70,000 Azeris were in German captivity

AssA-Irada (Azerbaijani News Agency)
January, 2001

The Ministry of National Security press-service has released a
list of Azeri POWs of the World War II, indicating first and last
names, as well as dates of birth, of 70,000 people. The list has
been compiled on the basis of the Ministry's archives, as well as
German archives captured by Soviet troops during the war. The
list has been published in an alphabetical order by the ministry'
s "Sarhad" (border) newspaper in an article named "Restoring the
memory". The MNS employee Jalal Gasimov, who has contributed a
great deal of time and energy to the job, has told AssA-Irada of
the historical, political and moral value of the document. From
the historical standpoint, the release of the once forbidden
facts can play tremendous role in revealing the truth of to the
World War. From the political viewpoint, the list can facilitate
the process of formation of Azeri lobby abroad and foster its
communication with the homeland. Finally, the moral significance
of the document is that many of those who received "killed in
action" notices during the war will now find out the truth of
their relatives' fates. It is indicative that the list of those
killed during the Bolshevik repression of 1920-1941 was published
in the previous issue of the newspaper.