German war cemetery 1939/45 Valašské Meziříčí / Wallachian Meseritz
The Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V. (German War Graves Commission) is responsible for the German war dead of the two world wars abroad on behalf of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany. After evaluating the grave reports for today's Czech Republic, 18,368 graves of German soldiers who died in the Second World War were found in 1,635 municipalities. The actual number is probably much higher. Due to a lack of documentation, the Volksbund knows very little about the number of civilian casualties.
As a result of the changed political situation in Eastern Europe, the Volksbund has been able to become active in what is now the Czech Republic since the beginning of the 1990s. Since then, it has been engaged in locating German war graves and transferring the fallen to central cemeteries. The work is carried out on the basis of Article 30 of the treaty concluded between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic on February 27, 1992, which contains the declaration of intent of both governments to protect the war graves and to enable their registration and care. The conclusion of a war graves agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Czech Republic is still pending.
The town cemetery in Valašské Meziříčí is the central cemetery for those who died in North Moravia during the Second World War. As the soldiers' graves originally laid out in the cemetery during the war were overburdened and there was no possibility of extending the site, three new cemeteries were laid out on a slope at the edge of the cemetery. The war dead rest here. The graves can be reached from the memorial square via two small steps. The memorial square is marked by a wooden high cross. Name plaques will be placed there at a later date. The graves are marked with granite crosses bearing the names, dates and ranks of four fallen soldiers on each side. The German military cemetery is now part of an area of war graves, as a Turkish memorial below the German graves commemorates the Turks who were buried here during the First World War and the dead of other wars and nations are commemorated with multilingual memorial plaques. In the immediate vicinity are some symbolic gravestones from the former adjacent Jewish cemetery. The cemetery was inaugurated on 15.09.2001.
Notes on the information in the name book Various terms are used in this memorial book, which are explained in more detail below: "In memory of" Our reburial service searched for a grave registered for a specific location, but was unable to recover the remains. "Among the unknown" The war dead could not be clearly identified during the reburial work. However, it is highly probable that he rests in the block of the cemetery indicated and is one of those buried there as an "Unknown German soldier". Information on the grave location If a reburial has already taken place, the exact grave location is given (e.g. block 1, row 25, grave 1181). If we have not yet been able to search for a grave, the place of death or grave location stated on the notification is listed. "Missing" The person is missing in the reburial area of the war cemetery.
Please note that not all war dead or missing persons listed by name in the Memorial Book have yet been recorded on name plates or grave markers at the war cemetery. Status: February 9, 2017
