Since 2019, the linguists of the Vyatka State University have been implementing the project "The Unknown History of the Feat of the Soviet Soldiers during the Great Patriotic War (Based on Materials from German Front-line Documents)".
More than 70 students, under the guidance of experienced teachers, translate German-language archival front-line documents, including combat reports, front-line reports written in Wehrmacht units.
It all started with the fact that Vitaly Komlev, the head of the Veteran search team of the Kirov Regional Public Youth Search Organization "Dolg", and the Bridgehead Museum and Exhibition Complex addressed the Department of Linguistics and Translation of Vyatka State University with a request to help translate front-line documents from German into Russian.
Historical documents are devoted to the Demyansk offensive operation carried out by the troops of the North-Western Front of the Red Army in the area of the village of Demyansk, Novgorod Region. The combatants were units formed in the Kirov region.
In 2022, linguistic students translated 302 pages, and in total, over 1,200 pages of German documents during the existence of the project. Search works are carried out on the basis of the translated materials. Largely thanks to the students of Vyatka State University, the remains and personal belongings of 7 dead soldiers were found in the area of the Divin Mokh swamp, Demyansky district, Novgorod region.
Recently, the All-Russian search organization "Transcendental Front" from the Republic of Bashkortostan has contacted teachers and students-translators. They appreciated the successful experience of cooperation between the Kirov search engines and Vyatka State University linguists and asked for help with the translation of German-language front-line documents on military operations on the Caucasian front. About 500 documents have already been sent for work.
Translated by Artemy Sizov
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