Digging in the "Valley of Death" - Exhumation of WWII soldiers in the Mjasnoi Bor swamps (Leningrad)

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Russian volunteer diggers explore the so called "Valley of Death" battlefield around Mjasnoi Bor, in the Volshov swamps south of St Petersburg, in order to find and exhume the bodies of Soviet and German soldiers killed in battle in 1942. The recovery of several bodies and named personnal items is shown in the video.
"Only the birds sing for these fallen soldiers in the quiet woods, and the wind whispers their names at night...."
A Crocodile Tear Productions documentary.
For more information about battlefield archaeology: battlefieldarchaeology.blogspo...
Russische Freiwilligen suchen gefallene Soldaten an der Schlachtfeld von Mjasnoi Bor, neben Leningrad und der Wolchow.
Des "creuseurs blancs" russes recherchent les corps de soldats portés disparus près du village de Mjasnoj Bor, région du Volshow, St Petersbourg, en 2014.
Pour plus de détails sur la recherche de soldats portés disparus: findthemia.blogspot.com/
battlefield archaeology - metal detecting - missing in action - identification tag - forensic - exploration - 1939 -1945 - siege of Petrograd - siege of Leningrad - helmets - shrapnel - KIA - MIA - 1943 -helmets - battlefield graves - killed in action - missing in action - World War II - outdoors - survival - adventure - extreme sports - camping - tents - survivalists - Volshow swamps - easter front - Red Army - German army - wehrmacht - militaria collection - WWII - 1941 - 1942 - identification tags - DNA - forensic medicine - swamps - blue clay - white diggers - unexploded ordnance - UXO - grenades - shells - ammunition - gas masks - miliaria collection - military history - white diggers - black diggers - CCCP - Soviet Union - Eastern Front -

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29 мар 2024

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Комментарии : 150

@NedkaRokonokova Месяц назад

Perhaps you were thinking of this, or not. When you made your camp, lived, ate, laughed, and sang so close (or on top) of the fallen, they were listening to you. The dead can feel life just as you can feel death. When your digger explained how she could tell the difference between roots, metal, and bone, she explained what roots and metal sounded like, but she said bone you feel in your heart. If you ever see elephants come to the remains of an elephant, the pick the bones up, they gently press their feet to the skulls; they are paying their respects to their dead. We do the same when we discover bones, we feel that immediate connection that this was a fellow human being (Russian, German, or a host of other ethnicities). You've done well to bring life into that place of killing. Please keep up the good work.

@brianbernstein7754 3 месяца назад

Thanks for this. I greatly admire the Russian diggers willingness to try and recover human remains from a swamp. It’s hard to imagine more difficult fighting conditions for the Russians and Germans. Absolute hell.

@user-do3fb8op5x 3 месяца назад

Не руских, советских бойцов

@pmccoy8924 3 месяца назад

@@user-do3fb8op5x Да, казах, киргиз, таджик, узбек, туркмен, грузин, эстонец и так далее.

@warwarneverchanges4937 3 месяца назад

Spanish lost about 4000 Soviet about 14000 in the area in just 3 days of battle not including casualties

@toron8418 3 месяца назад

My grandmother lost her first cousin somewhere in the wilderness of Croatia, where he fought with the partisans against the Germans. She passed away without ever knowing what happened to him, and she carried a heavy sadness whenever she spoke about him. Every 1st of November, when we mourn the dead, she would take a flower to the family grave, yet she never discovered where he died or where he is buried. As a new generation, it's easier for us to only have the memory of that man. But for the older generation, this must be a lingering pain.

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

This is an updated and improved version of my classic video "Valley of Death - exhumation of missing in action WWII soldiers at Mjasnoj Bor"

@purrroudbeauty 3 месяца назад

Thank you!

@JohnnyCash-uw2dk 3 месяца назад

Hello, my name is Kevin . I have watched all of your videos and I am so interested in participating in one of these exhumations. I am mid sixties and retired, living in Oklahoma USA . Is it possible for me to be able to work with you and your team ? I am self sufficient financially and would donate money and my time for this endeavor. I see this as one of the most important things that we can accomplish! Please advise . Kevin

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

@@JohnnyCash-uw2dk Hi. Sorry, but I dont organize trips with other people, one of my points is to be in immersion with the locals. With covid and the war in Ukraine, I myself have no longer been to Russia since 2019.

@JohnnyCash-uw2dk 3 месяца назад

Thank you for your reply ! Hopefully in the future I’ll be able to pursue this thru some other means . I really enjoy and appreciate your work!!!!

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

@@JohnnyCash-uw2dk When you see videos like this made by the local Russians/Ukranians/Estonians, etc, try reacing out to them and see if it is possible to join them. Be carefull of scams, people asking for money to be able to dig with them, etc.

@dsbmwhacker 3 месяца назад

The thought of living and fighting in such terrain is beyond belief. What a terrible experience it must have been.😢

@johnfitzgerald6093 3 месяца назад

Greetings from Belfast. Bless the young men and women who participate in this very important and demanding work.

@richardendler 3 месяца назад

very interesting video, it is amazing to know that there is still people trying to recover the soldiers that went missing, my grandfather might be resting somewhere in those swamps. panzergrenadier and schlossergehilfe Alfred Alfons Endler born in Wiatka(russia 1916) and fought for the germans, he received the Iron Cross 2nd class 25/7/1943 and went missing a day later somewhere in the Lunewo/Bolchoff area, my grandmother received some vague info about his dissapearance in the 60's from the german red cross stating he either died in battle or on the way to the soviet gulags(the letter seems more like a template). i still have hope he will be found someday

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

I have seen those Red Cross letters, they are indeed a template.... but what else could they send when they simply had no info?

@squidious1662 3 месяца назад

I really enjoy these videos. They are very informative and help me to understand the hardships of the unfortunate souls caught up in the hellfire.

@abholzer652 3 месяца назад

Its a Shame. This Soldier fought for his Country and gave his Live. And nobody searched for him. Nobody cares. And nobody buried him. He lies at the Place he died. And Mother Nature was the only who covered him.😢

@nexaentertainment2764 2 месяца назад

I watched this video and it was such melancholy. It has been like 80 years since the war when it was filmed, and yet we (humans) are still dealing with the aftermath. Sure most people don't even think about it anymore, but the remnants and scars are still there. And wonderful people such as these work to provide at least a final dignity to these boys and men :( War is awful, so much wasted life for a handful of people's egos.

@paulbradford8240 3 месяца назад

History beneath your feet! Well done Jean-Loup to you and the group. I think it admirable that people go out working to find the dead in those conditions.

@tessaelvan5149 3 месяца назад

it looks very hard for the team to do their job so i try to imagine how many soldiers on both sides trying just to survive whilst being bombed and shot at in those conditions. thank you

@dtaylor10chuckufarle 3 месяца назад

Godspeed, and God bless you in this work, Jean Loup.

@s0nnyburnett 3 месяца назад

Don't think you could find any girls here in the US to do this type of work looking for their long lost countrymen.

@copicsnizch 3 месяца назад

there are? and the war was never fought in US soil...

@myriamrodriguez7650 3 месяца назад

@@copicsnizchNo les interesa buscar a sus compatriotas en Europa.

@lonewolftech 2 месяца назад

@@copicsnizchthere have been multiple wars fought on American soil. How can you be that brainless? The American revolution, the civil war, the war of 1812, the Mexican American wars, the Indian wars etc…..

@kissthepickkitywitch8112 2 месяца назад

Well, considering 99% of WWII wasn’t on US soil. You’re probably right. 🤷🏻‍♀️

@mackdog3270 3 месяца назад

Great video, I enjoyed the singing. The subject of the video is always a sad one, no matter who's found. That's how it goes.

@ihavenoname3014 3 месяца назад

4:52 - That casual toss of a 70 year old grenade is mind boggling.

@s0nnyburnett 3 месяца назад

pucker factor high

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

Watch the other video, "The Stalingrad digging camp"

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

Watch the video The Stalingrad digging camp

@prototyp3strik3r 3 месяца назад

another very important documentation of world war two´s history. Thank you!

@ErnaldtheSaxon 3 месяца назад

This kind of search should have been carried out many years ago by the Soviet authorities, especially for the Red army casualties. Just shows you what Communists think of their war dead, preferring instead to erect memorials glorifying Stalin or their evil ideology.

@sommebuddy 3 месяца назад

There are millions still missing, it would take over 300 years, even if they found 10,000 remains per year, no country could accomplish this, especially one decimated after the war.. There are also hundreds of thousands of Germans missing in the battlefield, to attribute the "erecting of Stalin monuments" as a reason they are still lost is not only uneducated, it is childish.

@henrypollock7987 3 месяца назад

Should look into what happened to the ones that survived but lost limbs or captured or just happened to see the living standard the Germans had making Stalin suss

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

According to the Russians, this specific battlefield had been ploughed after the war in oder to destroy/damage the bodies and discourage families from coming to find them.

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

The Germans are missing because the Soviet regime actively destroyed German cemeteries, made no effort to record German dead, and made no effort to bury its own dead in marked graves.

@aleksandarzoric2452 3 месяца назад

Im not trying to justify Soviets but Eastern front was a different level of Hell by few things: amount of killed on both sides,land area of battles/front itself and terrains like these swamps. But oddly in Yugoslavia was similar with its Partisans...like it was their philosophy. And i didn't know they were destroying body's...you learn something every day,thanks.

@furkanamd8042 3 месяца назад

Good video sir I am from Indian

@ButterBallTheOpossum 3 месяца назад

It reminds me of the Dead Marshes in Lord of the rings. Battles like this and the battle of the Somme are probably what inspired the dead marshes honestly.

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

I am not a fan of Lord of the Rings, but that scene is quite fascinating.

@luislorenzoortiz9885 3 месяца назад

Es muy interesante el trabajo que realizan, un saludo desde Islas Canarias, España

@dalebechtel8904 3 месяца назад

Amazing people. Shows you there are many good Russian people and not full of tyrants. God bless all of you. Thank you for sharing this video. It is very inspiring yet also sad

@myriamrodriguez7650 3 месяца назад

Tiranos hay en USA.

@jrodowens 3 месяца назад

@@myriamrodriguez7650 This person was making an earnest attempt to humanize others across the world. Leave your ugliness somewhere else.

@Useaname 3 месяца назад

Incredible thank you

@randiwedlake846 3 месяца назад

This looks like so much work, but I am grateful that people are doing this work and that you are sharing it with us. It is truly fascinating and also tragically sad. Thank you.

@TheReenactorsGuide 3 месяца назад

Amazing video again.

@peterchapman3740 3 месяца назад

Wow very hit and miss but your doing your best respect

@johnzubil2875 3 месяца назад

That one young woman with the Shup spoke English so well she sounded American.

@s0nnyburnett 3 месяца назад

Her english was good enough but she did not sound American coming from an American.

@kingninewillnotreturnvilla2 3 месяца назад

There is a frag sleve that can be used on the RGD-33 I have 3 of them in my collection because the RGD-33 is a 3 cell pouch worm on the belt

@emilioalcazar-su9vi 3 месяца назад

From Spain,we remember our fallen of the 250 span.division..the heroical Blau división,who fought in all that área in that years

@paulbradford8240 3 месяца назад

My Great Uncle was there, part of that Division. Fortunately he returned to Spain.

@Roller_Ghoster 3 месяца назад

Just wondering if the water is safe to drink given the WW2 deaths in that area even from the sources shown in the video?

@sommebuddy 3 месяца назад

They died almost 80 years ago, I am sure the water is just fine.

@dtaylor10chuckufarle 3 месяца назад

My question as well... "water from a big bomb crater" filtered through cloth. Was it treated further? Did you drink it, Jean Loup??

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

I think for the whole week we only drank water in the form of boiled tea. And yes I had to drink it of course v

@vintage349 3 месяца назад

Слушая эту песню, я надеюсь, что ко всем солдатам придет мир.

@dangercloseusmc6902 3 месяца назад

Another fascinating video, sir. The things you find are helping bring closure to families after 80+ years.

@zubairkhan-1166 3 месяца назад

Hi dear sir , have you ever searched the forest of Burma? Japanese troops invaded here and British Indian army faced them , many of soldiers have been declared missing

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

No, I have never been to the Pacific. I was supposed to go in 2020 and then stupid Covid started.

@CruzSanchezRipa 2 месяца назад

@@CrocodileTear Stupid Co-Vid? Curious expression coming from a doctor. I would very much like to know your point of view about the pandemic, and what the role of forensic experts like you was during such sad period.

@CrocodileTear 2 месяца назад

@@CruzSanchezRipa Covid is a form of natural death so I dont have much to say about it.

@AyoubusMagnus 3 месяца назад

Jean can you put dates on the tapes so we know at which year that was filmed. Thank you

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

What do you mean by "tapes"?

@AyoubusMagnus 3 месяца назад

@@CrocodileTear The videos that you filmed

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

It says it at the start of the video. I didnt include it in the title as I dont feel it is relevant to the theme of the video.

@dtaylor10chuckufarle 3 месяца назад

Original video was from 2014

@AyoubusMagnus 3 месяца назад

@@CrocodileTear Ah now that I checked it again yes that's true sorry Jean but hey you are doing a very good work I hope that the french government compensate you for all your troubles and displacements.

@redr1150r 3 месяца назад

You guys do a good work. Are you going off of old WW2 battle maps ? Ord did so much go on there, that those areas are easy to find ?

@sommebuddy 3 месяца назад

The siege of Leningrad lasted 2.3 years and cost the lives of almost 2 million, I imagine it isn,t hard to find remains.

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

In this case I simply followed the Russians.

@Joemama555 3 месяца назад

i am assuming by the casual handling that the grenades are deemed to be inert after time?

@frankanddanasnyder3272 3 месяца назад

How do they even know where to start looking?

@s0nnyburnett 3 месяца назад

start probin

@jolaynemichaud4377 3 месяца назад

What languages do you speak? It certainly helps you in your investigations to be multilingual. Thank you for the interesting and educational videos.

@CruzSanchezRipa 2 месяца назад

It seems he speaks at least three with a lot of competency: French, English and German. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he were learning more languages.

@joey243win 3 месяца назад

What do they do with the unexploded munitions?

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

Nothing as far as I saw.

@vonravik2012 3 месяца назад

The surname on the knife handle is: “кОПестратов» = «kOPestratov”

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

I saw that, but the "П" could be a baddly written "л". As I said, this research was not done by me, but I assume if the experienced Russian researchers send the knife back to Kalistratov's family, it was because there were no other possible matches.

@burnheretic3950 3 месяца назад

Its kind of interesting to hear all the people saying "wow this fighting must have been hell. Never again. " Do you nor understand there is awful trench to trench fighting going on literally today as you read this in Ukraine? Encourage diplomacy not war.

@ryanclarke2161 3 месяца назад

Hard for the Soviets to search for their dead when they don't even have bread.

@SS08947 3 месяца назад

Western lies, as you well know. Observe they are eating bread with lunch....

@JFB-Haninge 3 месяца назад

👍👍👍👍👍

@alternativeaccount3e 3 месяца назад

Can you tell me what song did they sang at 12:34? It sound interesting

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

I dont know it, but shazam surely can recognize it.

@alternativeaccount3e 3 месяца назад

I tried but shazam didn't recognize it @@CrocodileTear

@CrocodileTearenFrancais-cg9np 3 месяца назад

@@alternativeaccount3e I guess you would have to ask a Russian. As you can see, I didnt subtitle it here, because I also didnt manage to recognize it.

@simanchalmishra7596 3 месяца назад

What about indian soilders,who were fighting on behalf of British? Please reply

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

What is your question about them? They are under the responsibility of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. You can see some of their graves in this video in Egypt: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9-iqcy1hFXU.html

@simanchalmishra7596 3 месяца назад

@@CrocodileTear where were they? Did they got back to country or just like these guys randomly lying here& there? Was they given proper burial according to religion? All these things,as BRITISH were selfish!!

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

@@simanchalmishra7596 Look at the video and see. The British take extremely good care of all the commonwealth war graves, regardless of the country of origin.

@simanchalmishra7596 3 месяца назад

@@CrocodileTear but to be surprisingly no diggers found nothing of INDIAN soilders thing!!😓.. British made proposal fight with them& will grant independence (a fake proposal)..few dumbass leaders believed it& sent them. atleast Germans, Russian,American get the things of their person but Indians won't,even they didn't get respect like others..today people know about only the few countries.ww2 but what about others they didn't get that respect even people doesn't know!!! Classic hippocracy of British..& CHURCHIL.just propagated& erased out entire scrafice..😓..so they ain't nice..

@simanchalmishra7596 3 месяца назад

@@CrocodileTear thanks for sharing the video.

@Sky_Vizor 3 месяца назад

а чего песни не на английском? эх вы.

@Monique-ys2zu 3 месяца назад

Lorsque vous parlez ,il n y a aucune traduction en francais alors que j ai demandé à RU-vid.merci

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

Il faut un peu fouiller dans les options en bas a droite de l'ecran

@rogertarpley3185 3 месяца назад

Job security these days going to be a lot of digging in Ukraine

@thomasschultz2669 3 месяца назад

Ich wünsche Euch ein friedliches Osterfest 🐣🇷🇺❤️🇩🇪

@highdesertutah 3 месяца назад

I’m surprised there weren’t swarms of mosquitoes.

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

It was April and still cold.

@dickyt1318 Месяц назад

I hope they manage to avoid being sent to fight in Putin's war in the Ukraine.

@Mikkall 2 месяца назад

Thank you for making the point that both sides (all sides) of WWII treated POWs horribly. There is no excuse and the Allies were just as bad as the Germans. For 80yrs people in the West have been fed propaganda regarding the superiority of the Allies... bunk. The winners write the history. Thank you.

@CrocodileTear 2 месяца назад

POWs were treated resonably well in the West (including western POWs in Germany), particularly in the US. This is not propaganda, it is fact as recorded by numerous witnesses, and as former POWs told me themselves. On the other hand the Germans treated Soviet POWs horribly and vice versa. The saying that the winners right history doesnt make much sence in the WWII context where the Germans have also written their version of evens.

@brianfalkner108 Месяц назад

I need to find me a good strong Russian girl to marry! In America its hard to find women like this. I know this is the place to talk about women when so many young soldiers died horible deaths and buried where they lay for 80 years, so sad.

@brianfalkner108 Месяц назад

This is not the place. Typing on a phone with my sausage fingers.

@CrocodileTear Месяц назад

You can always edit youtube comments, by clicking on the three little dots at the side of the comments.

@yrevorallen3220 3 месяца назад

Grave robbers

@CockadoodleDont 3 месяца назад

How is this group grave robbers? Have you seen a single one of the videos showing the effort they put into the identification of a fallen soldier? You can’t call the dirt these soldiers are in a grave. They deserve their names back and to be brought back home, regardless of the side they fought on.

@CrocodileTear 3 месяца назад

simpleton

@CockadoodleDont 3 месяца назад

@@CrocodileTear Thank you for what you do, I can’t imagine the feeling of having a family member found from so long ago. I lost an uncle in Italy (his body was sent home to Massachusetts) and my grandfather made it home alive thankfully. I’ve just started searching into my uncles service and death and it’s really hard work. So thanks again all the way from Massachusetts! lol

@xaxoon69 Месяц назад

These people in the video all look so nice and friendly, I can't believe that their home country is currently massacring babies, children, women and men in Ukraine...

@CrocodileTear Месяц назад

France, the US, Germany, the UK, Israel... all have done the same some day or even today... Dont confuse individuals with their country.