Russian State Military Archives (Osobyi) records

Contains records captured by the Red Army around the end of World War II currently housed at the Russian State Military Archive, formerly the Osobyi archives. In 1992, the Osobyi was renamed the Center for the Preservation of Historical Documentary Collections (CPHDC) and in 1999 The Russian Archives Committee merged the CPHDC into the Russian State Military Archives (RGVA) located next door. The RGVA contains prewar Soviet military documents. While the Osobyi is now a part of RGVA, the old Osobyi fond numbers for the various collections remain unchanged. In 1992, the Osobyi was renamed the Center for the Preservation of Historical Documentary Collections (CPHDC) and in 1999 The Russian Archives Committee merged the CPHDC into the Russian State Military Archives (RGVA) located next door. The RGVA contains prewar Soviet military documents. While the Osobyi is now a part of RGVA, the old Osobyi fond numbers for the various collections remain unchanged. Soviet archival authorities retained the original arrangement of the records, i.e. each collection (called a fond in Russian) contains files from a particular German government, Nazi party, or other governments’ agencies and non-governmental organizations. For many years, Russia did not allow reproduction of complete collections; thus the Museum’s earlier acquisitions are incomplete (records from the period prior to 1933 have in many cases not been reproduced), or are scattered throughout several accessions. Thus the Museum’s earlier acquisitions are incomplete (for example, records from the period prior to 1933 have in many cases not been reproduced), or are scattered throughout several accessions. More recently, the Museum has reproduced some complete collections. In several collections the material appears on non-sequentially numbered microfilm reels due to haphazard reproduction conditions early in the Museum’s project in Moscow, making access cumbersome. Therefore, the microfilmed records at the USHMM follow this arrangement and each of the collections in RG-11 represents a file from a specific organization, the name of which is listed in the collection’s title. Organized into the following subgroups: RG-11.001M*01-RG-11.001M*98. Arrangement of the files is thematic.