This text is a result of the research project of the State Association of Hesse<a href="https://hessen.volksbund.de/aktuell/projekte/artikel/kriegsgraeberstaetten-in-hessen" target="_blank" title=""On the historical reappraisal of selected war cemeteries in Hesse">"On the historical reappraisal of selected war cemeteries in Hesse"</a>.</h2> <h3>Text of the information board</h3><p>A total of 11,180 dead from the First and Second World Wars have found their final resting place in 13 cemeteries in the city of Kassel. The largest war cemeteries are located at the main cemetery and in Bettenhausen and Rothenditmold. Further collective cemeteries for Russian and British soldiers of the First World War were established in Niederzwehren/Langes Feld district.</p><p>The three cemeteries located here in the main cemetery were already established during the war and were later arranged by the German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e.V.). In this context, further cemeteries in Kassel were transferred, including the cemetery of the Wehlheiden prison. The buried dead include German and foreign men, women and children. </p> <p>617 German Wehrmacht soldiers and members of the Waffen-SS were buried in cemetery I. Around 3,500 civilian German victims of the bombing campaign were laid to rest in cemetery II. </p><p>283 prisoners of war and forced laborers from various European countries were laid to rest in cemetery III. </p><h3>I Cemetery of German soldiers (section 57)</h3><p>As the old capital of the Electorate of Hesse, Kassel had a long military tradition. During the Nazi era, Kassel was referred to as the "city of soldiers". Numerous military authorities and staff were housed here, as were military justice facilities. </p><p>One of the soldiers who died in Kassel a few days before the invasion of the US army was 47-year-old Hans Fellenz (section 57, grave 639). Fellenz was employed as a doctor at the Rothwesten air base command post and probably died defending the city on April 3, 1945. </p><h3>II Cemetery of German civilian bombing victims (section 30)</h3><p>From June 1940 to March 1945, Kassel was subjected to numerous bombing raids. With housing losses of 59% and a homelessness rate of 75%, Kassel was one of the most destroyed cities in Germany at the end of the war. </p><p>The worst attack was suffered by the people of Kassel on the night of October 22-23, 1943, when the entire city center burned down and around 80% of the city's built-up area was destroyed. Around 10,000 people lost their lives. </p><p>The burial of the bomb victims took place in six cemeteries throughout the city. Italian prisoners of war had to dig mass graves in which the dead were initially laid side by side, later in two layers on top of each other. This was an attempt to avoid the risk of epidemics. </p><h3>III Cemetery of foreign forced laborers and prisoners of war (Dept. 20)</h3><p>As in many other cities of the German Reich, thousands of forced laborers were deployed in local armaments factories in Kassel during the war. Towards the end of the war, there were almost 23,000 people from various European countries. Most of them had been deported to Kassel from Poland and the former Soviet Union. </p><p>Many of them died of exhaustion, hunger and malnutrition. The most common causes of death were TB, heart disease, typhus and infectious diseases. Between 1940 and 1945, at least 54 Belgians, 160 French, 33 Italians, 123 Dutch, 155 Poles and 184 Soviet citizens died in Kassel. At least a further 886 foreign forced laborers died in bombing raids.</p><h3>Individual fate plaques at the main cemetery</h3><p>In the second phase of the research project, biographies of 12 of the dead buried in the cemetery were researched. In future, these biographies will be presented in the form of individual fate plaques in the main cemetery. The plaques were presented to the public on April 21, 2016.</p
