book about the eruption of Krakatoa and he needed to document the eruption. One of his first steps was to publish an add in an Dutch newspaper that he was looking for documents about the eruption (letters, personal journals, newspaper, eventually artifacts etc). I think this was a good ideea, and an add in a Romanian newspaper, asking for personal documents from the war period would bring an important amount of information.

Posted by: C-2 May 14, 2004 09:07 pm

Not a bad idea,but some will ask for money...

Posted by: Victor June 12, 2004 07:19 am

I have changed the topic's title and wish to broaden my invitation to contribute to the site. If you have knowledge of an interesting subject regarding Romanian military during WWII, that is not covered by the present information on the website, please write it down and we will publish it. Help us make the site more interesting. There are already several members who contributed to the Medals and Awards section.

Posted by: mihai June 14, 2004 05:22 am

[quote]That's why the best is to publish the interviews/memories - with the veteran's consent! - on the 'net. It's (almost) free...[/quote]

Free? What method did you show your thanks will?
I'm interested in a method
Mihai

Posted by: Der Maresal August 11, 2004 06:00 pm

Is as have said before - I met a Romanian pilot veteran, at a romanian campus. He had come all the way from the united states where he lives, and he was more then willing to talk about his expericenes. He flew a 'Fiesler Storch' - lieson aircraft during the war. He said - that plane could land on 15 meters of runway! (STOL, now adays)

His name is 'Burghiu' or Burgiu, something like that, I will ask someone who knows him better and find out.
He had told me he burned all his wartime photographs ( :cry: :cry: ), because of fear after the war.
He still lives, tough i don't know for how long. He seemed to be in good health, tough very old when i saw him. His memory was great, he spoke vividly about his adventures. I might meet him again next year when i go to that campus, it seems he goes there every year. I will see if i can 'extract' some more information from him. :wink:

A distant relative in the familly, was a Glider instructor, I think during the war and after. His name was 'Iliutã" (t being tz)..He died many years ago. I'll ask more about him too

Posted by: Minerval September 11, 2004 07:22 pm

QUOTE

(...)out there find veterans willing to share their wartime experiences, record them and we will be more than happy to publish them on the site.

Greetings!
I would be more than happy to help you in this matter. I will have to make a few phone calls and some trips, and, basicly, in a few weeks this operation should be succesefull.
Aur-voire!

Posted by: Chetnik December 26, 2004 01:08 am

Hi there, although it might be a little late to respond on this subject I just wanted to say I think it's important. Ove here in the U.S. Every veteran of an American soldier has been that can be done has been done. My interest in Axis states like Romania and Hungry has been with me for years. I have already made a pilgramage to Italy to visit veterans of the RSI government. To me these men are worth spending time with. I wish I could I spend all the time just going from country to country visiting such veterans of this war. In my view the day of the REAL SOLDIER is gone. Now it's all techinical and there are lots of ways for troops to escape danger from almost any weather condition.
Back then soldier from WW II had to face these same climates with less than half of what the common soldier uses today.

I wish I could find some Romanian WW II veterans living where I live but I doubt it. Not that I'm not proud of the men and women who fought for the U.S. but like I said, it's been done. I wish there could be more interest here in those "other" Axis countries. It seems to be all one big "Time Life wet-dream" over here. America, Germany,Japan,England, and Russian... this is the "dream team" I guess. I hope those who live in the smaller former Axis countries will record as much as possible now and then work them into future books in the future.
Hell, this web site can be a great distributer of books, I'd buy one.

Mike

Posted by: dragos February 08, 2005 05:23 pm

Veterans are selling their free train tickets in the Bucharest North Station. There is an oportunity to meet there some of the remaining veterans (even if such sad circumstances).

Posted by: Indrid February 09, 2005 07:22 am

yes i am aware of this situation. my grandfather was offered half the ticket price in order to transport that person to the adress he desired...

Posted by: spooky September 22, 2005 04:57 pm

I visited werry much sites and i saw thiskind of things. (example:www.BBC.co.uk;at ww2 history there is a page where people can write their(or their relatives`s)war memories)It would be great if u can do this too on this site.

Posted by: Victor September 22, 2005 05:21 pm

We would if there were any Romanian WWII veterans surfing the net. Unfortunately many don't even know what the Internet is.

Posted by: spooky September 23, 2005 10:26 am

Yeah, you`re right.

Posted by: Victor September 23, 2005 01:50 pm

But what volunteers can do is go to veteran associations and interview veterans there and then submit their work on the website.

Posted by: Alexandru H. September 23, 2005 03:56 pm

Ok, Victor, you've got yourself a deal.

Posted by: Klemen June 09, 2006 03:02 pm

Just a short note: You don't need to think right now about how are you going to publish the veterans personal accounts. I think that the primary task right now would be first to collect them, then sort them and then you consider your terms in which you want to publish them. If your efforts proved to be unsuccessfull you simply turn the testimonials to the archive, who would then have to keep it. This way the heritage would not be lost.

Posted by: 21 inf May 27, 2007 05:38 pm

If someone on this site can offer me a "link" (relatie) with ANVR Oradea, i can contact the veterans and take interviews with them.

Also, if one have phone numbers of veterans from Cluj, Timisoara or Arad, i can meet those veterans to interview them and put the info's here, on this site.

All my work it will b for free. The main purpose is to collect as much memories as we can, to preserve them for the next generations.

Posted by: C-2 May 27, 2007 06:26 pm

Victor,what's the name of the Stuka pilot from Cluj?

Posted by: Claudiu1988 May 27, 2007 06:35 pm

I also know some veterans, if you are interested let me know.

Posted by: Victor May 29, 2007 06:38 am

QUOTE (21 inf @ May 27, 2007 07:38 pm)

ASOCIATIA NATIONALA A VETERANILOR DE RAZBOI
Adresa: Mihai Eminescu, Nr. 11 , ORADEA, 50, 410019, Telefon: 0259.414899

Posted by: Victor May 29, 2007 06:39 am

QUOTE (Claudiu1988 @ May 27, 2007 08:35 pm)

I also know some veterans, if you are interested let me know.

Of course we are interested. This is why I posted the "call to arms" in the first place.

Posted by: Claudiu1988 May 29, 2007 09:09 am

Today I went to see the ww2 Veterans, and I told them about what you want to do. One of them will bring me tomorrow a 25 page jurnal and some photos with the meadals and the front where he fought.

Posted by: Victor May 29, 2007 11:25 am

That's very good news Claudiu. Thank you.

Posted by: Claudiu1988 May 30, 2007 12:56 pm

I got the jurnal and some photos.

Posted by: 21 inf May 30, 2007 06:05 pm

QUOTE (Victor @ May 29, 2007 06:38 am)

QUOTE (21 inf @ May 27, 2007 07:38 pm)

ASOCIATIA NATIONALA A VETERANILOR DE RAZBOI
Adresa: Mihai Eminescu, Nr. 11 , ORADEA, 50, 410019, Telefon: 0259.414899

Thanks 4 the info!
As soon as i'll manage to obtain a interview, i'll post it on this site.

Bogdan

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DIN TARA MOTILOR EU AM VENIT!

Posted by: Victor May 31, 2007 06:52 am

The interviews are to be posted on the website, not on the forum. After you get the material, you let us know and we'll do the rest.

Posted by: 21 inf May 31, 2007 03:14 pm

QUOTE (Victor @ May 31, 2007 06:52 am)

The interviews are to be posted on the website, not on the forum. After you get the material, you let us know and we'll do the rest.

Roger that, sir!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

DIN TARA MOTILOR EU AM VENIT!

Posted by: 21 inf July 09, 2007 04:05 pm

QUOTE (Victor @ May 29, 2007 06:38 am)

QUOTE (21 inf @ May 27, 2007 07:38 pm)

ASOCIATIA NATIONALA A VETERANILOR DE RAZBOI
Adresa: Mihai Eminescu, Nr. 11 , ORADEA, 50, 410019, Telefon: 0259.414899

The info that you posted helped me to get in contact with the president of Asociatia Nationala a Veteranilor de Razboi filiala Bihor, general Roman Dumitru.

He was very amazed about my wish to contact the veterans, but finally he helped me glad.

He gave me contacts (phone numbers and names) from "sub-filiale" from Alesd, Salonta, Beius, Vascau and Stei, all being towns from Bihor county.
So, if any people from Bihor are interested to help interviewing the veterans, please PM me in order to obtain the phone numbers from me.
Also gral. Roman allowed me to say that I'm coming from his part, so veterans I'll meet to be more open for interviews.

As soon as I'll take interviews with veterans, I'll contact the administrators of this site so the memoirs can be shared on the site.

Thank you again for support!

Posted by: Victor July 09, 2007 04:52 pm

Great! Wasn't gen. Roman willing to share his memories also?

Posted by: 21 inf July 09, 2007 06:10 pm

Gral. Roman is too "young" to be a ww2 participant as soldier.
He is "only" 72 years old

He recomended me to speak with veterans outside Oradea, cos he motivated that those from Oradea were not on the front line, they were mobilised usually on the spot, on the factories.

He also promised to look for memoires published in Oradea, he said he will give them to me if he will find something.

Posted by: 21 inf July 12, 2007 04:04 pm

Hello!

The first succes following the phone numbers given by gral. Roman.

I managed to meet a romanian ww2 veteran, Mr. Tucra Aurel, from 3dr Mountain Division. He was seargent, on both eastern and western front.

I also interview another romanian ww2 veteran, seargent Neag Nicolae, from 1st Infantry Division, 93rd Regiment, also from eastern and western front.

I'll contact Victor for sending to him the memoires of these 2 veterans.

Posted by: Victor April 21, 2009 02:19 pm

According to ANVR statistics, tehre are currently around 100000 veterans and 12 Mihai VIteazul Order holders still among us. I renew my call from the first post of the topic.

Posted by: 21 inf April 21, 2009 03:38 pm

If some one is from Bihor county and want to contribute, I can provide the phone numbers of some contact persons with ww2 veterans.

Posted by: MMM April 22, 2009 12:18 pm

From that hundred thousand of veterans

, how many do you think really fought on the first line? No disregard, but I knew two old guys (one of them passed away at the beginning of this year) who were veterans, but their only contribution was to dig trenches when the Soviet troops were approaching; one of them (the surviver) was even proud of the fact that he ran away in august (I guess immediately after the beginning of the offensive) and got rid of the uniform - from what he told me (not very reliable, though...) he didn't even have a rifle, just a shovel!
Oh, I forgot to add, I live in the north of Botoşani county, just a few km. south of the border!
I mean, the real veterans, who fought and were sometimes in prison camps etc., are extremely rare today! Those must be found and cherished, respected etc.
IMO, at least...

Posted by: 21 inf April 22, 2009 02:31 pm

I interview 3 veterans, all of them were involved in fightings. Of course not all veterans who are living today fought in the first line, but this happens to other countries, too.

Posted by: MMM April 22, 2009 04:14 pm

I didn't actually want to interview anybody, but those I wrote about were just some neighbours I helped to get a free Romtelecom phone-line. There are many "leeches" among the veterans - I guess not only in Romania...