Hauptfriedhof

Cemetery description

The Main Cemetery (Hauptfriedhof) in Erfurt is the final resting place for 3,100 victims of World War II, the majority of whom were German soldiers and civilians that died in air bombardments. Their graves can be found in the largest burial sections and are marked by crosses.
The cemetery also holds the graves of foreign victims of the war, including, most probably, approximately 100 persons from Poland. In the post-war years, their graves were transferred to the Main Cemetery from other cemeteries located in Erfurt. The main memorial devoted to the Polish deceased is situated in the former Southern Cemetery - the Southern Park (Südpark) at present.
The graves of approximately 50 persons coming from Poland - civilian forced labourers - can be found in the Soviet burial section that holds the graves of 604 persons, above all, of so-called ‘Ostarbeiters’ (labourers from Eastern Europe) and soldiers of the Red Army. The names of the deceased are inscribed upon bronze plaques placed on stone plinths or upon hardly legible stone plaques. A Soviet monument with a Red Star on top towers above the place.
A number of Polish victims are also buried in the civilian burial sections for victims of air bombardments (located near the main entrance to the cemetery) as well as in the burial sections that no longer hold any war graves. In the case of between ten and twenty graves, no information as to their location is available now. Without doubt, a certain number of Poles were buried in this cemetery as anonymous victims.
In addition, the graves of 3 Polish victims of air bombardments are located in a small French burial section where, initially, soldiers from World War II were buried. Now it is the final resting place for soldiers of Napoleon’s army. Sadly, it is impossible to establish the personal data of these 3 Poles buried here on account of the fact that the headstone inscriptions are illegible.

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