Myasnoi Bor

place Myasnoi Bor Мясной Бор Federal district Northwest Russia Oblast Novgorod Time zone UTC + 3 License Plate 53 OKATO 49 225 843 011 Geographical location Coordinates 58 ° 49 '  N , 31 ° 28'  E Coordinates: 58 ° 49 '13 "  N , 31 ° 28' 24"  E

Location in the western part of Russia

Location in Novgorod Oblast

Mjasnoi Bor memorial

Mjasnoi Bor ( Russian Мясной Бор , "meat forest") is a village and a forest area of ​​the same name near Novgorod , north of Lake Ilmen . The swampy forest area borders on the Pitwa River, a tributary of the Volkhov , to the east . Myasnoi Bor is about a hundred kilometers south of St. Petersburg on the M10 .

history

After Ivan the Terrible destroyed the area around Novgorod around 1540, the village of Myasnoi Bor ceased to exist. After that it was rebuilt and in the following years lived mainly from keeping cattle. During the German-Soviet war in December 1941 there was heavy fighting in this area, especially in the area of ​​the Bora-Moor, a section of the Blue Division . In April 1942, after the snow melted, heavy fighting broke out again in the context of the Battle of the Volkhov , when the Soviet 2nd Shock Army captured the villages of Myasnoi Bor and Lyuban in the corridor of the Volkhov Basin. Mjasnoi Bor, like the villages of Podberesje, Samoschje, Mostki and Spaskaja Polist, was located on a taxiway, a road between Chudovo and Novgorod, which ran parallel to the Volkhov and formed the focal point of the Volkhov battle. On June 25, 1942, strong Soviet units (approx. 40,000 men) were surrounded by the Wehrmacht . Hundreds of Spanish, German and Soviet soldiers died or starved to death in the surrounding swamps. Other sources even mention tens of thousands of dead who were not buried at the time. The name of the village of Myasnoi Bor was directly associated with the fall of the 2nd Shock Army. The area is therefore known as the "Valley of Death" (Долина Смерти). The historical soil with its high density of skeletons, equipment and weapons of the time has attracted a large number of both archaeologists and "corpse robbers". Other groups deal with the search for and reburial of mortal remains. Today there is a war grave cemetery in Mjasnoi Bor with a memorial and mass graves of around 34,000 fallen Soviet soldiers.

Apparitions

Several witnesses report paranormal phenomena during excavation work, also known as chronal mirage or visual illusions. In addition to optical phenomena, there would also have been acoustic illusions, such as the noise of battle from the Second World War. Some locals believe that there are two parallel worlds in the woods of Death Valley. For fear of these phenomena, some people only enter the forests in daylight.

"The woods of Myasnoy Bor are scary and mystical. As soon as you are left there by yourself, the woods start making sounds. You can clearly hear yells "Hooray", as if restless souls of the perished warriors still carry out an attack. The day we found the mines, I was behind the guys on a trail. I stopped at a spot that was excavated many times before. Suddenly, I saw that trees were leaning towards the same spot although it was not windy at all. I called the guys, and we found a decomposed wooden box and old mines. "

- Galina Pavlova - member of an excavation group on incidents that occurred in 1997

Cinematic processing

The 1998 documentary “Engelen des Doods” by the Dutch director Leo de Boer deals with the subject of the events around the Death Valley.

Web links

Commons : Mjasnoi Bor  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Myasnoi Bor - the most terrible forest in Russia
• Долина смерти Death Valley, Report on General Vlasov and the sinking of his army in Death Valley (ru)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Second World War month after month: May 1942
2. ↑ Second World War, month after month, March 1942 ( Memento of the original from March 20, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Explore the Valley of Death, English Russia, May 14, 2011
4. ↑ Pictures from the excavations (ru)
5. ↑ Russian War Cemetery Myasnoy Bor
6. ↑ Chronomirage or How do you get into the past? 2. September 2013
7. ↑ ^{a b} Myasnoi Bor - the most terrible forest in Russia, Radio Voice of Russia, September 1, 2013
8. ↑ Margarita Troitsina: Mysteries Tomb Raiders Digging WWII Graves Witness Inexplicable Phenomena. Pravda October 30, 2009
9. ↑ Margarita Troitsina: Mysteries Tomb Raiders Digging WWII Graves Witness Inexplicable Phenomena. Pravda October 30, 2009
10. ↑ Angels of Doods