Izvorni znanstveni članak
https://doi.org/10.22586/ss.22.1.6
The Deceitfulness of Family Memories on World War I – the Case of Turudić Family (Posavski Podgajci, Syrmia)
Vijoleta Herman Kaurić
orcid.org/0000-0003-2682-7439
; Hrvatski institut za povijest, Opatička 10, HR-10000 Zagreb
Sažetak
The objective of this paper is to show the problems a researcher is confronted with while searching for data on a soldier who died during World War I. As it is an ordinary soldier from the village Posavski Podgajci in Syrmia that is concerned, one who most likely did not possess a military rank, his example can be applied to the majority of the military contingent of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy far outside the area of the Republic of Croatia at the present time.
The only hope to clarify the fate of Luka Turudić can be found in the documents of military units kept by the Austrian State Archive (Österreichisches Staatsarchiv) at the Vienna War Archives (Kriegsarchiv). Involved are huge amounts of archive materials sent by the military units to the headquarters during World War I; even the archivists find it hard to manage the materials, particularly because the materials are not organized according to contemporary archive standards but have been kept more or less in their original form. The interest in participants of World War I, aroused by the commemoration of the 100th anniversary 2014-2018, caused the archivists in Vienna to tighten the regulations concerning the access of archival materials, particularly the vital records; however, the time limits have now expired and all archival materials from World War I should be accessible to users.
Without these data it is impossible to find out where a certain regiment was stationed in a certain period of time considering that our current knowledge on fierce battles during the entire years 1915 and 1916 in some segments of the huge Russian battleground is simply too general. Military cemeteries of Austro-Hungarian soldiers are widely scattered over the former theatres of war in Galicia, Bukovina and Prykarpattia; many of these soldiers were members of predominantly Croatian units. It is unknown whether Croats were buried in most of the cemeteries which is why the cemetery Glibovki/Hlibovki is unique. Some of the cemeteries were maintained by the locals, particularly if they were situated near villages; however, a great number of them were exposed to the ravages of time and today no traces can be found of them. Despite the legislation of the successor states and the rules of international law, cemetery maintenance for fallen soldiers from World War I today comes down to just a few representative examples, whereas the rest of them are maintained by individuals who aim to stimulate the successor states to take charge of them.
Records on the final resting places of fallen Croatian soldiers probably do exist somewhere, probably even in Vienna, however, they have not been the subject of systematic research. Without these records it is not possible to determine the burial sites; to locate them would at long last cast light on the fates of participants of World War I, which is the most important concern of the families of the fallen soldiers.
The example of the Turudić family and their ancestor provides clear evidence of this. Although the family maintained the tradition of Grandmother Eva’s brother, a misunderstanding occurred in regard to his name. It became apparent that, instead of searching for Antun, the search should have been for his firstborn son Luka Turudić (born in 1895) whom, despite all our efforts, we have not been able to find in any of the accessible records of fallen soldiers. A similar fate probably applies to numerous participants in the war, meaning that we will not be able to create a complete list of fallen soldiers, only try to create one as complete as possible. The accuracy of this list will be questionable: the research into the fate of just one family has shown how inaccurate the casualty records are. In these lists two family members are registered as dead although both survived the war, while one who evidently did not is not mentioned at all, not even as a casualty or PoW. This altogether casts a shadow of doubt on the purpose of creating such lists; however, only the micro level research (family, village or parish) will show the (un)reliability of the conducted macro level assessments (certain geographical regions or the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) at this time available to the researchers of World War I.
Ključne riječi
World War I; family memories; casualties; Posavski Podgajci; Syrmia
Hrčak ID:
285886
URI
Datum izdavanja:
17.11.2022.
Posjeta: 808 *