The Evangelical Cemetery in Bomlitz has existed since 1930.
During World War II, as of June 1942, the remains of those that came from Central and Eastern Europe were buried in the south-western corner of the cemetery. At the end of the war, in April 1945, 11 Soviet, 1 Polish and 4 French forced labourers were buried here. They were shot dead by German soldiers on its last days.
Forced labourers, prisoners of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp and prisoners of war were employed in the Eibia GmbH gunpowder plant that was a subsidiary of the Wolff & Co. Company. At the end of the war, Eibia was the largest producer of gunpowder in the Third Reich. Almost one third of the German gunpowder came from Bomlitz, Dörverden and Liebenau.
The living conditions in the labour camps in Benefeld were very hard. Malnutrition, lack of medical care and back-breaking work led to the fast spreading of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. In total, the Bomlitz cemetery is the final resting place for 28 foreign citizens. Approximately 50 other foreigners were buried in the Walsrode municipal cemetery that is located behind the hospital.
After the war, this was also the burial site for so-called ‘displaced persons’ (DPs) who lived in Cordingen. This town was the site of the so-called ‘D.P. General Hospital Bomlitz’ that had a maternity ward serving the Fallingbostel district.
The cemetery also holds the graves of 39 children who died between 1945 and 1949. Many newborns and infants at the time, unless they were born dead, died of weakness, malnutrition or tuberculosis within the first three months of their lives.
The last funeral in the ‘Cemetery for Foreign Citizens’ took place in February 1949, shortly before the closure of the hospital. In the years 1948-1957, the last remains of 5 French, 10 Italian and 1 Dutch citizen were exhumed and transferred to their home countries. Nowadays, the cemetery holds 126 war graves, and the war graves cemetery is located in the central part of the main cemetery, which was extended in 1955. It consists of two burial sections that contain single and double headstones with the names of the deceased inscribed upon them. The centre is marked by a memorial plaque bearing the following text in Polish: ‘Here lie Poles.’ Another plaque, placed on the edge of the site, presents some information about the history of the cemetery and about the 126 persons buried here, the majority of whom came from Poland.
