Vaslui 23.8.1944

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

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: Red Storm in Romania

Obviously the author of the diary was captured, most likely by the Soviets.

This post has been edited by Carol I on September 13, 2005 06:20 am

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It is a private unpublished family every day diary of 25 years and it has sometimes, like flash backs, marginal notes about war experiences and about the youth of the author.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

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 here for example.

I think jivana has a German soldier in mind, not a Romanian one.

I see. But he still could have run away from captivity, before being transferred to the Soviet Union.

@ Victor & @ Carol I:

No, my question refered 100% to a Romanian soldier.

The 11th Infantry Division and the 5th Cavalry Division were in the area north of Vaslui.

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"?

Doesn't sound like a Romanian soldier at all, unless he was member of an ethnic minority and Romanian was not his native language.

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.

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?

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

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

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 Targul Frumos Battle May 1944 for some details.