potter's field - the ancient name of the mass graves in Russia.The reasons for their appearance there were different: plagues, fires, but most often they appeared after large-scale battles.
Fraternal burial Peter times
Peter I the day after winning the Battle of Poltava ordered to dig mass graves for the two officers and soldiers of the Russian army, to die for the faith, Tsar and Fatherland.It happened in 1709, June 28.Memorial service, the participants of the funeral ceremony with full military honors fallen soldiers betrayed the land, there were 1345 people.Losses Swedes were much more significant - 11 thousand.Cross (according to legend) personally established by Peter the Great, he stood until 1828, crowning the two graves.The text on it reads: "Warriors of the pious, piety is crowned with blood, the summer of the incarnation of God's Word-1709 June 27 days."Then, in 1909, it was built a beautiful memorial.Thus it was founded the modern tradition of burying the soldiers who died for Russia.
Mass graves of the twentieth century
Army all the countries taking part in military conflicts, faced with the same problem.After major battles winner had to bury the dead soldiers: and your and enemy.Losses sometimes reach many thousands of numbers, and each soldier to dig his grave is often not possible, because the troops were new approaches.We went on the offensive if they ever made a maneuver - not enough time.In most cases, they dug graves.So it was during the Russian-Turkish wars, and later - in the First World.But most of all mass graves appeared during the Great Patriotic War.The soldiers were killed at the front and rear died in hospitals.Thousands of residents of besieged Leningrad faded away, and their place of burial became the city cemetery.Most people fell on Piskarevskoe where to approximate data on mass graves took half a million residents.No accurate count led, not before it.Also buried victims and massacres perpetrated by the occupiers.In many towns and villages, tens of thousands of people were burned, hanged, shot.After the liberation of the mass graves were opened, produce identification, but in most cases the victims were buried in new graves.
Eternal memory
Sorrowful Hills has all the cities, which swept a fiery wheel of war, and in many places where it has not reached, but hospitals where they worked.People carry them flowers, and poets compose poems.Olga Bergholz wrote: "Their noble names we can not mention here ...."Vladimir Vysotsky sang: "On the mass graves do not put crosses ...".And so it was.And the names remained unknown, and began to read the burial of victims recently.Paradoxical as it may sound, the inhabitants of the "eternal state apartments" monuments were lucky.Many of the dead lie in obscure ravines and under anonymous skyscrapers with no modern man talking numbers.For him go and go, and no one even knows what was here once in 1942 or 1943 trench in which private or sergeant of the Red Army, whose name is unknown, took his last fight.But this is someone's grandfather or great-grandfather ...
