Sources & Artifacts
Every document behind the biography — full scans, transcriptions, and citations.
Provenance
Everything below was digitized by Память народа, the Russian Ministry of Defense's WWII records project, drawn from ЦАМО holdings. Full-resolution images were pulled directly from the site's per-document download function on 20 July 2026.
The widow's letter
The most direct account of Waltz's death is secondhand, and it comes from his wife. In 1943, chasing an answer for her pension file, Elizaveta Waltz forwarded two letters she'd received to the Red Army Cavalry Command's personnel office. Both are quoted below, transcribed from the scan.
Excerpt from the wife's letter — loss report, page 3 of 4
eyewitness accountdeath date dispute
From Captain Yevgeny Petrov, an officer who served alongside him:
«...в районе Беловодска мы узнали, что наш корпус и другие части попали в окружение. Нужно отметить, что ВАЛЬЦ во всех операциях показал себя не только хорошим товарищем, но и очень хорошим командиром, быстро и толково ориентировался в боевой обстановке, а главное умел принимать правильное решение... Все части корпуса стали быстро отходить на Миллерово. На ВАЛЬЦА была возложена обязанность проверить состояние и правильность отхода дивизий корпуса. В р‑не Волошино‑Миллерово ВАЛЬЦ с несколькими разведчиками поехал на очередную проверку и из них никто не вернулся, вернулась только ординарец‑лошадь ВАЛЬЦА. Разъезд ВАЛЬЦА напоролся на засаду немецких автоматчиков. Так погиб полковник ВАЛЬЦ.» "...near Beloviodsk we learned that our corps and other units had been surrounded. WALTZ, in every operation, proved himself not just a good comrade but a genuinely good commander — quick and sound under pressure, and above all decisive. All units of the corps began withdrawing fast toward Millerovo. WALTZ was given the job of checking that the divisions' withdrawal held together. Near Voloshino–Millerovo he rode out with several scouts on a routine check, and none of them came back — only his orderly's horse returned. His patrol had run into a German ambush. That's how Colonel WALTZ died."
From the wife of Colonel Mikhail Salnikov, a secondhand account:
«...Юра погиб в целом месяце под ст. Каменской. Об этом есть сведения в Инспекции Кавалерии, где он значится в списке погибших смертью храбрых. Капитан, который был у [штаба], подтверждает то же самое (видимо это был ПЕТРОВ). Кроме того Николай Андреевич, который вот уже полтора месяца живет с нами в командировке, [со слов очевидца] видел своими глазами, как Юра упал с лошади замертво, лошадь его простреленная поскакала и тут же пала...» "...Yura died about a month ago near Kamenskaya station. The Cavalry Inspectorate has this on record — he's listed among those killed in action. A captain who was on staff there confirms it (probably Petrov). And Nikolai Andreyevich, who's been staying with us a month and a half now on assignment, says he saw with his own eyes how Yura fell dead from his horse — the horse, shot, ran on a few steps and then went down too..."
A few words near the end are lost to document damage and faint typing; bracketed phrases above mark the least certain readings — treat them as approximate, not verbatim.
Full-resolution scan → · page 1 (cover letter) → · page 2 (stamps) → · page 4 (signatures) →
The cover report — and where the daughter's name comes from
wife nameddaughter namedhome address
«...Полковник ВАЛЬЦ рождения 1897 года, уроженец г. Ново‑Украинка УССР, русский, служащий, член ВКП/б/ с 1937 года... в Красной Армии с 1918г, участник гражданской и Отечественной войны, имеет одно ранение на Польском фронте, награжден орденом «КРАСНАЯ ЗВЕЗДА» и юбилейной медалью «ХХ лет РККА». Жена полковника ВАЛЬЦ — ВАЛЬЦ Елизавета Николаевна и дочь НИНА рождения 1926г. проживают в гор. Чкалове, 51 авиагородок, дом № 2/27, кв. 33.» "...Colonel WALTZ, born 1897, native of Novo-Ukrainka, Ukrainian SSR, Russian, white-collar service member, VKP(b) member since 1937... in the Red Army since 1918, a participant in the Civil War and the Patriotic War, with one wound from the Polish front, decorated with the Order of the RED STAR and the jubilee medal 'XX Years of the RKKA.' Colonel WALTZ's wife — WALTZ Elizaveta Nikolaevna, and daughter NINA, born 1926, live in the city of Chkalov, Aviagorodok district, building No. 2/27, apt. 33."
This report is the cover letter that forwards Captain Petrov's account and the widow's letter (above) up the chain, and asks that Waltz formally be struck from the rolls. Full-resolution scan →
Confirming the family, twice more
Two more 1943 documents name Elizaveta Waltz independently of the loss report above — worth having on record precisely because they don't rely on each other.
Roll-removal register, Chkalov военкомат
wife namedhome address
«24. Полковник ВАЛЬЦ Юрий Владимирович — заместитель командира 5 кавалерийского корпуса. Погиб в апреле 1942г. Рождения 1897г., чл. ВКП/б/. Жена ВАЛЬЦ Елизавета Николаевна — проживает г. Чкалов, Авиагородок, 2/27, кв. 33.» "24. Colonel WALTZ Yuri Vladimirovich — deputy commander, 5th Cavalry Corps. Died April 1942. Born 1897, VKP(b) member. Wife WALTZ Elizaveta Nikolaevna — resides Chkalov, Aviagorodok, 2/27, apt. 33."
Pension certificate
wife named
«Дана гражданке ВАЛЬЦ Елизавете Николаевне в том, что её муж Полковник ВАЛЬЦ Юрий Владимирович служил во вверенном мне соединении... В ночь с 16 на 17‑е июля 1942г. полковник ВАЛЬЦ во время атаки соединения немецкими танками был ранен, упал с лошади и остался на поле боя тяжело раненым или убитым.» "Issued to citizen WALTZ Elizaveta Nikolaevna, certifying that her husband, Colonel WALTZ Yuri Vladimirovich, served under my command... On the night of 16–17 July 1942, during a German tank attack, Colonel WALTZ was wounded, fell from his horse, and was left on the field — badly wounded or dead."
Note the date: this certificate — from his own former commander — puts his death three months later than the register at left. Full-resolution scan →
The date nobody settled
Finance Directorate memo, 30 December 1948
death date dispute
«По приказу ГУК № 0627‑43/25 Полковник ВАЛЬЦ Юрий Владимирович значится погибшим в апреле 1942г. В справке, выданной... генерал‑майором ПАРХОМЕНКО указано, что он погиб в ночь с 16 на 17 июля 1942г. В связи с назначением пенсии его семье, прошу Вашего распоряжения уточнить дату гибели полковника ВАЛЬЦ.» "Per GUK Order No. 0627-43/25, Colonel WALTZ is recorded as having died in April 1942. A certificate from Major-General PARKHOMENKO states he died the night of 16–17 July 1942. In connection with the pension for his family, I request that the date of Colonel WALTZ's death be clarified."
Six years after his death, the Red Army's own records office still couldn't reconcile its two dates. Nothing later in the file shows it ever got resolved. Full-resolution scan →
Personnel and service record
His Учетно‑послужная картотека (service card), five pages, ЦАМО via Память народа.
Card front — page 2 of 5
service record
Field 9, marital status, reads "женат" (married) — no spouse named; that only shows up in the 1943 documents above.
Posting log — page 3 of 5
service record
The chronological posting record behind the "Between the wars" section of the biography — Tambov, 2nd Cavalry Corps, 5th Cavalry Corps, and the rest.
Second card variant — page 4 of 5
service record
A duplicate card repeating the same fields; marital status is left blank here.
Page 5 of 5 — blank continuation table →
Where he came from
No ЦАМО document names his parents. Here's everything that touches the question, and one lead ruled out.
- Тамбовские даты (Tambov Regional Library) —
dates.tambovlib.ru/?id=date.pitem.426.
The only source that touches his family at all:
«...родился 26 марта 1897 года в Павловске Херсонской губернии (ныне Новоукраинка, Украина) в семье служащих немецкого происхождения.» "...born 26 March 1897 in Pavlovsk, Kherson Governorate (now Novoukrainka), into a family of white-collar employees of German origin."
No names. This appears to be an independent write-up, not a copy of Память народа's biography — it adds a detail (German origin) that the ЦАМО summary doesn't have. - Ru.Wikipedia — ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Вальц,_Юрий_Владимирович. Pins the birthplace down to Elisavetgrad district specifically — useful for narrowing a future parish-record search. No family information otherwise.
- divizia-rkka.ru — divizia-rkka.ru/вальц-юрий-владимирович. Corroborates the same service record; no family detail.
- Ruled out: the Bolshoi Theatre's Karl Fyodorovich Waltz (1846–1929), the only well-documented Waltz family in Russian records — baza.vgd.ru/1/40643/, ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Вальц,_Карл_Фёдорович. Son of Fyodor Karlovich Waltz, a Russified Baltic-German stage machinist, both based in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Wrong patronymic line (Karlovich, not Vladimirovich), wrong city, nothing connecting them to Kherson Governorate. Noted here only because the shared surname makes the link tempting.
- The same VGD page also lists an unrelated Иван Иосифович Вальц, born 1895 — an ethnic-German Gulag prisoner from Crimea, arrested 1932. Different patronymic, different region; not connected.
The most promising unopened lead: his actual ЦАМО personal file — card № 155276, box В-103 — which Soviet officer files of this kind typically fill out with an autobiography and Party questionnaire naming parents and social origin. Память народа hasn't digitized it. Reaching it means a formal request to ЦАМО, or a research visit. Parish records and revision lists for Pavlovsk/Novoukrainka and the Elisavetgrad German colonies, held at the Kherson Oblast State Archive, are the other unopened door — untouched in this research pass.
Referenced but not pulled as images
- Картотека личных дел (ЦАМО personal-file card index), card № 155276, box В‑103 — see above. Not scanned by Память народа; metadata only.
- Документ, уточняющий потери (1942, ВК Оренбургской обл.) — a 110-page consolidated losses register. Row 887 reads «Полковник Юрий Владимирович [ВАЛЬЦ] ... Погиб в Апреле 1942г.» — transcribed on-screen, not saved as a file. No family data on this page; it's a losses register, not a next-of-kin record.
- Картотека награждений / Order of the Red Star award card (22 Feb 1941) — referenced in the biography, not independently pulled as an image.
- Записи из БД офицеров ЦА МО РФ — three cross-referencing ЦАМО officer database entries confirming birth date, place, call-up date, and date of death; not pulled as images.
A second Waltz, probably unrelated
A separate Память народа page, person-hero125022446, lists a "Colonel Yuri Vladimirovich Waltz" tied to the Northwestern Front and a Central NKO hospital, via three wound-index cards — metadata only, no scans, no birth date:
«Воинское звание: полковник. Последнее место службы: Северо‑Западный фронт. Госпиталь: Центральный госпиталь НКО.»
That front doesn't match this colonel's documented service (5th Cavalry Corps / 54th Cavalry Division / Southern Front), and with no birth date to cross-check, there's no way to confirm or rule out identity. Treated here as a likely different officer who happened to share a name, and left out of the biography.
Citation
Central Archive of the Russian Ministry of Defense (ЦАМО), digitized and published by Память народа, record for Вальц Юрий Владимирович (person-hero123786181), retrieved 20 July 2026. The biographical synthesis and translations on this site are ours; where the archive's own record contradicts itself — the date of death, chiefly — this site shows the contradiction rather than quietly picking a side.