Funerals. Page 30

Prisoners who died in the camps were almost exclusively honoured with a military funeral where possible.  Prisoners died naturally when nature took it's course,  some men died during allied air raids and some men died of bayonet or gunshot wounds.  In particular, one man who refused to scale icy steelwork at the refinery during wintry conditions  complained he was not suitably attired to carry out the work was immediately shot.

The prisoners mourners were allowed out of camp to attend the service of internment,  one of the larger sites at Blechhammer was the graveyard at  Ehrenforst.  The mass burial for the men who died during the bombing of the camp on Saturday 2nd December 1944 were buried there.

Photos courtesy D Hobbs.












Comments

  1. Hope this is useful. The burial service carried out on 6th December, 1944 for the victims of the bombing raid of 2nd December was officiated by POW Padres, Griffiths, McManus & Tudor along with a German priest. 300 men were present. A new plot of ground for the burials had had to be cleared of trees by the POW's and was incorporated into the cemetery.

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