German soldiers who fell in the Demyansk region are buried at the collective cemetery in Korpovo. There is room for a total of 60,000 dead on the site.
Description of the cemetery
The Korpowo war cemetery is located very close to the small village of Korpowo, south of Lake Ilmen. The four-hectare site is located around 60 kilometers south-east of Staraya Russa and offers space for a total of 60,000 dead.
The burial areas are planted with grass and trees. Groups of symbolic crosses are spread across the areas. The cemetery is enclosed by a boulder wall at the front and a metal fence at the back. A paved path leads from the entrance gate to the memorial square with a high cross. The names, dates of birth and death of the identified dead are documented there. Once the burials are complete, the names and dates of the known dead are immortalized on granite steles and placed in the respective burial blocks. So far, 30,099 names have been recorded on 89 granite steles.
Occupancy
There are now 39,976 dead buried in Korpowo. Among them are almost 20,000 German soldiers who fell in the Demyansk region and in the battle of the same name. The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (German War Graves Commission) is expecting further burials.
History
The Battle of Demyansk raged south-east of Lake Ilmen from January 8 to April 21, 1942. The Red Army encircled six German divisions there with around 95,000 soldiers. After prolonged fighting, the last German troops withdrew from the area in March 1943. The Volksbund dedicated the Korpovo collective cemetery on September 2, 2001.
