As a result of the establishment of the Reichswerke “Hermann-Göring”, more and more people came to the development area from 1937 onwards. After the war began, these were mainly prisoners of war, concentration camp inmates and tens of thousands of forced laborers. Because of the hard work and inadequate living conditions, the death rate rose steadily. After the dead were initially buried in the village and church cemeteries, the construction of a central "foreigners cemetery" began in the early summer of 1943. For this purpose, the Reichswerke "Hermann-Göring" made the area with the old field name Jammertal available. About 4,000 victims from more than 15 nations were buried here.
The appearance of the cemetery had already changed in the first post-war years - for example, due to the laying of paths, the erection of a central memorial by the Allies and other memorials for the Soviet, Jewish, Polish and French victims who died in Salzgitter - followed in various reburial measures in the 1950s.
Five memorial stones were erected at the entrance in the 1970s and access to the cemetery was aligned with them. Since November 2011 there have been eight reading desks at the entrance to the cemetery with information on the history of the place, as well as five metal books in which all known victims' names are listed. The Jammertal cemetery is one of the most important places of remembrance in Salzgitter.