Zerbst, Muchelfriedhof

The Russian dead of the Zerbst prisoner of war camp who were buried between February 16, 1915 and April 20, 1921 are buried here. The camp housed between 15,000 and 20,000 members of the Russian, French, English and Belgian armies. The majority of the 80 Russian dead still buried in the cemetery suffered from malnutrition and disease. Those originally buried here from the French, English and Belgian armies were probably repatriated. In the 1990s, the site was renovated with the help of the German army. Today, a memorial in Mozartstraße commemorates the victims of the POW camp. Soviet prisoners of war and deported civilian workers from the Second World War were also buried in the "Old Russian Cemetery", also known as the "Mucheln Cemetery", which was established in 1917 in a wooded area with the field name Mucheln for the Russian prisoners of war from the First World War. A special place is occupied by a memorial stone for 21 Soviet medical soldiers who stayed in the Zerbst field hospital to support the staff there and died in the air raid shelter with the patients. The cemetery fell into disrepair as it was not accessible during the GDR era, as it was located near the airport and a tank training area. After the site was taken over by the German Armed Forces, a unit made efforts to restore it. The 21 Soviet medics are also commemorated on the Heidetorf cemetery with a small memorial. There are also victims of the Second World War in the cemetery. Information on this will be provided shortly. Source: S. Endlich and N. Goldenbogen, Memorials to the Victims of National Socialism, Volume II. Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 1999.