Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Thank you for the confirmation, Andrei. I am learning a lot as this project unfolds. For example, that the captured German documents formerly held in the Osobyi Archiv in Moscow have all been moved to the Ministry of Defense Archive in Podolsk (TsAMO). The German documents captured by the Red Army front units as they advanced through Russia and the eastern European countries 1943-45 were always at TsAMO, while those stored at the Osobyi Archiv were mainly non-military documents captured in Berlin in May 1945. This helps explain why the Heeresgruppe Mitte collection is so large - it was overrun in June/July 1944 before the Germans could burn everything. I do not think there will be as much material for the H.Gr.Nord and H.Gr. Süd areas.

Thanks again for bringing this collection and its release to our attention.

L.

Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Yes, it is stated that the whole collection of German documents held in TsAMO would be digitised by 2018

Will all of the documents detailing soviet losses in air combat also be digitised...? That we may have a soviet equivalent to Chorley's Bomber Command Losses, Frank's Fighter Command Losses and Hey & Bishop's 8th and 9th AAF Losses....?
Some people (not me of course...) would give their eye teeth for that...

Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Larry, regarding TzaMO their personnel archives were and continue to
be near St Petersburg . I was wondering why the other were moved to Podolsk
rather centralised. As far as I am concerned I firmly believe that the personnel
archives won't be integrated into those and will continue to be subject to
charges for those seeking personnel info.

Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Researcher111 -

I think we are talking about two different archives. The one you referred to is probably for Soviet/Russian personnel records. The Osobyi Archiv ("Special Archive") in Moscow held documents from the non-military ministries, most of these documents being found in Berlin in May-June 1945.

http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffma...ves%20Page.htm

I am almost certain I read recently that these records had been moved to Podolsk, but I could be wrong. The controversial British historian, David Irving, was the first or one of the first foreigners to be allowed entry to this archive. It was in the mid-1990's and the Osobyi Archiv held the long-missing final volume of the Josef Göbbels diaries. Irving translated it and used it for his 1996 book on Goebbels:

http://www.amazon.com/Goebbels-Maste.../dp/1872197132

L.

Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Just to add to Larry and Andrei's comments below

There are a few Luftwaffe orientated items in the OKH folder

Findbuch 12451 - OKH - Akte 36. Richtlinien für die Zusammenarbeit Heer - Luftwaffe auf G...
Akte 36. Richtlinien für die Zusammenarbeit Heer - Luftwaffe auf Grund der Erfahrungen im polnis... - Guidelines for Cooperation army - Air Force based on experience in the Polish campaign.

Findbuch 12451 - OKH - Akte 45. Erfahrungsberichte, Weisungen und Richtlinien des OKH für...
Akte 45. Erfahrungsberichte, Weisungen und Richtlinien des OKH für die Luftwaffe, die Flak-Artil... - Advice, instructions and guidelines of the OKH for the Air Force, the anti-aircraft artillery and Aufklärungs squadrons in terms of cooperation with the army

Findbuch 12451 - OKH - Akte 837. Bezirke für Luftbildaufnahme (Bialystok-Grodno-Belsk-Lom.. - Districts for aerial photography (Bialystok-Grodno-Belsk-Lomzha-Ostrolenka)

Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Gentlemen,

A quick suggestion. Given that a few of us have a clear interest in the material, why don't we create a deailed list of the contents of the Luftwaffe-related documents in this collection and post it in a pinned thread? This should be a quick job for several people and its utility will only increase over time, as the Russian digitisation project progresses. I will, of course, make a full contribution.

Regards,

Paul

Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Good idea!

The above attached thread with working links will be reasonable solution.

Some documents of LF4 and I FLak Korps for August 1942 - May 1944 and operational files of LF2 for Taifun operation are to follow. They are contained in "inventory 500" of trophy documents in TsAMO as well.

Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Hello Nikita,

I am glad that you agree!

I think a 'cleaned up' thread with just the information about these documents might be more useful, but I will defer to the judgment of the moderators on this issue.

Thank you for providing information about the documents due to be digitised in the future. Do you know this because you have contacted the staff involved in this project, or because you have previously accessed the documents yourself at TsAMO? I ask just in case you know any details regarding the usefulness of these documents, besides the general topic that they cover.

Regards,

Paul

Re: German docs in TSAMO
 

Paul,

There was a so-called "open" inventory 500 with trophy documents, translated into Russian. The batch included around thousand documents and they were available to the researchers at least for past ten years. It constituted a mixture of documents including operational, political, economic and other stuff captured within different periods of war. Rather little of them related to Luftwaffe to different extent.
Several titles that I mentioned above were included in this inventory, of them I ordered and worked with two documents of LF 4, that contained several directions on German-Romanian cooperation and responsibilities division in Stalingrad sector for October-November 1942.

If they fulfil the idea of digitising all trophy documents in "inventory 500" I assume those documents will sooner or later appear in the net in originals. However, there are a handful of trophy docs in other inventories as well (they were used in practical purposes thoughout the war) and I'am not sure they are subjected to the process of digitising.