This war cemetery is the largest German war cemetery in Poland and was opened to the public on October 10, 1998.
Description of the cemetery
In the 1990s, the Polish authorities made a 3.4 hectare site near Siemianowice available to the Volksbund free of charge for the construction of a German military cemetery. Two main paths provide access to the cemetery, which is located in a wooded area. On a central memorial square, inscribed steles document the names of the places from which war dead were brought here. From 1997 onwards, the remains of German soldiers from the districts of Katowice, Bielsko Biala, Krakow, Tarnow, Kielce, Czestochowa, Piotrkow Trybunalski, Sieradz, Nowy Sacz and Lodz were reburied. Block stones mark the burial blocks in the cemetery, row stones make it easier to find the grave locations. The cemetery offers space for around 40,000 war dead. At the end of 2018, 33,283 Germans who lost their lives in the Second World War were buried here. Further reburials are taking place. The name book of all German war dead buried in Poland can be viewed in the information room of the war cemetery. A plaque at the entrance building provides information about the site, which was inaugurated on October 10, 1998.
History
Around 500,000 German soldiers lost their lives within the current borders of the Republic of Poland during the Second World War. They died mainly in combat operations during the German invasion of Poland in 1939, in actions by the Polish resistance and in 1945 in the fight against the advancing Soviet army. The German-Polish Neighborhood Treaty signed in 1991 forms the legal basis for the establishment of German war cemeteries in Poland. Financed by the Federal Republic of Germany, a total of 14 military cemeteries were created, two of which are in Silesia: Siemianowice Śląskie (Laura Hut) and Nadolice Wielkie (Great Nadlitz). Larger German cemeteries for war dead from the Second World War were also established in Olsztyn, Przemyœl, Poznañ and near Szczecin.
Special feature
The name Laurahütte goes back to a village established in Upper Silesia in 1890, which was assigned to the Polish part of the region during the division of Upper Silesia in 1922 - an aftermath of the First World War. This was followed by the dissolution of the municipality of Laura Hut and its merger with Siemianowice Śląskie to form the new municipality of Huta Laura-Siemianowice Śląskie - from 1927 just Siemianowice Śląskie. Founded in the 1830s, the Laura Ironworks was one of the largest ironworks in Upper Silesia.
