The Berlin 1939–1945 War Cemetery that honors 3,595 allied soldiers

@ElentirENG ES 3·31·2023 · 23:45 0

During World War II, young men from many countries, even as far away as Australia and New Zealand, fought in Europe.

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In Berlin, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) maintains two cemeteries. One of them, Stahnsdorf, brings together soldiers who fell in the First World War. The other, located near Charlottenburg, is the Berlin 1939–1945 War Cemetery, which has 3,595 servicemen. The vast majority of the graves are of soldiers, sailors and airmen who fell in World War II Worldwide, although there are also 265 graves corresponding to the British occupation forces and the German Control Commission in the postwar period.

The vast majority of the buried soldiers were airmen who were shot down over Germany during World War II. There are also prisoners of war. Among the graves there is also that of 397 unidentified soldiers. Most of the soldiers buried in this cemetery are British, but there are also Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Indians and Poles. Last year, the Youtube channel Sir Paranoia posted a video showing this cemetery:

You can see here some of the images included in the video. What we see here is called the Cross of Sacrifice. It is a Latin cross with a bronze sword that has been featured since 1920 in all Commonwealth war cemeteries that have at least 40 graves.

In the cemetery there is this inscription in German that says the following: "Das Gelände dieses Friedhofes wurde vom deutschen Volk als dauernde Ruhestätte und als Ehrung für die gefallenen Seeleute, Soldaten und Flieger zur Verfügung gestellt" (The site of this cemetery was made available by the German people as a permanent resting place and as a tribute to fallen sailors, soldiers, and airmen.)

Red poppies are the memorial flowers for fallen soldiers in Commonwealth cemeteries, inspired by a poem titled "In Flanders Fields", written by Canadian Medical Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae in 1915.

The grave of a New Zealand soldier. His remains rest more than 18,000 kilometers from his homeland.

Graves of Royal Canadian Air Force aviators. Like everything else in this cemetery, the tombstones are in excellent condition.