The war grave, established in 1957 by the German War Graves Commission (Der Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge e. V.), is located in the northern part of the Forest Cemetery (Waldfriedhof) in Thuine. It consists of 4 burial sections and, in its topmost part, is marked by a stone cross.
The burial sections hold the graves of almost 270 victims of World War II - those of German soldiers of the Wehrmacht and auxiliary units, 57 graves of soldiers of the 1st Polish Armoured Division (the majority of whom fell in April 1945 in the battles in Dörpen and Papenburg) as well as the graves of those who died between 1945-1947 in the Polish enclave in Emsland. Among these, 6 individuals remain unidentified, while the location of 6 other graves cannot be established.
Additionally, the war cemetery is the final resting place for 8 prisoners of war and forced labourers (women, men and children) from Poland, the Soviet Union, Ukraine, Lithuania, Yugoslavia and France, who died during the war as a result of exhaustion and disease, or died after the war in DPs (Displaced Persons) camps and hospitals.
The graves are marked by headstones in the shape of small crosses with the names of the deceased inscribed upon them. On the edge of burial section No. IV, there is a metal plaque upon which is inscribed a Polish crowned eagle and an inscription in Polish and in German that says: ‘1939-1945 The War Grave of the 1st Polish Armoured Division.’ The number of those buried in the site, i.e. 7, is also inscribed upon it. The graves of 4 soldiers can be found in burial section No. III that holds the graves of the Wehrmacht soldiers. Also, 14 graves are scattered around section No.II and are marked as ‘unknown soldiers’.
The easy identification of the graves is possible due to a large information board that presents the division of the cemetery into 4 sections, as well as the names of the deceased.
