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German War Graves Commission

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German War Graves Commission Logo

The German War Graves Commission (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge in German) is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of German war graves in Europe and North Africa.[1] Its objectives are: "acquisition, maintenance and care of German war graves"[2]; "tending to next of kin"[2]; "youth and educational work"[2]; and "preservation of the memory to the sacrifices of war and despotism".[2]

It was founded as a private charity on December 16 1919 as the recognised [German] Commission under the war graves provisions of Article 224 of the Treaty of Versailles.[1] By the 1930s, the Commission had established numerous cemeteries for German World War I dead. [1] During World War II, the Volksbund's work was mostly carried out by the Wehrmacht's own graves service. [1]

After World War II, the Volksbund resumed its work in 1946 and soon established more than 400 war cemeteries in Germany. [1] In 1954, the German chancellor Konrad Adenauer, tasked the Volksbund with the establishment, care and upkeep of German war cemeteries abroad.[1]

Today, it looks after about "827 military cemeteries in 45 countries with about 2 million dead"[1] and its work is carried out today by "almost 10,000 honorary and 536 full-time employees".[1] Now that the Cold War is over, the Volksbund has access to Eastern Europe, where the bulk of World War II German casualties occurred. [1] In the last few years, 190 World War I cemeteries and 300 World War II cemeteries in eastern, central and south-eastern Europe have been reconstructed or rebuilt.[1] About 32 cemeteries are currently under construction or renovation and about 584,000 bodies have been buried in new graves.[1] Germany and Croatia signed an agreement on German war graves in that country in 1996.[3]

Everyday maintenance of German war cemeteries in France is looked after by the Service d'Entretien des Sépultures Militaires Allemandes (the "German Military Burials Maintenance Service") known as S.E.S.M.A..

The German War Graves Commission offers an Online-Service[4] to locate an individual war grave using a database with more than four million entries concerning World War I & II.

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

List of German cemeteries by country/conflict

Solers, France (Total burials: 2,228)
German war cemetery in Zagreb, Croatia
First World War grave at Laventie German Military Cemetery, France
Austria - World War I & II
Belgium - World War I
Belgium - World War II
France (Western Front) - World War I
France (Normandy) - World War II
Greece
Ireland - World War I & World War II
Israel - World War I
Italy - World War II
Luxembourg - World War II
Netherlands - World War II
Russia - World War II [6]
  • Krasnogorsk German war cemetery (POWs, near Moscow)
Spain - World War I & World War II [7]
Tunisia - World War II
United Kingdom - World War I & II

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k German War Graves Commission homepage (in English)
  2. ^ a b c d Commonwealth War Graves Commission website
  3. ^ Propisi iz područja komunalnog gospodarstva
  4. ^ Online-Search for War Graves (in German)
  5. ^ German War Graves Commission Website
  6. ^ Volksbund Russia page
  7. ^ [1]
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