Soviet Mass Graves Hörsten

 memorial, cemetery, war cemetery

Soviet Mass Graves Hörsten. In 1941 Stalag XI C/311 was extended to include a camp and Lazarett (field hospital) for the influx of Soviet POW's caught during Operation Barbarossa.

Between 1941 and 1944 an estimated 30-50000 Soviet soldiers died in Bergen-Belsen due to the totally inadeqaute living conditions. They died of starvation, froze to death or succumbed to disease. Most of the dozens of mass graves were dug in the winter of 1941/42 when 18000 POW's died. The single grave of a Polish female soldier can also be found in the Cemetery.

Immediately after the end of World War 2 the first measures were taken to lay out the Cemetery. In the summer of 1946 the Soviet Military Mission had a memorial erected with the inscription in both Russain and English 'Here are buried 50000 Soviet prisoners of war tortured to death in German - Fascist captivity'. On the other side of the memorial, in Russian, is 'Rest in peace, dear comrades - the memory of you will live on forever in the hearts of the peoples of the Soviet Union'. A commemorative stone was erected by the Germans in 1968.