04.06.2014  NovSU professor Boris Kovalyov presented his new book about the Blue Division

On 4 June,  Boris Kovalyov, the NovSU Professor, Doctor of Historical Sciences and leading researcher of the Russian Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg Institute of History presented his new book “Volunteers for a Strangers’ War: An Outline of Blue Division History” in the news-room of the School of Humanities Scientific Library.  45,482 Spanish soldiers took part in the German war effort in Novgorod and Leningrad regions during the Second World War. About 5,000 of them were killed, more than 10,000 — wounded. Nowadays, a war cemetery in Pankovka serves as a reminder of the Blue Division being once present in the city.

The outline of Blue Division history that is exposed in the book was created by Boris Kovalyov as far back as fifteen years ago, while writing his doctorate thesis. Nevertheless, as Dr. Kovalyov said, when he decided to write this book, he had to work quite hard for the next three years. “This is the history of Spanish troops in the Novgorod region only. The book kind of lacks its middle. It begins with the arrival of Spanish soldiers near Novgorod, then skips the period of their being outside Leningrad. Then, in the last feature, I follow the fate of several hundred Spanish immured here, in the Borovichi prisoner of war camp, until the middle of the fifties, when they finally were able to return home”, explained Doctor of Historical Sciences Boris Kovalyov. In addition, he mentioned that he continues working on his next book about the Blue Division history. He intends to finish there the features about Novgorod, at the same time paying special attention to the towns Pushkin and Pavlovsk.

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