How were German soldiers who died in the Second World War memorialised after the war had ended?

by 32bjd

In occupied Germany how did the to what extent did the Occupiers allow memorials commemorating fallen Nazi soldiers, and what form did these memorials take?

Akasazh

I love you asking this question as I'm currently involved in a research project around Ysselsteyn cemetery in the Netherlands. Ysselsteyn is a huge cemetery that is the resting place of about 35.000 german soldiers (and people affiliated with the german army).

Ysselsteyn was set up after the war. It was originally the site where deceased of a German POW camp were interred. The Dutch governement originally wanted to return the bodies to Germany, to be interred in a collective graveyard in the lower Rhine area, but that plan was deemed logistically infeasable. It was then decided that it would be the burial site for all German soldiers that died in the Netherlands during the war.

This was decided because all over the Netherlands there were regular graveyards and special soldatenfriedhoven were the German soldiers were buried and most municipalities really didn't like the remains of their former opressors buried in honor. The locality of Ysselsteyn was really remote and close to the German border and, quite honestly, the ground was cheap, therefore it was the ideal place to inter all those bodies nobody wanted to honor.

So every German army related person that was interred in The Netherlands was transffered to there, even some that had died during the first World War. It also became the place where Dutch collaborators and some people that were in German occupation were buried. For instance, I came across a grave of a female whose 'rank' was filled in as 'tanzerin' or danser.

The German war grave sociƫty is paying for it's upkeep and often German soldiers spend some time of their training in helping out by restoring headstones etc.. It's an educational facility, too that has some barracks for German schoolclasses etc. So they can learn about the history of the war.

As you imagine it's not a very glorious place, but it has a certain dignity. Some graves have been transferred on behalf of their families and most of the Italian citizens have been returned to Italy. All transfered graves are marked with trees that grow there in stead of the headstone. A mother of a soldier interred there has donated an artwork that stand in the centre and is a carrilion that plays some German songs on freedom. She visited every year till recently.

As you imagine it is a controversial place and there have been protest by anti-fascists in the past. But mostly it is a really isolated place that few Dutch people ever hear about. On the German volkstrauertag or remembrance day of the fallen there is usually a solemn ceremony with some German and Dutch dignitaries. But it is mostly a place that tries to treat the dead with respect whilst educating new generations about the difficulties of war and the many stories about those that had their life cut short by it. It's not a place of glory, but a place of solemn reflection on the effect of war.

Now, as I'm replying to this very academical subreddit, I would like to cite my sources, but there's few acdemical works on this site. That would be something we'd like to change as there's of course may stories to be told about the multifacceted history of those that lost the war and their life (f.i. the youngest person interred was one day old as he died so he can absolutely not be branded as an opressor). The best I can do is this website and this wiki entry. But hopefully in the future there will be an actual academical paper to be cited.