War cemetery

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grave field and memorial for bomb victims in Gelsenkirchen-Horst
Memorial plaque for the victims of the air raids on Dresden on the Old Annenfriedhof
Ehrenhain Hamburg resistance fighters at the Ohlsdorf cemetery

A war cemetery is a grave where victims of war and tyranny are buried.

Military and civil casualties

According to the Graves Act, the term includes soldiers as well as civilian deaths from z. B. Bomb attacks, victims of forced labor during the Nazi era , those who died in captivity , those who fled and were expelled, and people who died as a result of violence by the GDR. In the last few decades there has been a shift away from the sole concept of the military cemetery , where usually only the military victims of direct military combat operations are buried.

In addition, naval war graves are also considered war cemeteries.

International legal basis

Today, the Geneva Conventions provide internationally binding principles for the establishment and maintenance of war cemeteries. In the additional protocol of 1977, Art. 34 mortal remains states :

“The mortal remains of persons who died in connection with an occupation or during an imprisonment caused by occupation or hostility, and of persons who were not nationals of the state in which they died as a result of hostilities, are respected; The graves of all these persons are also respected, maintained and marked in accordance with Article 130 of the IV. Agreement [...]. "

- Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, June 8, 1977.

German war graves

War cemetery at the Elsterhorst camp near Elsterheide -Nardt
The cemetery for the Schandelah subcamp in the Scheppau cemetery
Besch war cemetery in Saarland

Burial law

In the Federal Republic of Germany, the law on the preservation of graves of victims of war and tyranny (Graves Act) has been in force since 1952 , revised by the notice of January 16, 2012 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 98 ). As a result, the following civil and military facilities are considered war cemeteries:

  1. Graves of people in accordance with Section 5 of the Law on the Preservation of Warrior Graves from the World War of December 29, 1922 (RGBl. 1923 I p. 25) ,
  2. Graves of people who fell or died in the period from August 26, 1939 to March 31, 1952 during their military or similar service, or who died as a result of the damage to health suffered in these services, as well as graves of people who were taken prisoners of war or died of the consequences of this by March 31, 1952 or within one year of the end of the captivity,
  3. Graves of civilians who died between September 1, 1939 and March 31, 1952 as a result of the direct effects of the war or who died as a result of the damage to health suffered as a result of the direct effects of the war,
  4. Graves of people who died as victims of National Socialist violence since January 30, 1933 or who died as a result of these up to March 31, 1952,
  5. Graves of people who died as a result of unlawful measures as a victim of the communist regime or who suffered damage to their health, as a result of which they died within one year of the termination of these measures,
  6. Graves of expellees according to Section 1 of the Federal Expellees Act, who died in the period from September 1, 1939 during the resettlement until May 8, 1945 or during the expulsion or flight until March 31, 1952,
  7. Graves of Germans who have been abducted since September 1, 1939 and who died during the deportation or within one year of its termination as a result of the damage to health suffered in the process,
  8. Graves of people who died in internment camps under German administration between September 1, 1939 and May 8, 1945,
  9. Graves of people who were abducted from September 1, 1939 to May 8, 1945 to do work in the area of ​​the German Reich or who were detained in this area against their will and who died during this time,
  10. Graves of foreigners cared for in assembly camps by a recognized international refugee organization who died there or after being transferred to a hospital between May 9, 1945 and June 30, 1950. If the management of the collective warehouse was transferred to the responsibility of German authorities after July 1, 1950, the day before the transfer to German administration takes place on June 30, 1950.

These graves are permanent. There is no limited rest period .

Inland war graves

Due to the high number of victims of war and tyranny, in contrast to other countries, a central memorial cannot be implemented. Therefore, there are separate sections of war cemeteries in most cemeteries. In Germany, the federal states and, in a broader sense, the cemeteries are responsible for maintaining the graves. The funds to receive it come from the Ministry of the Interior. Both military and civilian victims of war and tyranny often lie on the local war cemeteries.

German war cemeteries abroad

There are over 2.8 million German war dead abroad in 46 countries. Germany has more than 30 war grave agreements with countries around the world. In principle, the many war cemeteries within a country should be brought together to form a central war cemetery for better care. The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge is responsible for recording, maintaining and maintaining the graves of German war dead abroad on behalf of the federal government. This task is partly taken over by partner organizations, such as the "War Graves Commission Namibia". The funds come from the Federal Foreign Office .

Traffic signs

The seldom preserved "Bild 38c", which was issued in 1957.
The traffic sign "385 B" on Landesstraße 121, introduced in 1971 with the StVO

From 1957 to 2009 there were initially only road signs for war cemeteries in the Federal Republic of Germany, and from 1990 also in the area of ​​the former GDR. These were abolished with the revision of the Road Traffic Regulations from 2013. Instead, it is now possible to use combinations of symbols and signs from the series of tourist information signs and routes that have a brown background.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Additional Protocol of June 8, 1977 to the Geneva Agreement of August 12, 1949 on the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflict , Section III Missing and Dead (SR 0.518.521), from the federal authorities of the Swiss Confederation , accessed on October 28, 2007 .
  2. ↑ Foreign Office: German war graves abroad. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .
  3. ↑ War cemeteries - construction, maintenance and repair. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .
  4. ↑ Country information: Namibia - construction, maintenance and repair | Volksbund.de. Retrieved July 12, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Signs for war cemeteries . In: Verkehrsblatt , 1957, p. 105.
  6. ↑ Klaus Schäfer: Pictures of war cemeteries