RARE 1945 WWII German Document Young 22 y/o Russian Soviet POW Death Record Iwan Parfenow

Original WWII German “Nachweis über Sterbefall eines Kriegsgefangenen” — official death record of a prisoner of war — documenting the suspicious death of Soviet POW Iwan Parfenow, a very young Russian/Soviet soldier who died in German captivity at Dudweiler near Saarbrücken in January 1945.

This is another historically significant late-war POW death document from the Saar region, completed only months before the end of WWII in Europe. The document includes personal information, POW identification number, unit information, cause and place of death, burial information, official stamp, and original signatures.

Detailed Translation & Document Information

Document: Nachweis über Sterbefall eines Kriegsgefangenen
Translation: “Record concerning the death of a prisoner of war”

Nationality: Soviet / Russian — the nationality field appears abbreviated “sowj.”, for sowjetisch (Soviet).

Surname: Parfenow
First name: Iwan (Ivan)

Rank: Soldat — Soldier

Birthplace: Seliterny
Year of birth: 1922

Parfenow therefore appears to have been only approximately 22 years old when he died.

Family / Home Information

The next-of-kin section contains handwritten information that appears to identify:

Name: Grashonja / Grashonja Parfenowa
Location: Stalino, Krasnoarmejsk district
District: D. Seliterny

The document also carries the notation:

“unbekannt” — unknown

Some of the handwritten Russian place-name transliterations are difficult to interpret precisely, so they are presented as they appear rather than assigning uncertain modern locations.

Military / POW Information

Under “Truppenteil (letzte Einheit)” — Unit (last unit) the typed entry appears to read approximately:

6. Komp. … Schtz.-Batl. 381

indicating a 6th Company / battalion-related assignment, with 381 clearly visible at the end.

POW / identification number: 14500

This number is particularly useful for further archival or genealogical research into the prisoner.

Cause of Death

The handwritten cause of death appears to be:

“Pneumonia grippe”

indicating pneumonia / influenza (grippe).

The typed death entry records his death at Dudweiler in January 1945. The date is faint, but appears consistent with January 13, 1945, which is also the date recorded in the burial section.

The document therefore records a Soviet POW, born in 1922, dying from severe respiratory illness during the winter of 1944–45.

Burial Information

The burial section records:

Buried: January 13, 1945
Place: Dudweiler
Province: Pfalz
District: Saarbrücken
Cemetery: Dudweiler

The burial date is again recorded as:

13.1.45 — January 13, 1945

No individual grave number appears to have been entered.

Official Stamp & Signatures

The bottom of the document bears an original circular German official ink stamp with eagle emblem as well as multiple original signatures.

The lower-left field is marked:

“Kreiskontrolloffizier” — District Control Officer

with an additional official designation underneath referring to the officer as Hauptmann u. Komp. Chef — Captain and Company Commander.

On the right is an original handwritten signature over:

“Arzt-Unterschrift” — Doctor’s Signature

with a separate printed field underneath for:

“Lagerarzt” — Camp Doctor

These original administrative markings make this a particularly complete example of this type of German POW mortality document.

Historical Context

Dudweiler is part of the Saarbrücken industrial region, an area where large numbers of foreign workers and prisoners of war were employed during WWII, particularly in mining and heavy industry.

The date of January 1945 is especially significant. Germany was entering the final months of the war, the Western Front was approaching the Saar, transportation and food supplies were increasingly disrupted, and prisoner populations were particularly vulnerable to disease, malnutrition and inadequate medical treatment.

The official cause written on this document appears to be pneumonia/influenza. The certificate itself does not establish any additional cause, but the death of an approximately 22-year-old Soviet POW from respiratory disease must be understood within the extremely difficult conditions experienced by Soviet prisoners in German captivity.

The combination of the prisoner’s young age, identifiable POW number, unit information, Dudweiler/Saarbrücken location, medical cause of death, burial information, signatures and official stamp makes this a valuable primary-source document for research into Soviet POWs and forced labor in the Saar industrial region during the closing months of WWII.

Condition

Original period document with age toning, handling and storage wear, filing/punch holes, minor edge and corner wear, scattered marks and other normal signs of age.

Original handwritten entries, signatures and official circular ink stamp remain visible.

Please examine all photographs carefully for exact condition, handwriting, names and details.

Item is sold exactly as shown.

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