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The ceremonial reburial of the remains of Soviet soldiers who died during the liberation of Austria from fascism was held at the Hartberg-Zafenau Austrian military cemetery. Memory research center reported this on its page on the social network. Seven people were reburied. The Order of Glory of one of them was found with the remains. According to archival documents, it was awarded to Ivan Mikhailovich Akhapkin. The award will be given to his descendants.
Participants of the mourning ceremony were Russian and Belarusian diplomats, local government officials, and representatives of Austrian Armed Forces. Members of the Black Cross memorial organizations, the Kameradschaftsbund and many others joined them.
The initiator of the exhumation and burial ceremony was a historian, public figure Peter Siksl. He published two Books of Memory called Soviet Citizens, Dead and Buried in Austria. He died just a few days before the ceremony.
The speakers called Peter Siksl a great friend of Russia and stressed that such a ceremony would not have taken place without his works.
As Russkiy Mir reported, Austrian researcher spent more than twenty years to the memory restoration. During a visit to Austria in 2014, Vladimir Putin thanked him "for his great contribution to the perpetuation of the memory of Soviet citizens who died in Austria during the Second World War."
Russkiy Mir
