The German war cemetery Berjosa in Belarus is located around 100 kilometers north-east of Brest, on the road to Minsk. The town of Berjosa (also Bjarosa) has just under 30,000 inhabitants and is the center of the administrative district of the same name. The cemetery was inaugurated on October 1, 2005. By the end of 2018, 20,413 war dead had been buried here.
Cemetery description
The Berjosa war cemetery is a collective cemetery established by the Volksbund for German and Hungarian war dead of the Second World War who lost their lives in the regions of Brest, Grodno, Vitebsk, Gomel and Minsk. All the remains of German soldiers from the western part of Belarus that have yet to be recovered are reburied there. The names of the identified war dead are listed in alphabetical order on granite steles at the edge of the grave blocks. There is an information board in the impressively designed entrance area of the cemetery. From the entrance, the main path leads to a paved memorial square with a high cross. Groups of symbolic crosses mark the grave area, which is divided into several blocks. At the end of 2018, the number of dead reburied in the cemetery amounted to 20,413.
History
Belarus was the scene of fierce battles in both the First and Second World Wars, which claimed a large number of lives. In the Second World War alone, more than 2.2 million Belarusians lost their lives. Around 150,000 German soldiers died during the fighting and up to 40,000 as prisoners of war. By 2005, the War Graves Commission had been able to restore several First World War cemeteries, establish several prisoner of war cemeteries and three burial sites for the dead of the Second World War. The search for the grave sites and the exhumation of the remains took place in close cooperation with a special battalion of the Belarusian army. This cooperation was terminated by the Volksbund after Russia's attack on Ukraine.
Special feature
The collective cemetery established by the German War Graves Commission in Berjosa covers an area of four hectares. Up to 50,000 German war dead from the Second World War can find their final resting place in the cemetery.
