Soultzmatt Romanian Military Cemetery

 cemetery, First World War 1914-1918, orthodox christianity, war cemetery

Soultzmatt Romanian military cemetery is a cemetery built in 1922 in the town of Soultzmatt, France with 687 Romanian prisoners from the 2400 deaths during the period 1917-1919 Camp Soultzmatt and the region. Deported in the winter 1916-1917, the majority perished in the atrocious conditions of starvation, cold and disease, deprived of any contact with families in the country. After the war the remains were removed from various mass graves. The cemetery was inaugurated in 1922 by Ferdinand I of Romania. It is located in the middle of a forest belonging to the commune Soultzmatt, even on the ground of a former camp in a place called Val du Pâtre. Is the single largest Romanian military cemetery in France.

Every year on the first Sunday after Ascension (Remembrance Day) is conducted with wreaths official ceremony, attended by Romanians generally naturalized in France, Germany and Switzerland.

Soultzmatt romanian camp
Soultzmatt Camp - Romanian soldiers were confronted with an inhuman regime because almost no food, work in a marble quarry plus and totally inappropriate behavior by camp guards who used frequently beating. Local chronicles of the period mentions that Romanian soldiers eating food scaps from the commune household garbage. On the night of 27 to January 28, 1917 Romanian prisoners were punished by German soldiers who were part of the camp guard who drove them out of the barracks in a cold -20 degrees Celsius for the ''Romanians have dared to go to war against Germany''. In a few days the number of Romanian soldiers almost died.
Soultzmatt commune of documentation is clear that in this camp, from March 6 until May 8, 1917, died either tortured or hungry or cold, 120 Romanian soldiers

After the testimonies of the time, "Romanian prisoners were so hungry by the guards that they were reduced to skeletons condition and died like rats".