Sologubovka Cemetery is a German war cemetery and the final resting place of over 30,000 German war dead from World War II. Located southeast of St. Petersburg in northwestern Russia, it has a capacity for a further 50,000 burials of previously lost German war dead.

History

In September 2000, the Sologubovka Cemetery was opened in the presence of German and Russian officials, including many German veterans hoping to find lost comrades. The cemetery is one of dozens opened or refurbished since the end of the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

by the

German War Graves Commission The German War Graves Commission ( in German) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa. Its objectives are acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves; tending to next of kin; youth ...

, which is tasked with restoring and maintaining the graves of German soldiers from both world wars. Most of the fallen soldiers remained lost or unknown for over forty years, their graves destroyed, abandoned or simply unknown.

Russian sentiment

The cemetery's opening ceremony was boycotted by some Russian

Siege of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

veterans, but local residents showed appreciation for the refurbishment of the church and road improvements provided by Germany. More than 700,000 Soviets died during the

Battle of Leningrad The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...

near Sologubovka fighting German forces and their allies, presumably including those Germans buried here. Lingering anti-German sentiment over the war in general and the fact that the USSR frequently did not bury its own

war dead A casualty, as a term in military usage, is a person in military service, combatant or non-combatant, who becomes unavailable for duty due to any of several circumstances, including death, injury, illness, capture or desertion. In civilian usag ...

was mentioned in the press, but no protests or overt hostility towards the new German presence was reported.

Lost German war dead

Up to 10,000 German military dead are found and buried each year in this part of Russia. The cemetery has become a point of reconciliation between German and Russian youth, who jointly search for unmarked graves around Sologubovka and elsewhere in Russia. The

Goethe-Institut The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...

sponsors events and exhibitions at Sologubovka Cemetery to heighten awareness of the missing soldiers from World War II and to facilitate mutual German-Russian understanding and recognition of war dead. The

estimates there are still many thousands of German unmarked war graves throughout Russia and areas of the former Eastern Front but has successfully located and reinterred over 600,000 in German sponsored cemeteries like Sologubovka since the end of the

Notes

External links

* (de
German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge). Military cemetery (Deutsche Kriegsgräberstätte Sologubowka)
* (de
Axel Vogel: ''Recht auf ein anständiges Grab.'' (in English: Right for a grave) In: taz.de from february, 7 2004.
* {{Find a Grave cemetery German War Graves Commission Cemeteries in Russia Military cemeteries Military history of Germany World War II cemeteries

History

Russian sentiment

Lost German war dead

See also

Notes

External links