[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Military records

[Richard Benert]

Dana,

The first question is easily answered, sort of.  As of 1874, draft age 
was set at 20.  Only sons or chief breadwinners were to be exempted.  
During WW I, as casualties mounted, the draft age was lowered a bit, but 
I can't give you details on when and how much.  Term of service as of 
1874 was 6 years, followed by 9 in reserves.  Having an elementary 
education reduced the 6 to 4. This amounted to little more than knowing 
Russian, so German recruits had an inducement to learn Russian.

Question 2:  I doubt it.  Except for volunteers of a certain type who 
could select a location nearer home.

Q. 3: Probably.  And certainly during WW I, unless incapacitated.

Q 4-6:  I have no idea.

Q 7:  Can you give a date for when the 3 sons were verschleppt? The term 
applies to any sort of forced removal or abduction, but the Red Army did 
much of its recruiting in brutal fashion, especially during the Civil 
War period, so their mother may have been referring to that terrible 
moment.

Otherwise, you might check out this link: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_in_Russia


Dick Benert


On 1/29/2017 12:06 PM, Dana Parker wrote:
> Hello all,
>
> I have some related research questions about the Russian military.
>
> 1.   At what age were young men usually conscripted before 1900?   (All my grandmother knew was that soldiers came to her father's village, and he was taken away with some other young men to be in the army.)
>
> 2.   Were their units typically organized geographically?   If so, at what level?   Platoon, brigade, regiment, etc.
>
> 3.   If a soldier was sent home for injury, was he required to return after recovering?
>
> 4.   Are there lists of deserters?
>
> 5.   What were consequences for the family of a deserter?
>
> 6.   Are there special indexes of soldiers who were killed during WWII?   Maybe a memorial site that does not require knowledge of the regiment.   (As of 1949, my grandmother's cousin still did not know the fates of her 3 children who had been in the Red Army).
>
> 7.   What exactly does "verschleppt" mean in English?   This is what my grandmother's cousin said about her missing children:  drei kinder verschleppt.   Is that how you normally describe someone who has been conscripted, or does it mean something worse?   This was in her EWZ application.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Dana Parker
>
>> On Jan 29, 2017, at 11:21 AM, Richard J Flanagan <rflanagan1 at videotron.ca> wrote:
>>
>> Eric,
>>
>>    I have tried to do a similar search but with little success.  There
>> is a military archive in Moscow but their records appear not to be
>> searchable and are definitely not on line.  I arranged to have someone write
>> to them in Russian enquiring about specific family members and with rough
>> dates but their response was that they needed an exact regimental name and
>> specific dates.
>>
>>    We might have to wait until Russian military records become
>> available on-line.
>>
>>    Germans in Volhynia arrived after 1863 - mainly from Russian Poland
>> - and they came without any guarantees of any sort for an exemption from
>> military service.   Many left after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War
>> in 1904 and especially those who were currently in the military or had
>> already served.  Desertion was extremely common for Jewish and German
>> families.  The eldest son in a family was usually exempt.
>>
>>    Richard
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Ger-Poland-Volhynia [mailto:ger-poland-volhynia-bounces at sggee.org] On
>> Behalf Of Eric Arnold
>> Sent: 29 January, 2017 11:37 AM
>> To: ger-poland-volhynia at sggee.org
>> Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Military records
>>
>> When we're Germans in volhynia required to join the military? Does anyone
>> know where to look for records of service for Germans severing the the
>> Russian military? My 2nd great grandfather julius was artillery and his
>> brother was an army officer. Julius would have served between 1897 and 1903
>> and his brother a little later. His brother theodor deserted but I don't
>> know anything about Julius.
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