Panther is one of two major strategic defense areas that the German army began building in winter 1941-42. The first assault of Panther failed – the Red army suffered heavily and retreated. By July 1944 the Northwestern part of the Eastern Wall was crushed.

In late February 1944 in Sebezhsky district of the Pskov region that borders Belorussia, near Alexandrovo village, units of the First attack army of the 2nd Baltic front attempted to take straight off one of the most fortified areas of German defense. As a result, several divisions were completely destroyed. The dead got buried by local people, and many bodies were not buried till several months later: the bodies were dragged with hooks to trenches and small holes and covered with dirt.

The documents of the dead were sent to military registration and enlistment offices at the place of battles. Gennady Vladimirovich Korolkov, deputy commander of Pskov search non-governmental organization, shared with me that he managed to find alive a military commissar who once told him that in the middle of 1944 their registration and enlistment office received a secret order to destroy all documents of soldiers that were killed. In this way the state managed to save hundreds millions rubles on death benefits and pensions. In a country engaged in war, in conditions of mass political terror the social status of families of those missing was about the same as one of political prisoners’ relatives.

Many soldiers that died a death of the brave are still considered missing.

In USSR the official status was given to search movement over thirty years ago. Nowadays, when ideological component of military enthusiasts is not strong any more, the organization core is made of professionals. As a rule, they are retired military men. They collect the ‘iron’ and record history. If remains of Soviet soldiers are found in a search zone, these professionals report this to military patriotic youth organizations. During the period of traditional Memory Watch (end of April to early May) dead soldiers are reburied with a special ceremonial on Victory Day!

KD