Constantly in the search

The creation of the PE " Valley " began with the claims of the search engines to the authorities who took part in the mass burial of the remains in the fraternal cemetery near the village of Mostka. Nobody provided any help to the search engines from above.

Then, in 1988, a meeting was held between the search engines and representatives of the authorities, at which it was decided to create the PE "Valley", and without disputes it was decided that it would be named after the first ranger - Nikolai Ivanovich Orlov .

The search engines achieved the support of the state and the new stage in the development of the "Valley" began, the fund was created where all funds from organizations, individuals, and donations of people were created - to search for the remains of missing soldiers. The first serious results already in 1989 thundered throughout the country: April-May 89th All-Russian Memory Watch-7200 dead defenders were buried.

Since 1989, search work has spread to other areas of the Novgorod region: Demyansky, Parfinsky, Marevsky, Starorussky. Search work was carried out many years before, but the detachments were small and engaged in searching from personal initiative and at their own expense.

More than 20 years have passed since the creation of the "Valley" was difficult: that the state turned its attention to the search engines, the funds were allocated, then again it became nobody. But the search work did not stop and are underway to this day.

Nowadays, the composition of the search expedition "Valley" is more than 1000 people - these are 46 search units. Financing comes from the regional budget. I am sure that at least someone will say: “Why dig them, such is their fate, the land itself buried them?” - and since financing goes from the budget of the region, you can still add oil into the fire, they say “our” money, etc. But before saying something, count up to ten and think well, because for someone "the war has not ended yet" ...

Based on the results, we can judge how much the amount of work was completed, and this is not only tons of excavated land, but also work with archives, the search for relatives, the burial of the found soldiers. From 1988 to 2012, more than 94 thousand defenders were found and buried in the Novgorod region, more than 17 thousand soldiers were established. And let not everyone find relatives, but how many families have gained peace.

The news about the burial of the found soldiers of the Red Army are periodically slipped, but they find not only Russian soldiers. Therefore, there will be one interesting story connected with Spanish soldiers who fought on the side of the Germans during the Second World War.