Soviet War Cemetery Herleshausen

History information

The cemetery was laid out in the immediate vicinity of the Jewish cemetery. When the war cemetery had to be expanded due to the large number of deaths, part of the Jewish cemetery was leveled and used for the Russian dead. In some cases, burials were carried out between the Jewish graves that still existed.The enclosure and entrance area of the cemetery are made of the red sandstone from which a motorway bridge near the camp was built. After renovation, it was inaugurated on September 26, 1959 and blessed by a Russian Orthodox priest in 1960.

In the area of the Soviet war cemetery in Herleshausen, 1,593 dead Soviet prisoners of war are buried, known by name. They were called up in 1944/45 to build the Hersfeld-Berlin motorway (today's A 4) and died of illness and lack of care.