The Memory. Sanl: A Quantitative Analysis of the Consolidated Database by Time and Place of Birth and Conscription

Abstract

Introduction. The article examines the four volumes of The Memory. Sanl from a quantitative perspective. The edition publishes an annotated list of ca. 34,500 Red Army soldiers and officers largely conscripted in the Kalmyk ASSR — and subsequently classified as KIAs and MIAs between 1941 and 1945. Goals. The paper attempts a quantitative analysis of somewhat consolidated database compiled from Kalmykia’s natives conscripted into the Soviet military forces in 1941–1945 — and contained in the four volumes of The Memory. Sanl. Materials and methods. The wide range of research methods employed includes both general scientific (synthesis, comparison, analysis, etc.) and statistical ones. Results. The insights into the database show the edition comprises quite a number of repetitions, mistakes and inaccuracies — mainly in spellings of personal names — which has required that corresponding corrections and revisions be introduced. The volumes mention a total of 26,458 KIAs and MIAs conscripted in the Kalmyk ASSR, at least half of them having been natives of Kalmykia. Furthermore, the consolidated list includes natives of other regions, primarily the bordering ones — Rostov Oblast, Stalingrad Oblast, and Ordzhonikidze Krai. The analysis by age shows the bulk of KIAs and MIAs from Kalmykia had been born between 1910 and 1924, since the latter were conscripted either prior to the war or during the earliest period when the Red Army was experiencing the severest casualties.

Keywords

• great patriotic war
• red army
• kalmyk assr
• memorial book
• database
• quantitative analysis
• fatal casualties