The South Park (Südpark) in Erfurt is located in the site of the former South Cemetery, which was closed down in 1978. Nowadays, one can find two war graves cemeteries here. One holds the graves of German soldiers and civilian victims of air bombardments, above all, of those that took place in the spring of 1945.
The other cemetery, located in the northern part of the park and next to the playground, is a memorial commemorating the Polish victims of the war. The site is marked by a monument topped with the Polish White Eagle and an inscription that reads: ‘Here lie Polish citizens who died in the fascist camps’ (‘Hier ruhen polnische Staatsangehörige, die in faschistischen Lagern gestorben sind’). The monument was erected at the times of the German Democratic Republic. Following the democratic change in 1995, the site was redeveloped and complemented with plaques that bear the names of 173 victims and the information about the remaining 118 unknown victims.
The detailed analysis of the archival materials has made it possible to establish the personal data of 120 Polish citizens buried in this place. The research has also revealed that a large number of persons whose names are inscribed upon the memorial plaques did not come from Poland, but from the USSR.
