Information March 2024
Dear Russian children and friends,
Two trends have become noticeable in recent times.
One is the atmosphere that has intensified as a result of the war. Neither our families in the former Soviet Union nor we, their children and descendants, have any part in this. Nevertheless, we are affected.
The second is the fact that we are hardly visible in public. After the appearances on television and in the press, there were always a number of enquiries about the search for the fathers.
Now, after a long time, there was a request for a film contribution for ZDF. As usual, we offered our support. When asked about the concept, contradictions arose. We are now waiting to see what happens next.
We are celebrating our 10th anniversary this year. We are therefore moving the Annual General Meeting to 10.30 a.m. on 16 November 2024, close to the date of our founding. We will announce more details in good time. Contributions to the festive programme are welcome.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information February 2024
Dear Russian children and friends,
First things first - there is another enquiry. The usual dilemma, a lot of time has passed, no name, no more contemporary witnesses. Nevertheless, we are sticking to our view of starting a search, even if there is little hope.
We have tried, we have not given up, we can look each other in the eye, we fulfil our responsibility towards our descendants.
Our association will be 10 years old in November. That is why we are thinking of moving our annual meeting to this month. This is nothing special, in the past we were forced to do this because of the tax assessment notice, which only arrived after the middle of the year
We are considering where and how to celebrate this anniversary. If you have any suggestions, please let us know.
We wish everyone good health and well-being!
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information January 2024
Dear Russian children and friends,
We are all experiencing a time in which our cause is, let's put it this way, not very welcome. We can't help it, nor can our families, be they German or from the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Nevertheless, we have to come to terms with the circumstances. This explains what we are experiencing:
Being very, very careful in planning and endeavours. What is not considered "comme il faut" (как и должно быть) can become a problem for the further work of an organisation.
And as a result, hardly any Russian children come forward with search requests.
This is very unfortunate, as time is running out and the chances of success are dwindling.
There is currently another enquiry. It does not directly concern our work, but it shows its breadth. We came to the attention of a man who saw one of our successful stories on Russian regional television. He got in touch and asked us for help in tracing his older roots in the German-Russian milieu.
We wish him success!
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information December 2023
Dear Russian children and friends,
This is a difficult topic. Heraklit's "Panta rhei", or "Everything flows", naturally also applies to the historiography of the Russian children.
We have already referred to this several times. Until the archives of the Russian Ministry of Defence were opened, there were only stories, speculations or even fantasies about our fathers and their lives after encounters with German women and their consequences, which more or less determined our image.
We understand that anyone who had dealt with this subject naturally drew on everything that was available. Tales, rumours, insinuations, mere fantasies.
When people who did not know any Cyrillic letters or Russian words, had never met a Soviet citizen or even visited the Soviet Union, commented on it and explained the situation as contemporary witnesses, it was not very well-founded.
The opening of the archive, the information it gives us about our fathers, paints a different picture. The two most important ones are:
There is the one about being punished because a child was fathered with a German woman. So far, we have not found a single case of this kind in all the information we have received. No prison, no Siberian camp, no shooting. These stories had negative consequences. One Russian child is still ashamed to this day that his father's conception should have had negative consequences.
A striking example of reality in our country - a lieutenant who had fathered a child was discharged as a colonel in the reserves. The biggest career leap we know of in this context.
The next story - socialising with Germans was generally forbidden, and marriage was out of the question. It was only a matter of time before this too would be refuted by documents. We have published two letters in a wanted advert, not necessarily, but as proof that the Soviet authorities gave their approval for marriages.
https://www.russenkinder.de/index.php/de-su-aus-d/151-gesucht-wird-shursinbai-aminew-kasachstan
a little further down.
Our association is entering its 10th year of existence. The task of helping Russian children to find their fathers and their families continues to take centre stage. What is described above helps us and is important enough to bring more reality into the writing of our history.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information November 2023
Dear Russian children and friends,
We celebrated our 9th anniversary of the founding of the association. We received many congratulations and were asked to keep going.
This approval gives us a good feeling. Our work has been confirmed. Even if there are fewer enquiries at the moment, we will continue, as we have always promised.
Progress is being made and the use of translation programmes has become part of our daily routine and makes our work easier. We have therefore decided to introduce two more languages - Ukrainian and Kazakh. The former because of the many Ukrainian participants in the war, Kazakh because there is another search for a father. Of course, we have only had our homepage translated. In both countries, interested parties can find the necessary information on the Russian pages. A similar approach to the one we have been using in Hebrew for a very long time.
Our website was accessed 40% more than in the previous month. This applies to almost all pages. We also noticed that the Anketa, the questionnaire of the Podolsk Archives for the enquiry, was downloaded over 75 times in the original, but the German translation only 11 times.
That's just fine with us. The further our information reaches, the greater the chance that those affected will find out about it.
Christmas is just around the corner. Let's remember our childhood traditions.
It is difficult to wish everyone a happy and healthy Christmas. This is not the time. Let's celebrate it in a contemplative way! And we also wish everyone a healthy New Year!
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information October 2023
Dear Russian children and friends
on 29. 11. 2023 our association exists 9 years. In the beginning we lived with rejection, untruths concerning the basis of our work and other unpleasant phenomena, but we prevailed. Now we can say that our efforts have paid off. We have had great success, have asserted ourselves in public, are being noticed. And above all, we have meanwhile advised more than 1,200 Russian children, their relatives, as well as inquirers about deported foreign workers and missing German soldiers. Our website has been accessed over 800,000 times from all over the world. We maintain it in six languages plus Austrian.
We are always asked how many search successes we can account for. We can't. Our website is set up in such a way that everyone can do their own search. Many ask, want to make sure they are doing everything right, some can't even formulate their request. We have even paid for documents. Feedback is sporadic.
Of course, we have also outlined our observations.
The most important one - the stories about Soviet army personnel being imprisoned or even shot for having a child with a German - has not been true in any case so far. If there were punishments, they were for other reasons, such as attempted desertion. If at first our fathers disappeared, it was due to the fact that the German Wehrmacht and the other war units had been crushed and the one and a half million Soviet soldiers were no longer needed here. The formerly occupied part of the Soviet Union had been destroyed and had to be rebuilt. Therefore, over a million soldiers were demobilised. Who was demobilised was decided by the commanders. They took the opportunity to clear up cases that could become unpleasant for them in this way. And such potential cases were, for example, children with German mothers.
And something else stood out. If the fathers knew that they had fathered a child and left it behind, they usually told their later families about it. There were a number of attempts to take the children to the Soviet Union.
We can justifiably say that we have done our job honourably so far.
Of course we are continuing. Descendants of Russian children have come forward and want to find their roots. Even though it is becoming more and more difficult, we stand by all of them with help and advice.
Let us celebrate the 29th of November 2023 solemnly.
Best wishes
Anatoly Rothe
Information September 2023
Dear Russian children and friends
we have been noticing for some time that there are no new requests to find the families and fathers. We wrote it, there will be two reasons for it, age, health, make themselves felt and the atmosphere prevailing in the society.
Three searches have been made, we are waiting for answers.
We can now slowly draw a summary of our work. This will take place in November on the occasion of our 9th anniversary.
In this month, the mark of the 800 thousandth view of our website was recorded.
As it happens, the very existence of the association requires work. Website maintenance, the monthly report, statistics and of course finances. At the end of the quarter we were surprised to receive three generous donations. Many thanks to the donors! So we can continue our work, albeit in calmer waters.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information August 2023
Dear Russian children and friends, there were some reactions to our monthly information for July. Agree as usual, also one that we want to quote here because of the tragedy it contains: "Please remove me from this mailing list, I'm embarrassed about my origins."
What is this tragedy? Now we know that not all Russian children have had a carefree life. As we had grown older, the burdens eased and we were able to build our future. We must state that the atmosphere in our country has changed. We quote here again the Constitution article 3 paragraph 3: "No one may be disadvantaged or given preference because of their gender, descent, race, language, homeland and origin, belief, religious or political views." Here a Russian child was deprived of his rights by public generalizations. Obviously, it takes a certain strength not to indulge. Russian children are people like everyone else.
During the nine years of our work, we had a few cases in which those affected wanted to renounce their origins. Until now it was our own family, neighbors, acquaintances or work colleagues who contributed to this, but now a different wind is blowing, which we are feeling. Let's hope that the development will slowly return to more humane values and that nobody will have to be ashamed of their origins. We were born here, lived here and contributed to the development of both German states. We should be proud of that.
Kind regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information July 2023
Dear Russian children and friends
Sometimes information from and about Russian children reaches us in somewhat devious ways. After the article in the "Berliner Zeitung", two such cases arose again. The very first condition is, of course, that those affected show a willingness to go in search of them. We cannot and do not want to persuade anyone to do so. We can only argue with good examples.
As far as our work is concerned, it gets quieter in the summer. We also remember that a lot of time has passed, many have come to terms with their situation and are living their lives. Age makes itself felt, traces become blurred. Opportunities are lost. We regret this very much, as we have seen how much happiness a family reunion brings.
Have a good summer!
Best wishes
Anatoly Rothe
Information June 2023
Dear Russian children and friends,
at the end of the month a surprise occurred. The "Berliner Zeitung" runs an "Open Source" section where anyone can submit a semi-professionally written text for publication. We did so and it was published on 25. 6. 2023. You can read it here: Russian Children's Association
As always, when our issue is in the media, our website gets a lot of coverage. The reactions we received were great approval and the call to continue.
We are very grateful to the newspaper for this and hope that those affected will again come forward to search for their fathers and families.
Throughout the month there have been enquiries about finding the father and his family. In the meantime, this has become routine for us.
So let us not be impressed by the prevailing circumstances and continue our work.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information May 2023
Dear Russian children and friends,
Again this month, a search for a father and his family, affected by the Copron pandemic, has been resumed. As this is a Kazakh father, it is particularly gratifying for me.
Therefore, as always: whoever had once taken up his search and had not pursued it further because of various possible circumstances, take it up again. It is worthwhile doing.
So far we have always heard of great happiness and great joy. We are expected! So let's go!
As it is in life, I had set up our statistics table a long time ago. The software available was Openoffice in the beginning, later Libreoffice. The table grew and grew, we can see it in the number of calls. New articles were also added. Two problems became apparent.
1.) the time it took to call up the table became longer and longer, and in the end it took more than a minute for the table to appear. And 2.) calculation errors began to occur. We bought professional programmes (Softmaker) and started again. The spreadsheet was checked again, control sums inserted, it worked correctly. We included new articles, the stuidia critique, statistics and others. The figures appeared on the website. They were correct. That month I noticed an incorrectness. I had forgotten to add the relevant parameters, so they were no longer counted in the total. We have made up for this, which is why the monthly calls appear increased by about three and a half thousand. Now we have the exact call numbers again.
Nevertheless, there is much more activity on the website this month. We can only be pleased about this, we will continue to spread our cause in this way.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information April 2023
Dear Russian children and friends
Fortunately, more Russian children and their grandchildren have decided to look for their fathers and their families. Woken up, so to speak, from the Coronalethargy and the anti-Russian conditions that started after February 2022 and also affected us, we do not let them stop us. We support everyone on this issue. The Russian archives provide information. So there is no reason to be deterred.
In the public perception, there was a wave a few years ago to solve certain mental and psychological problems through family research. We have been doing this now since 2014. To what extent it really helps, we cannot judge.
From the beginning, our association has not put our sensitivities in the foreground, but rather help for those affected, be it help for the search for the fathers and families and likewise for conversations. This was accepted and appreciated by many of those affected.
You can read about it in our website statistics.
Don't forget that our annual meeting will take place on Saturday, 6 May. Not only members of the association are invited, but also all people who would like to express their interest, approval, criticism or even disapproval of our work.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information March 2023
Dear Russian children and friends,
First things first. Once again we received a tracing report, this time from Kyrgyzstan. Here it is:
"Good afternoon. I found your page. Maybe someone is looking for his father and my grandfather. Astafiev Vasily Dmitrievich. He served in Germany after the end of the Second World War. I know he had a son. After that, my grandfather was urgently returned to the Soviet Union, to Kyrgyzstan. If anyone is looking for information about him, I will be happy to share it."
At this point I would like to point out once again the extraordinary possibility of the website of ZA MO in Podolsk: https://pamyat-naroda.ru/. To be found at
https://www.russenkinder.de/index.php/suche-des-vaters#InfosueberVater.
I immediately searched for this grandfather's name on this site. And once again it was a hit. Conclusion - whoever has the name of the father who took part in the war, there you can usually find more information about him.
On 21. 3. 2023 our web pages were accessed for the 750 000th time. This shows how necessary our information and help is.
Our annual meeting is coming up. Despite the continuing difficult situation, we can look back on a successful year. The election of the board is also on the agenda. The invitation is attached.
6 May 2023 at the House of Democracy and Human Rights, Greifswalder Straße 4, 10405 Berlin.
This is close to Alexanderplatz.
Guests are explicitly welcome.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information February 2023
Dear Russian children and friends,
there was a request to search for the father and grandfather. From all experience we know, some were done in short order, some took years to succeed. Some came to nothing.
We have noticed that the number of hits on our website sometimes seems unusual. Besides the usual favourites, this month even our "Imprint" made it to fourth place. Furthermore, the "Search of the Father" was called up 45 times in one morning, etc.
We do not know who visits our pages. Our provider provides us with statistics, the figures of which we publish. Recently, the users in the category "unique users" and the number of accesses are available. This shows that each user visits our pages two and a half times. And this despite the fact that hardly anyone comes forward. And in fact there are again more than 7,000 accesses to be accounted for.
There was a request from Austrian television to participate in a programme. We referred them to our friends in Vienna.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information January 2023
Dear Russian children and friends
In the last two newsletters we outlined our situation and the circumstances for our work. They intimidate Russian children who dare less and less to claim their right to clarify their family. After many years of silence about their origins, they become discouraged and think they will not get any information. The result is that no has been asking for months.
For us, it is even more difficult because we cannot go public.
Therefore, we appeal to everyone: Whoever hears about a fate, tell them about our work.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information December 2022
Dear Russian children and friends
The eighth year since the foundation of our association is coming to an end. Our list of successes includes over 1,200 counselling sessions with Russian children and their relatives. We know that many have set out on the path of searching for their fathers and relatives. That was our intention; we helped them to find happiness and a new life. This was also accompanied by disappointment, sometimes despair, unsuccessfulness. Это жизнь. There is no justice in our circumstances either.
Some of us had problems in our childhood and youth. When I wanted to put the term "Russian children" in an article in WIKIPEDIA a few years ago, there was friendly support at first. When I wrote that discrimination, disadvantages and other things were done by the German family members, neighbours, schoolmates etc., the Soviet fathers were usually no longer there to protect their children, the kindness was dropped and the article was censored. And in such a way that the essential statements were not described or were completely concealed. The censors, who had never heard of us before, pretended to know how we lived and suffered. I broke off the work. That is why there is still no article on our subject in the German WIKIPEDIA.
As we grew older, we started families ourselves, had children and our origins faded into memory. For a long time we believed that the development of society had got over it. We have German citizenship, always lived here, contributed to the development of the country.
Now, in February, old prejudices broke out again. They also affected some of us. Some families were thrown into serious conflicts. Whereas in the past origin did not play a role, now it came to conflicts.
Likewise, as already written, there were uncertainties in the use of the Russian language.
The result: no more people come forward to find out about the situation and to start the search. The near future is unlikely to change this.
Our call remains the same: Start searching for your families! We will help everyone, the Russian archives will provide information!
We would like to thank all friends, members of the association, helpers and those who are well-disposed towards us for the trust you have placed in us and for your loyal support of our work!
The new year will probably remain difficult, but we will not give up.
A healthy, peaceful, liveable new year 2023!
Anatoly Rothe
Information November 2022
Dear Russian children and friends,
there was an unusually large number of reactions to our information of October 22. All of them regretted the development. Almost all of them called for an end to the fighting
and for peace. Naturally, we agree with this. We thank all those who have expressed their views.
I was asked several times why we quoted the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany twice. There was a number examples that show how poisoned the social atmosphere has become in the meantime and how we have to adapt to it. I will mention here an example that has nothing to do with our problem of Russian children. An electrical household appliance no longer worked. I went to a repair shop. I explained to the friendly employee what was broken. I am a cheerful person and like to talk. So I asked this woman where she was from. For more than 20 years, I have had the experience that this question alone is tricky. I was once even called a racist because of it. That's why since then I always add: "My father was Kazakh." That immediately leads to an open atmosphere. She came from Ukraine. When she heard my name Anatoly, because of the bill and the address it had to be given, she asked me if I spoke Russian. "Немного. А вы?" Her colleagues became attentive and began to turn their eyes towards us. She noticed and whispered to me, "Speak German instead, please!"
Well, we wrote before about the fact that there are far worse disadvantages. For about ten years now, Russian children who trustingly turn to the International Tracing Service of the German Red Cross have not received an answer. The reason is simple, at that time a woman from Estonia took over the management of this service. Many who contacted us told of this experience. There was also confirmation from another agency to which Russian children had turned.
We will not let up in our work despite all the difficulties.
Russian children, do not be afraid! Get in touch! We will help and the archives in Podolsk and Moscow will provide information.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information October 2022
Dear Russian children and friends
let us begin again with the legal situation:
Constitution for the Federal Republic of Germany
Article 1
(1) Human dignity is inviolable. It is the duty of all state authorities to respect and protect it.
(2) The German people therefore profess inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every human community, of peace and of justice in the world.
Article 3
(3) No one shall be discriminated against or given preferential treatment on account of sex, descent, race, language, country of origin, creed, religious or political views.
- . - . - . - . - . - . -
We fulfil a humanitarian task, giving help in reuniting fathers, paternal families and their children. We refrain from making any political or ideological statements. Our fathers come from all the former Soviet republics, i.e. today's Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, mine from Kazakhstan, etc. We have to face the realities, of course.
Of course, we have to face the realities.
They look like this: Discrimination, insults, mistrust of everything Russian, including Russian children. Some of us have experienced this in our childhood and youth. Now, after so many years, the memories come back. Likewise, the use of the Russian language has become a risk for us.
As a result of this atmosphere, Russian children hardly dare to talk about this subject in public. Likewise, as we have written several times, enquiries to us have decreased a lot. In the month of October to zero.
It goes even further. German citizens who decided years ago to buy shares in Russian companies are now treated like oligarchs on Western sanctions lists. Basically expropriated.
The post office stops delivering parcels from Russia with bureaucratic justifications ...
It is astonishing that our web pages are being accessed thousands of times, as usual. Likewise, the ZA MO questionnaire is downloaded frequently.
Despite all adversities, we continue.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information September 2022
Dear Russian children and friends
let's start with the legal situation:
Constitution for the Federal Republic of Germany
Article 1
(1) Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.
(2) The German people therefore acknowledge inviolable and inalienable human rights as the basis of every community, of peace and of justice in the world.
Article 3
(3) No person shall be favoured or disfavoured because of sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith or religious or political opinions. No person shall be disfavoured because of disability.
- . - . - . - . - . - . -
When we founded our association, I naturally asked myself how long our help in finding our fathers and families would be needed. It was more speculative. We assumed that it would concern the post-war cohorts, it turned out differently. Russian children came forward until the end of the 1970s.
In the meantime, some have passed away and others have stopped coming forward, a natural development for the older cohorts.
Now there have been events since February of this year. For us, our work and the people concerned, whom we want to encourage to search for fathers, a massive deterioration of our possibilities. The condemnation of everything Russian, an undifferentiated view of our fates have been accompanied by insults, mistrust and ruptures in families and with friends.
It has also led to those affected no longer coming forward, partly because they think there will be no more information and enquiries will be made in vain. On the other hand, no one wants to risk getting caught up in this insecurity that prevails here in the country.
It is a dilemma. We gave ourselves the name "Russian children" in order to be able to use a short term. It comes from Nazi ideology. The blanket use of "Russians" in these contexts is one-sided and is simply adopted without thought. No one thinks about where this creation of words and ideas comes from and what purposes it served. Statements such as "We know what the Russians did here after the war" ... belong to this superficiality.
We know that our fathers in the Red Army and later the Soviet Army came from all the republics and peoples of the former Soviet Union. And when such sentences are uttered, it is assumed that only the "Russians" were.
A little more reflection, less know-it-allism would help us.
And finally, once again for everyone:
1. whoever contacts us will be treated with absolute discretion.
2. the Russian archives continue to provide information about our fathers.
Therefore - please use the possibilities! Time passes, traces become blurred and one day it will be irretrievably over.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information August 2022
Dear Russian children and friends,
our situation is as follows:
In August no one came forward to ask for help in finding their relatives. This is regrettable, we assume that the atmosphere in our society is having an effect. During the last enquiries, even those already in progress, we sensed a certain scepticism towards the search activities. There is no need to make any assumptions about disturbances. Nor should one conclude that it only affects oneself.
We can reassure everyone, the archives provide information.
There is one number to celebrate. On 27 August 2022, our website was accessed for the 700,000th time. What we have noticed for a long time is that there is no correlation between enquiries and website visits. We have had over 1,100 contacts and enquiries since the association was founded. There are more, we only started counting later.
To illustrate our work, we have included the menu item "Statistics". Here we will publish monthly the development of the website hits.
https://www.russenkinder.de/index.php/webseitenstatistik
The University of Oslo has invited us to interview Russian children. We hereby comply with this invitation. We want to help clarify our life stories and fates in a realistic way. I myself have also agreed to do this. So join us!
The modalities are available at
https://www.russenkinder.de/pdf/Infoflyer_EuroWARCHILD_de.pdf
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information July 2022
Dear Russian children and friends
It is always painful for us to draw the attention of Russian children and their relatives to the circumstances for the search when the name of the father is not known. What do we recommend in this case? Make enquiries, ask contemporary witnesses, look for further possibilities to find out the name. Without the father's name, nothing has worked so far. And that will not change. The archives are willing to provide information.
More and more often we hear that the family members in question have died in the meantime, that they no longer have any memories. We then know that once again there will be no happy solution. We, who have found our families, stand by and see what happiness will not come to those concerned.
Since mid-2014, we have had the website online with the appropriate search options. It took a few years for us to gain acceptance and come into the public eye. Those Russian children who appeared in the media at the time had not mentioned these possibilities and had not called for the fathers and families to be searched. On the contrary, this possibility was even denied. This is not meant to be a recantation, but simply to present the realities and show the consequences.
So a lot of time passed, the tracks got lost. Some family reunions would still have been possible, but now the conditions for them have been blown away. Regrettable, but irreversible.
The University of Oslo will apparently conduct another survey of Russian children. We have been informed of this in an unusual way. For verification, I have written to the director and asked her to let us know that we are wanted. When the reply arrives, we will announce the information for participation in it. I myself would participate.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information June 2022
Dear Russian children and friends
We must commemorate the day to which we ultimately owe our existence, albeit paid for in blood. On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union.
A memorable date.
Earlier this month, I met the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Berlin Sergej J. Netschajew at a reception.
I thanked him for the Russian archives providing us with information about our fathers and families. To this end, I had reported on our work.
I also told him that through our work many new family relationships could be established, all of which are characterised by great cordiality and closeness.
Those who know a little about the peoples of the former Soviet Union know that families are the centre of life. And children are almost carried around on their hands.
There is also news that a master's thesis is being written at the University of Bern that will deal with occupation children's associations, their motivations, their working conditions, problems, etc. I had a two-and-a-half-hour meeting to discuss this. I had a two and a half hour video conference on this. I offered to help further and asked for the completed thesis.
Best regards
Information May 2022
Dear Russian Children and Friends,
we held our annual meeting on 8 May. First we remembered the 27 million dead that the peoples of the former Soviet Union had to mourn. We also remembered that they were killed so that our fathers could live and beget us.
Furthermore, as every year, we commemorated our deceased Russian children.
In this context we have to report that our founding member Herta Petersen passed away a week later at the age of 95.
The meeting was marked by the descriptions of two fates who found their families last year. These stories were, how could it be otherwise, emotional. A Russian journalist played the decisive role in finding the families. It was thanks to her activities that the searches were solved. We have listed her, Ms Marina Romakina, on our website as a supporter.
For the first time in a month, no Russian child has contacted us to ask for help in finding their father and family. Two aspects will probably play a role here.
Firstly, we are getting older and our strength and will are weakening. We had actually rather expected that.
A second aspect is that the current atmosphere is a deterrent for those concerned. We have experienced insults, insinuations, suspicious looks, etc. We cannot influence either of these.
We cannot influence either, we have to take it as it is and can only hope for better times.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information April 2022
Dear Russian children and friends
This month has also been overshadowed by the events in Eastern Europe.
The purpose of our association is to help Russian children find their fathers and families.
We also try to represent our interests. We have succeeded in doing this on one issue, namely attracting public attention. This is now proving not to be favourable. Apart from insults that some of us have had to endure, the atmosphere has changed. We are now regarded as Russians, are viewed, if not openly, nevertheless as a complicit part of doubt.
It is pointless to fight against this. Let's bear it, because they don't know what they are doing with it.
Along with this, no one contacted us in April.
Nevertheless, the website was clicked on to the usual extent. Likewise, the questionnaire and the filling-in aid for enquiries to the archives in Podolsk, ZA MO, were downloaded.
On 8 May we will hold our annual meeting. We actually planned to visit the usual museum festival of the German-Russian Museum afterwards. It has been cancelled. We plan to have a meal together after the meeting.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information March 2022
Dear Russian children and friends,
Most important - there is no indication that the Russian archives would not provide information. Let us not be impressed by the current atmosphere here. Don't become hesitant, don't become passive, go in search of your families!
The director of ZAMO, i.e. the archives of the Russian Ministry of Defence, O. Pankov, wrote us a letter at the beginning of March in which he emphasised once again that information will continue to be provided for authorised persons.
Since 2014, we have been helping Russian children to find their fathers and families. We learned from many that the tracing service of the German Red Cross in Munich refuses to help Russian children. No one was helped by this office during this time. We have therefore deleted this address from our database and replaced it with the recommendation of the Leipzig Consulate of the Russian Embassy:
Search and Information Centre of the Central Committee of the Red Cross of the Russian Federation.
See https://www.russenkinder.de/index.php/suche-des-vaters#ZK_RKR_Moskau
It is recommended that if you are searching in the countries of the former Soviet Union, you contact this centre with information about your father. We think - in Russian. Of course, we will also help with this.
If you are stuck in your search, if you have given up hope of finding your father and his family, write to the Central Committee of the Red Cross of the Russian Federation!
We continue our work because we still think that there is a right for everyone to find their family.
Our website continues to receive normal traffic. There is also a lot of interest in the questionnaire, which is needed for enquiries.
It is pointed out once again that we do not know who visits our pages. We only see how often.
Regarding our annual meeting: we are setting it for 8 May 2022. It will be held in Berlin-Karlshorst. The exact location will be announced. The invitation is attached.
We had planned to visit the celebration of the Museum Berlin-Karlshorst together after our meeting. The museum has informed us that this celebration will not take place in the usual form. We are waiting for information on how it will be organised. Afterwards we can still decide about a visit.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information February 2022
Dear Russian children and friends,
Times are turbulent, events are dire and have consequences for us that we thought were long overcome.
For a few days now, I have been asked to make a statement on the events in the East of the continent. The suggestions range from condemnations of one side or the other involved, as well as a neutrally written statement in the sense that we are against war. Don't we show this through our commitment, through our work?
Have we in Germany already come to the point of having to make declarations in order to at least be tolerated as part of civil society?
Everyone can participate in demands, I already had a hard time with that in the GDR.
Let's consider that our fathers come from all the former Soviet republics, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic republics, my father from Kazakhstan ...
And let's keep in mind that most of our information comes from the archives of the Russian Ministry of Defence in the city of Podolsk near Moscow.
I have been called several times and asked about rules of conduct. In the meantime, there have been mobs of Russian children. So far, I hope that these are only a few isolated cases. Some of us had to experience this in our childhood and youth.
To be honest, I don't know. My recommendation is to avoid it. There is no point in starting a conversation. And what about physical violence? Run away as long as you can. At our age, we have nothing to counter this.
On 28. 2. 2022, the programme "How Russian is the East?" was repeated on MDR. Afterwards, our website received an unusually high number of hits. In the meantime, two enquiries have been made, although these do not belong to our core area. Of course we have given our help.
We hope for peace soon!
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information January 2022
Dear Russian children and friends,
once again a Russian child found his father's family. Once again a life wish came true. Our destinies are very different, as well as the fulfillment of this wish. Once again, experience teaches - set out on the path! Whatever was, whatever contributed to appeasement, distraction, however you stand by us, we help everyone. Discreetly, of course. We did not go to Facebook, we did not go to Whatsup, Telegram etc. We protect those who turn to us. Maybe this may sound exaggerated, we stick to this precaution.
From experience we see that rumors, any narratives from those involved who have passed on unsecured information have little relevan←z. We see that only corroborated information will help us. As it has been stated for a long time, these sayings like -our fathers were imprisoned, taken to Siberia or even shot because of having a child with a German - have not been confirmed even once. Therefore, the suffering that resulted from this is infinitely sad to see.
These victims should also go on a search. Jump over your shadows, discard this nonsensical misinformation!
We have only this one life. Let's use it to overcome completely unnecessary discord in families. Those who follow our work will see how we help. No names, no information to others.
Likewise, we know from experience that for many the application is a problem. There, too, we have gathered enough experience in the meantime.
We know it, concentration on the essentials, classify the available information, compile and formulate accordingly.
For years the archive of the Russian army has been asking for information why it should answer the applicant of all people. Here, too, we have known for years what to do.
Overcome yourselves! Ask, we will help!
Our founding member Herta Petersen celebrated her 95th birthday on 1/30/2022 surrounded by her family.
We would like to join the many congratulations. Her life's work and her commitment to the association are to be commended. May she still
experience many happy hours.
All the best!
Sincerely greetings
Anatoly Rothe
Information December 2021
Dear Russian Children and Friends,
a successful year has come to an end. Despite Corona, our work continues.
It started with the two repetitions of the programme "How Russian is the East?" A large number of contacts arose who asked how to find their father or family. We were very happy to make this "extra effort", as it helps to bring more families together.
ZAMO, the central archive of the Russian Ministry of Defence in Podolsk, continues to provide information about our fathers. In the meantime, it has expanded its website. This led to photos of the father for two of us. In both cases, the resemblance could not be overlooked. It concerns fathers who had fought in the Great Patriotic War. If anyone knows the name of the father who took part in the Great Patriotic War, they can go to these pages and investigate. Those who do not know how to do this or do not have a Cyrillic keyboard at their disposal can contact us, we will of course help in these cases as well. Just try it!
We are sometimes asked why the war has this name. The battle against the Napoleonic army in 1812 is called the "Fatherland War". It was successfully led by Field Marshal Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov-Smolensky, or Kutuzov for short. Prince Lev Tolstoy wrote his novel "War and Peace" on this subject 50 years later. An extraordinary work, which gave him world renown.
Our website has been visited more than 120 thousand times this year, more than any year before. The central point here is the "Search of the Father". With this information, everyone can start their own search.
Our different language versions, our information to objectify the problem of Russian children, our individual fates, as well as our monthly information and the many other pieces of information we make available are accessed worldwide.
In total, our pages have been viewed over 630 thousand times since 2014.
We held our annual meeting in November and were able to recruit former senior lecturer Eckehard Liebeck to our board. He is a real asset in our work.
In 2022 we will continue our work as we did last year. Our two focal points: Public relations work to encourage more affected people to search and providing assistance in the searches are our main focus.
Many thanks to all those who have supported us in our work!
A Happy New Year to all!
Best wishes
Anatoly Rothe
Extraordinary Important Information December 2021
Dear Russian Children and Friends,
In our recently sent monthly information November 2021 we wrote: "From Podolsk there were answers to enquiries. The archive continues to enable us to search for our families. For this we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts!"
There was a reaction that this lie, put into the world in 2015, that the Russian archives would not provide information, continues to circulate.
This is disgraceful because it prevents affected Russian children from searching for their fathers, their family and half-siblings.
We resolutely opposed to this at that time and will continue to do so in the future.
The most important precondition - the name of the father is known.
In 1997, in response to a simple request from ZAMO, I received information about who my father was, his background, his military career and, finally, a passport photo.
This information was available until about 5 years ago. At that time, older laws were already used and seemingly bureaucratic hurdles were set up for us. We did not immediately understand what was required and why.
What was the troube?
The archive demanded proof that we were entitled to make these requests. Only authorised persons receive this information, according to the relevant Russian law. So we recommended that our requests should enclose a birth certificate, a registration certificate, officially translated of course, and a copy of the identity card. See:
https://www.russenkinder.de/index.php/suche-des-vaters#AngabenzumVater
In the meantime, a questionnaire has been added, probably for faster processing. With this we prove that we are relatives of the wanted person. There is nothing else available to us. Podolsk accepts this and provides information.
We recommend that all those who have received a negative answer, and even if it was some time ago, tomake this request again under the given requirements.
There is no reason not to do it. So let's get on with it! Get on the computer, get the certificates and get going!
Anyone who has questions about this, anyone who is unsure, get in touch with us. We will help everyone!
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information November 2021
Dear Russian children and friends,
we held our annual meeting. We were able to present a successful work. During the discussion it became clear that there are different ways of life and views on our problem. We tolerate this, because our life circumstances have shaped us, which could be very different.
The board was discharged and newly elected. The members Rothe, Lerche, Dr. Thomas were re-elected. The Senior Grammar School Teacher Liebeck was newly admitted. Thus we were able to expand the board by another Russian.
There were new inquiries from Russian children inquiring about the possibilities of finding the fathers and families. Of course we informed about the possibilities and offered our help.
From Podolsk there were answers to inquiries. The archive continues to enable us to search for our families. For this we would like to thank from the bottom of our hearts!
We are preparing an appropriate letter to the archive.
We have experienced the impact of finding our father, his family and half-siblings. But in the same way some searches have to be ended, because a lot of time has passed over it, traces cannot be found anymore. This conclusion also has a good side, one closes a chapter.
Surprisingly, this month there was again an unusually high demand for our website.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information October 2021
Dear Russian children and friends,
the preparation of the annual meeting is in progress.
Events can be reported.
An editorial assistant who works for the RTL program "Missing" contacted us. It was about the fact that there are many requests from Russian children, she had already asked around and researched, but no one could give her proper information about how such a search can be carried out.
We had a long conversation. She confirmed that many had previously contacted the International Search of the German Red Cross, but never received an answer from there. We know why.
Now I pointed out to her the search options. So the usual, you need the name of the father, the petitioner himself must ask for information in the archives, the relevant papers in Russian are attached and if the army archive archive does not bear the man, contact the RGVA in Moscow.
I asked for two things: 1. to forward to us those Russian children whom they do not include in their program, so that they too can start searching themselves. And 2. to make public who has competence and great experience in this field, so that also those concerned can be addressed, who have not yet gone on the search.
Our website shows unusual behavior from time to time. It has been disturbed several times, twice completely destroyed. This month there was an occurrence that we have not had before. One page was accessed over 6,600 times in one day.
I would like to remind you that on Saturday, 6. 11. 2021 at 10.30 a.m. our annual meeting will take place in the German-Russian Museum. Corona-related 3G rule. Vaccinated, recovered or tested.
Until then best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information September 2021
Dear Russian children and friends,
there is a development that we thought would happen much earlier. The requests concerning the search for the fathers and their families is decreasing strongly. This does not mean that they will continue to exist, we sometimes see that Russian children went and go on the search independently of us, without contacting us.
The oldest among us are now over 75 years old. In this age group there are quite a few who do not know how to use computers. To some of them we send the monthly reports by mail so that they can also be informed and, as we learn, they feel a sense of belonging to the community.
The younger ones had the opportunity to meet the fathers, to visit the families. Anyway, it was possible for them to know at least the address.
This is how our work will continue.
There are some inquiries in Podolsk, we are waiting for answers. The time duration cannot be influenced by us.
An inquiry concerning our annual meeting place resulted in the following answer:
"Dear Mr. Rothe,
please let us talk on the phone in the 2nd half of October. The rules are subject to constant updating depending on the legal provisions and the currently applicable Corona rules in the house. However, one point applies today: please send a list with the name, address, mail, phone of all interested persons who want to participate in the meeting by the end of October at the latest. We need the information of all interested persons for contact follow-up in case of illness. The data will be deleted two weeks after the event.
Kind regards,
Uta Mühlisch"
So, if you would like to participate, please send your coordinates to me by mid-October.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information August 2021
Dear Russian children and friends
in our work there was a certain calming down. Few inquiries reached us. What we wrote before, a correlation to the call of the website is not given. Nevertheless our web page was called above average. More than nine thousand times.
There is a longer list of submitted inquiries to the army archive ZAMO in Podolsk. All of them are waiting for answer, we will report about it immediately when we have information.
As announced, we will hold our annual meeting on November 6, 2021 at the German-Russian Museum in Berlin-Karlshorst. All those interested in our topic are cordially invited to attend.
We cannot predict today what the circumstances will be at that time. Therefore we will inform about restrictions in due time. However, we hope that all our members and friends will be able to attend the event.
The invitation is attached.
Our thinking for the annual meeting for 2022 is to schedule it close to May 8. The Museum is busy with much preparation for the Museum Festival during that time. Perhaps we will switch to other rooms for the meeting and attend the festival together afterwards.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Information July 2021
Dear Russian Children and Friends,
the past month was marked by requests for five older cases that had somehow stalled, but have now come back into focus and are now being revisited. Needless to say, we appreciate this
and are once again helping. There is no question, even if searches drag on, were interrupted by whatever reasons, whatever, we stand ready to help further.
In such cases - do not hesitate! Get in touch!
Our annual meeting is scheduled for November 6, 2021, as usual at the Berlin-Karlshorst Museum. Invitations will be sent in due time.
I have always found it unfortunate to schedule the Association's Annual Meeting so late in the year. We give an account of the past year, which was already ten or eleven months ago.
There was a factual reason for this. The tax office gives for associations their confirmation of the tax return only after the month of July. Of course, we wanted to present everything properly, including our financial conduct. After that there is vacation time. Before everyone is back on board, time has passed, too.
Thus the months October / November came as accountability of the board before the association members.
The tax office conceded us an exemption from the annual tax return. This gives us the opportunity to schedule our annual meetings earlier. Of course our finances are audited. We had recruited our member Barbara Hartmann as cash auditor, who performs this office thoroughly and reliably.
Here is our proposal - to schedule these annual meetings for the first weekend in the month of May. Certain agreements
are still needed for this. We will work on it.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Information June 2021
Dear Russian children and friends
We would like to report once about a case of help in search of the father and his family. We know that people have different characters and ways of acting. Some read something once, understand it, act accordingly. On the other hand, some are not able to sort out their things by themselves. We have been consulting people for over six years and have helped in various different cases.
Here, many phone calls were made, explained what was necessary, accompanied the collection of papers. There was an almost 70-year-old birth certificate with the note "For official use only". We organized to obtain a new one.
After all the papers were together collected, we translated them into Russian. The translation and certification of the two certificates was done selflessly and without charging any fees by Galina Loheit, who has her office in the House of Russian Science and Culture. The control of all documents was done by our board member Eckehard Liebeck, I prepared the compilation for ZAMO and sent the papers for signature. Last week the application went to Podolsk by mail.
I am describing this in such detail because from the very beginning our aim was to help all Russian children. Simple or difficult case - we help all of them.
We have new members, one of them submitted a generous donation. Many thanks for it!
We mentioned several times, the interest in our website is unbroken. This does not always correlate with the questions and inquiries to us.
More frequent requests from Russian children do not necessarily go hand in hand with more hits on the website and vice versa. In any case, we serve a great need.
Best regards
Anatoly Rothe
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Information May 2021
Dear Russian children and friends
When our association was founded, one of its aims was to represent the interests of Russian children, which of course includes the image of our public appearance.
We had already referred to it several times, written a statement, it had become quieter for a while, now there are more inquiries about the study on occupation children by the University of Leipzig and its statements.
Here is our statement once again:
https://www.russenkinder.de/index.php/zur-studie-besatzungskinder-der-universitaet-leipzig-von-2015
A short summary of our criticism:
1. the data basis of Glaesmer and Kaiser, the two authors of the study, is just 0.07%, i.e. not even a tenth of a percentage point, for an estimated 200,000 occupation children. This is simply too low to make a halfway reliable statement.
2) Figures have been manipulated.
3. a number of statements were made that were not backed up or even proven.
The central statement - children of the occupation were psychologically much more damaged than the normal population.
Since it was made without evidence, this is an insult and disparagement of occupation children.
The fact that a few Russian children take part in this is difficult to understand.
The media are picking it up again. A keyword or two entered into a search engine, results appear that show the realities. And realistic reporting is what viewers and readers want.
Many affected people have asked us to take action against this and to take a stand.
Every Russian child has contributed its share to the development, first of the divided and now united country. Such disparagement damages our reputation. It also harms our efforts to courageously go in search of father and his family.
Whatever happens, we keep our heads up. We are to be reckoned with further on this issue.
Another significant anniversary is coming up. It is 22 June. On this day 80 years ago, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. It was the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, which ended with the downfall of the aggressor on 8 May 1945. This victory was the basis for us, the Russian children, to be born.
Sincere greetings
Anatoly Rothe
The authoritative German version at:
https://www.russenkinder.de/index.php/monatliche-informationen
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)