The fiercest battles of World War Two took place along the Eastern Front. The Front reached back to Germany through Russia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, the Balkans, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and the Baltic States. Throughout these sombre landscapes, where Europe’s best gave their lives to free Europe from the scourge of the Bolshevik-Washington DC alliance, grave robbers thrive. Known as black archaeologists these scavengers are constantly engaged in searching for military artefacts. These macabre souvenirs are then sold throughout Europe and U.S. There seems to be an inexhaustible appetite for such ghoulish objects.

Other than the dangers of unexploded devices and the horror of exhuming human remains, paranormal events are often experienced by researchers when engaged in their chilling pursuits. In 1997, six grave robbers drew close to the war ravaged ruins of Makaryevsky Monastery in the Leningradsky region. Noticing what appeared to be a bonfire in the distance the group approached the flames. These suggested perhaps a cottage or vehicle ablaze. On approaching the scene the curious party was shaken to discover that the inferno was seemingly suspended in the air. As the party drew closer the flames died down and then disappeared.

The companions’ disturbed sleep that night was constantly broken by human shrieks coming from the direction of the nearby forest. This caused the men uneasiness and predictably curiosity. When dawn broke one of the enthusiasts volunteered to venture into the forest to see if he could find any clues as to the source of the screams. Boldly, the souvenir hunter wandered into the tree line and then disappeared from view. Although this expedition member was experienced in the ways of the wilderness and not given to nervousness he became disoriented as soon as he penetrated the forest. From there on he had little recollection of what had occurred as he made his way through the timberland.

None of the remaining party dared to enter the forest to search for their companion. His associates had about given him up for lost when, disheveled, and in clothes now badly soiled and torn, he emerged exhausted from the tree line. One of his companions was to record that he had ‘an insane look on his face.’ Questioned by his curious companions, he either could not or would not offer a clue as to what he had discovered. He remained tight-lipped.

One of the more notorious of such war related paranormal event zones is to be found in the valley of Myasnoy Bor 30km from Novgorod. Here, during the 1942 Lyuban Offensive, the Soviet 2nd Attack Army confronted divisions of the Wehrmacht and Waffen SS. These fighting troops included volunteers of the División Española de Voluntarios or Spanish Blue Division.

Galina Pavlova, from Engels, leads a search group. She tells of an incident she shared with others in 1997: “The forests of Myasnoy Bor are scary and mystical. As soon as you find yourself alone, sounds begin to come from the forest. You can clearly hear yells as if battle still rages.”

War graves explorer, Alexei, used to excavate in the woods near Bryansk where the Red Army was dug in between 1942 and 1943. He says: “We excavated the bodies of six Russian and 11 German soldiers, four of which were Wehrmacht soldiers, in a swamp trench shelter. We then cut the trench logs and discovered decomposed German boots with bones sticking out. Little by little we dug out the remains of four people. It was getting dark. We left the skeletons at the trench and camped on the meadow 200 metres away.”

He told of how later the party was awoken from their sleep by one of the group who explained that something strange was going on. “We got up and began to listen very carefully. It was unmistakable. We could hear German speech, songs, laughing, and the clatter of tank tracks. It was very scary.”

The war graves enthusiasts went on to then describe their returning in the morning light to the trench they had previously been working on. As expected all was much as they had left it. However, when walking a little further on they saw what appeared to be fresh tank ditches and tracks.

Another haunted zone is Novokhopersk situated in the eastern section of Voronezh. Members of an exhibition, led by acclaimed battlefields archaeologist Genrikh Silanov, took photographs of ghostly uniformed troops near tents. Expert researchers were later baffled by a ghostly figure of a soldier who appeared to be inexplicably wearing Czech uniform. According to their records there were no Czech units in action on this field of battle. Later they discovered that a Czech unit had in fact integrated with the Red Army. Genrikh Silanov believes the pictures are ‘chronal mirages’ created by what he calls memory fields connected to dramatic events of the past.

THE DEATH TOLL FROM CHURCHILL, STALIN AND ROOSEVELT’S WAR ON GERMANY: The death toll of World War II is estimated at Germany 16 million. Soviet Union 13.6 million. China 1.3 million. Japan 1.3 million. Romania 350,000. Yugoslavia 305,000. USA 292,000. United Kingdom 264,000. France 213,000. Hungary 200,000. Poland 123,000. Greece 88,000. Finland 82,000. Canada 37,000. India 24,000. Australia 23,000. Belgium 12,000. Czechoslovakia 10,000. Bulgaria 10,000. New Zealand 10.000. Netherlands 8,000. South Africa 6,000. Norway 3,000. Denmark 1,800. Brazil 943.

‘Battle doesn’t determine who is right. Only who is left. We destroyed fascists, not fascism; men, not ideas. Our triumphs did not serve as evidence that democracy is best for the world any more than Soviet victories proved that communism is an ideal system for all mankind. Only through our peacetime efforts to abolish war and bring a larger measure of freedom and security to all peoples can we reveal to others that we are any better than our defeated opponents.’ – Peter Bowman ‘Beach Red’