the german Posted 21 September , 2003 Share Posted 21 September , 2003 Hi, I would like to announce, that the german association Historiker 1914 - 18 e.V. is working on a "catalogue" regarding the records of the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge. This might be of interest for those forum members, who are doing research on german fallen ww1 soldiers and are able to read german. The lists in PDF-form contain corrections and supplements to the VDK data. Momentary, only the letters A - H of the german cemetery Langemark are available, but the catalogue will surely grow in the future! Direct link: News Historiker 14 - 18 e.V. Thank you! Hinrich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 21 September , 2003 Share Posted 21 September , 2003 Thanks for the link, Hinrich. I've been on the website, but I can't find which button to click to access the A-H pdf files with the corrections. Please can you tell me how to access these records? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the german Posted 21 September , 2003 Author Share Posted 21 September , 2003 Hello, you have to choose the word "Langemark" on the photo. When we have additional informations for "Menen" and "Sonstige= others", these parts of the photo will be linkable, too. Hinrich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 21 September , 2003 Share Posted 21 September , 2003 That's great. Thanks What is the correct translation to working out the data... geburt datum = date of birth geburt ort = place of birth tod datum = date of death tod ort = place of death etc Would you mind explaining what the rest are, please? This is really useful. Are you involved with this project? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Hussar Posted 21 September , 2003 Share Posted 21 September , 2003 Teapots, Vermisst Datum = Date Missing Vermisst Org = Place Missing Dienstgrad = Rank Truppenteil = Unit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pete Wood Posted 21 September , 2003 Share Posted 21 September , 2003 vielen Dank, Hussar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the german Posted 21 September , 2003 Author Share Posted 21 September , 2003 Hussar, thanks for your help. Teapots, yes, to be honest it was my idea to create such a catalogue and I put most of the work on it. It is a total autonomous project of our association, without any support of the VDK. As always, they don`t care and I don`t think they will in the future. With our work on the records, we hope to help people who are researching german fallen soldiers. In our opinion, someone in Germany should start such a project and do something, instead of always just talk about it. The explanations to the sources and abbreviations are in the file "Anhang". The numbers in the cornered clamps show exactly, wich source was used. You find them also back in the lists. Example: [1/428] means, this information was found in the book Ehrenmal des preußischen Offizier-Korps/ page 428 Do you think, a translation of the abbreviations in english would be useful? I haven`t thought about this yet. Hinrich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AOK4 Posted 21 September , 2003 Share Posted 21 September , 2003 Hello, I have very good contacts with the VdK and I know they do care, I am working on lists of cemeteries in Flanders and will give them them possible corrections. I also know they will have a look at the corrections and will be implementing these once they have time and resources to do this. It is very easy to critisize the VdK but they do have an enormous task in the East for the moment, trying to preserve the WW2 graves there. They don't forget the WW1 casualties as was clearly shown at the burial of the German soldiers in June this year, however they can't use all their resources for this exactly because of the difficulties in the East (grave robbers, vandalism etc)... Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the german Posted 21 September , 2003 Author Share Posted 21 September , 2003 Jan, I am sorry. I do not want to bring up a discussion about the VDK. Please remember, the basic reason of this thread was just to tell, that we are working on a new project. Our intention is not to work against the VDK and we stay in touch with them, too. You are right, the VDK does great work in the east and I know about your good contacts. May be, we can agree, that everyone of us has his own opinion and experiences. Please go on giving them your informations and corrections. It will help to improve the knowledge and data about german fallen soldiers - just as the new lists of the Historiker 1914 - 18 do. If you have any additional informations and want to work with us, please feel free to contact me. Hinrich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedley Malloch Posted 21 September , 2003 Share Posted 21 September , 2003 I visited a few German cemeteries in the Vosges over the summer. I was favourably impressed by the VdK. They seem to have firmly positioned themselves in the peace segment of the memory 'industry' (apologies for using that word, but I cannot think of a better one). One could also see a big effort being made to involve young people in their work. Also lots of information sheets, some in three languages - and post-cards for visitors to take away. Food for thought? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garde Grenadier Posted 22 September , 2003 Share Posted 22 September , 2003 The Volksbund Kriegsgräberfürsorge certainly has quite a lot on its plate with its attempts to save what can be saved in the East - what with grave-robbers, medal-sellers and stupid tourists buying (if there were no market, nobody would bother). I found the VDK most helpful and their website is continuously improved. I found that out on my recent check-ups on various fallen German soldiers, several fates and mysteries could now be solved which last year was not yet possible as the informations were not available yet. Yes, they do want waterproof facts and are not inclined to rely on hear-say, which is historically correct. If there is another association working not against the VDK, but working to preserve otherwise lost knowledge - that is perfectly alright and to be welcomed. What I always found lacking is the mentioning of the Regiment on the grave-stones or crosses. The British white headstones all have coat-of-arms and rank and regiment etc. That makes it much easier to identify soldiers. Especially if you e.g. have two people with the same name fallen on the same date. I just came across two Anton Kurz +09.06.1918. If one had knowledge of which regiment etc. they belonged too it would be easier to identify them. Best wishes Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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