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Remains of World War II soldier killed in 1944 identified, returned home to Buffalo
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The remains of an American soldier who was killed in World War II have been identified and returned home to New York after nearly 80 years.
U.S. Army Pfc. Bartholomew Loschiavo of Buffalo was killed in action on Oct. 1, 1944, while his unit engaged German troops near Grevenmacher, Luxembourg.
According to a witness at the battle, 24-year-old Loschiavo was hit by an enemy mortar shell, injuring his legs and abdomen, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) said in a statement. While trying to reach over, Loschiavo rolled off a terrace and disappeared into a cluster of grapevines. His remains could not be located after the battle.
“He really wanted to serve. It was something he wanted to do and we’re proud of that. He did do that,” his great-nephew Donald Loschiavo told CBS affiliate WIVB-TV.
Local residents discovered his remains and buried him in the village cemetery in Grevenmacher in April 1945. A year later, the American Graves Registration Command recovered the remains and transferred them to the Luxembourg American Cemetery, where he was laid to rest in an anonymous grave for more than 75 years.
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
“There was 5,000 men in that cemetery alone, including Bart, and there’s 96 of them still, with no name,” Donald Loschiago told WIVB-TV. “I hope other people would do this for their family member and bring them home.”
In 2020, his family contacted DPAA to ask if analysts could determine whether the remains might have been those of their relative. After several years, the U.S. Department of Defense and the American Battle Monuments Commission notified the Loschiavo family that their DNA was a positive match to the remains.
On May 27, just days before what would have been Bartholomew Loschiavo’s 104 birthday, his remains were returned home, WIVB-TV reported.
“We couldn’t be more proud of him and what he did for this country,” great-nephew David Loschiavo told WIVB-TV. “That’s really what it’s all about.”
Pfc. Loschiavo’s name was recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Luxembourg American Cemetery. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. His final burial took place on Saturday in Buffalo.
“This is closure and just sad that his brothers and sisters never had a chance to find out the truth,” Donald Loschiavo said.
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Russian playwright, theater director sentenced to prison on terrorism charges
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A Russian court on Monday convicted a theater director and a playwright of terrorism charges and sentenced them to six years each in prison, the latest in an unrelenting crackdown on dissent across the country that has reached new heights since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
Zhenya Berkovich, a prominent independent theater director, and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk have already been in jail for over a year awaiting trial.
Authorities claimed their play “Finist, the Brave Falcon” justifies terrorism, which is a criminal offense in Russia punishable by up to seven years in prison. Berkovich and Petriychuk have both repeatedly rejected the accusations against them.
In one hearing, Berkovich told the court that she staged the play in order to prevent terrorism, and Petriychuk echoed her sentiment, saying that she wrote it in order to prevent events like those depicted in the play.
The women’s lawyers pointed out at court hearings before the trial that the play was supported by the Russian Culture Ministry and won the Golden Mask award, Russia’s most prestigious national theater award. In 2019, the play was read to inmates of a women’s prison in Siberia, and Russia’s state penitentiary service praised it on its website, Petriychuk’s lawyer said.
Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP
The case against Berkovich and Petriychuk elicited outrage in Russia. An open letter in support of the two artists, started by the independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper, was signed by more than 16,000 people since their arrest.
The play, the letter argued, “carries an absolutely clear anti-terrorist sentiment.”
Dozens of Russian actors, directors and journalists also signed affidavits urging the court to release the two from custody pending investigation and trial.
Immediately after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin unleashed a sweeping campaign of repression, unparalleled since the Soviet era. It has effectively criminalized any criticism of the war, with the authorities targeting not only prominent opposition figures who eventually received draconian prison terms, but anyone who spoke out against it, publicly or otherwise.
Pressure mounted on critical artists in Russia, too. Actors and directors were fired from state-run theaters, and musicians were blacklisted from performing in the country. Some were slapped with the label “foreign agent,” which carries additional government scrutiny and strong negative connotations. Many have left Russia.
Berkovich, who is raising two adopted daughters, refused to leave Russia and continued working with her independent theater production in Moscow, called Soso’s Daughters. Shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, she staged an anti-war picket and was jailed for 11 days.
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