Graves of Soviet soldiers neglected and desecrated in Europe

It is true that the sister of the brave Soviet soldier is lucky to learn where her brother was buried. Unfortunately, relatives of about 200 other soldiers buried in the same communal grave together with Vladimir Mamzurin probably have no notion where their fathers, sons and brothers were buried during WWII. Who were they? Usually, lists of people buried at cemeteries were kept in churches where the burial service was read over them. The priest at the church of the Kistelek cemetery would not let the Russian woman see the lists of the Soviet soldiers buried at the cemetery during WWII. But some day he still yielded to Maria’s persuasion and showed her the lists. The woman wrote down some of the names she could remember from the list. Later, she engraved the names together with the brother’s name on the grave plate.

Maria would not stop after her first visit to Hungary and promised to her mother that she would keep visiting Vladimir’s grave every year in May till she is alive herself. Frontier officers know the old Russian lady very well and respect the motives of her regular visits. They say she is the only Russian who still visits the abandoned communal graves of Soviet soldiers in Hungary.

Budapest is one of the most beautiful European cities. Royal castles stand safe there since the Middle Ages. Allied Fascist troops left the Hungarian capital undamaged during the war, and Soviet troops either did not bomb it in revenge for Hungary’s support of the Nazi regime. But there is no hope that someone in Hungary is grateful to Russians for that. Today, Hungarians prefer not to recollect WWII when the country supported Fascists.

When Soviet troops were withdrawn from East-European countries, communal graves of Soviet soldiers buried there during the war turned out neglected. That was the reason why many of those cemeteries were liquidated. That was the severe rule dictated by business as land costs too much in Europe. In the course of time relatives of the soldiers buried abroad also died and could not stand up against liquidation of cemeteries where their relatives were buried.

In 1995, Russia concluded a number of intergovernmental agreements with other countries as concerning the new status of martial burial places. It means that people from the countries that used to be enemies of the Soviet Union during WWII – Germans, Italians, Japanese and Hungarians – could come to Russia to visit the graves located on the Russian territory where their relatives were buried during the war. Russia extends a warm welcome to guests from abroad wishing to visit foreign martial burial places located on the Russian territory.

But at the same time, it seems that cemeteries of Soviet soldiers who won WWII are absolutely neglected in Europe and there is no one who could take care of them. Russian organizations located abroad make some attempts to keep graves of Soviet soldiers abroad in a proper condition. But unfortunately, there are still no accurate lists saying who and where was buried during the war.

The old woman tells that in the Soviet epoch the whole of her family could afford a visit to Vladimir’s grave in Hungary. Today, Maria’s pension is hardly enough for her traditional every year pilgrimage. She says that once right after perestroika she had to spend nights at railway stations and ate what she could find on her way to the brother’s grave. When she finally got to the settlement where Vladimir was buried she had a heart attack and feared that she might die right at the cemetery.

Every year it is getting very difficult for the old woman to travel to Hungary to see the brother’s grave. But she knows perfectly well that neglected graves are usually razed to the ground, and she would not like Vladimir’s grave be destroyed.

Soviet Union Hero Pilot Grigory Cherkashin says that together with his brother-soldiers he buried eight pilots killed during the war in Hungary . He remembers the place near the city of Vesprem close to the Balaton Lake perfectly well. Unfortunately, when he visited the place recently he could not find the graves. It turned out that the graves were liquidated as they were absolutely neglected and nobody needed them.

Maria Volkova tells that once she called a high-ranking official to let him know what was going on with Russian cemeteries located in Europe. She also wanted him to help her find some money for her regular visits to the brother’s grave in Hungary. But the official could not understand why the woman wanted to go abroad to visit exactly the soldier’s grave. Instead, he recommended her to go and see the Unknown Soldier’s grave near the Kremlin wall and imagine she was near her brother’s grave.

The woman got indignant at the official’s words as the latter did not understand the importance of her regular visits to the Hungarian martial cemetery. Maria was deeply offended and decided to send a telegram to the president to tell about her problem. She wrote: “My brother died when defending the native land. Why are his remains and remains of other soldiers killed during the war so neglected? I know that if I give up my visits to the cemetery my brother’s grave will be razed to the ground.” She did not hope to receive any response from the president. Maria was greatly surprised when in a couple of days some officials came and gave her money for a visit to Hungary.

Some people think it is strange that the old woman every year visits her brother’s grave abroad. They think there must be some hidden motive of her doings.