Red Army Soldiers from Kalmykia in the Battles for Belarus: a Historical and Statistical Study

Abstract

Introduction. The article is devoted to the Red Army soldiers from Kalmykia who died, went missing, died and/or were awarded in the battles for the defense of Belarus in 1941 and its liberation in 1943–1944, as well as historical and statistical research of their collective portrait. Materials and methods. When writing the article, a complex of various general scientific and special methods was used, including historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-typological, historical-systemic, and statistical methods. The materials for the work were the office documentation of the military units of the Red Army (stored in the electronic data banks Memorial, Feat of the People and Memory of the People), primarily reports on losses and award documents. Results. During the research, a database of Red Army servicemen from the Kalmyk ASSR who died, went missing, died of wounds and/or were awarded in the battles for Belarus in the summer of 1941 and in September 1943 – September 1944 was compiled on the basis of various sources. Following this, an analysis of their collective portrait was carried out in such categories as place and year of birth, place of conscription, time and place of death, place of service, time and number of awards. Conclusions. The analysis shows that the Red Army soldiers from Kalmykia actively participated in the battles for the defense of Belarus in the summer of 1941 and its liberation in 1943–1944. At the same time, the losses in the defensive battles of 1941 (among which the absolute majority are captured) exceed the losses in the offensive battles of 1943–1944. At the same time, an analysis of losses and awards in 1944 shows that the proportion of Kalmyks by the beginning of the strategic operation Bagration had noticeably decreased due to the mass removal of Kalmyks and their deportation to the Shiroklag or places of special settlements.