In no battle of the Second World War were more soldiers killed than in the battle for Rzhev. There is a German and a Soviet military cemetery opposite each other in the town.
Cemetery description
Rzhev lies 200 kilometers west of Moscow on the upper reaches of the Volga. At the cemetery, 62 granite steles with 15,094 names commemorate soldiers buried there. On September 20, 2014, a replica of the sculpture "Mourning Parents" by Käthe Kollwitz was erected in front of the cemetery gate. The figures also look out over the graves of the Soviet war cemetery opposite. It is highly probable that her grandson Peter rests at the site in Rzhev in Block 10. The originals of the sculptures are located at the German war cemetery in Vladslo, Belgium. The artist's son, who lost his life in the First World War, is buried there.
Burial
More than 43,000 German casualties from the Second World War are buried at the cemetery.
History
Rzhev was of great strategic importance during the Second World War due to its favorable geographical location. From winter 1941 to spring 1943, the city was the scene of several heavy battles that are considered particularly brutal and bloody.
After initial negotiations with the city administration of Rzhev about the construction of a new war cemetery in 1996, the Volksbund was provided with a suitable site a year later. Although the Rzhev city council supported the project from the outset, opponents delayed the start of construction. Work did not begin until 1999.
Special feature
A Soviet cemetery was built opposite the German war cemetery with the support of the Rzhev War Graves Commission and the Rzhev Board of Trustees, an association of German war veterans. The inauguration of both cemeteries took place on September 28, 2002, and the German cemetery was extended in 2006. Under the motto "Reconciliation over the graves", German-Russian youth encounters took place on both sides of the Rzhev war cemetery from 1997 until Russia's attack on Ukraine in 2022.
