The memorial books of rostov oblast as a historical source on the participation of kalmyks in the great patriotic war
Abstract
The article analyses the memorial books of the Great Patriotic War veterans conscripted in Rostov Oblast’ — as a source on the history of the participation of Kalmyks in the war of 1941–1945. By the beginning of the war, over 9 000 Kalmyks — most of them descendants of Kalmyk Cossacks who had long been part of the Don Host and viewed military service as an honorable duty — resided in the territory of Rostov Oblast’. Most of them resided in Kalmyk District.
Unfortunately, the work conducted by the compilers of the early books — “Memorial Books of the Fallen” (residents of Rostov Oblast’) — should be characterized as quite unsuccessful and when it comes to the Don Kalmyks — totally incomplete. Residents of Rostov Oblast’ are grouped by the districts (by their regional military commissariats, to be precise) they were conscripted from but there is no data about a draftee’s places of birth and residence. One can guess that some certain resident of Rostov Oblast’ was an ethnic Kalmyk only by his/her personal, patronymic or family name, often misspelled and thus distorted. Moreover, the mentioned memorial books list only a few hundred Don Kalmyks.
The later attempts made by compilers of Rostov Oblast’ memorial books, including Volume 1 of the book series “Soldiers of Victory”, should be referred to as more successful. Besides, a new project is being successfully implemented in some districts of the region — compilation of district memorial books which are much more precise and informative, including the aspect of Kalmyk names. Still, the complete and print ready book of Zimovnikovsky District containing data about draftees of the former Kalmyk District — has not yet been published.
In view of the aforementioned, it can be concluded that the task of memorialization of the Kalmyks who resided in Rostov Oblast’ and took part in the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945) has not been fully completed to date.
About the Author
U. Ochirov
Kalmyk Scientific Center of the RAS (Elista, Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Ph.D. in History (Doctor of Historical Sciences), Leading Research Associate, Department of History
References
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Review
For citations:
Ochirov U. The memorial books of rostov oblast as a historical source on the participation of kalmyks in the great patriotic war. Mongolian Studies. 2016;8(2):17-25. (In Russ.)
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